伝 海北友松 「雲龍図」 紙本墨画六曲屏風一双 桃山時代

In this pair of folding screens, Kaihō Yūshō takes up a motif that has been popular in Japanese art since the medieval period: the dragon as a water god. One dragon floats on the dark clouds over the waves, while the other wraps its long body around a craggy rock on the beach. The contrast of dark and light amplifies these interactions between the mythical creature and the waterscape. Yūshō pays particular attention to rendering humorous details in the faces of the dragons. Born to a samurai family, the artist was sent to a Buddhist temple to become an acolyte; thus, he alone was spared when his older brothers were killed in 1573 during the military leader Oda Nobunaga’s quest to unify Japan.
Though his painting career is not well documented, it is clear that Yūshō was renowned for his depictions of the dragon in its capacity to bring much-needed rain.