Kano

Kano

(kä`nō), family or school of Japanese painters. Kano Masanobu, c.1434–c.1530, the forerunner of the school, was attached to the shogun Yoshimasa's court. He painted landscapes, birds, and figure pieces, chiefly in ink with occasional touches of pale tints. His work is Japanese in spirit, reflecting the influence of Chinese art in technique and style. Only a few of his works survive. His son, Kano Motonobu, c.1476–1559, was the actual founder of the school and one of the foremost artists of Japan. Into Chinese-style ink painting he introduced heavily stressed outlines and bold decorative patterns. His screen paintings served well as architectural decorations and appealed to the tastes of the warrior class. Many of his screen paintings are still preserved in temples of Kyoto. Kano Eitoku, 1543–90, grandson of Motonobu, painted screens with landscapes and figures and decorated the interiors of the royal palaces. His art differs from that of the earlier Kano painters; it is less precise and is characterized by energy, ease, and inventiveness. His screen paintings were done in brilliant colors against a ground of gold leaf. He had many pupils and imitators, but most of his own work has perished. Kano Tanyu, 1602–74, first known as Morinobu, was the grandson of Eitoku and was called the reviver of the Kano school. He was appointed official painter of the Tokugawa government (1621) and established a school of his own. He became one of the most vigorous and versatile of Japanese painters. He worked in both Edo and Kyoto, decorating castles and royal palaces. Although much of his work has since disappeared, some screen paintings are still preserved at Nijo Castle in Kyoto and at Nagoya Castle. His Confucius and Disciples is at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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Kano

(kä`nō), city (1991 est. pop. 595,000), N Nigeria. It is the trade and shipping center for an agricultural region where cotton, cattle, and about half of Nigeria's peanuts are raised. Kano is the major industrial center of N Nigeria; peanut flour and oil, cotton textiles, steel furniture, processed meat, concrete blocks, shoes, and soap are the chief manufactures. The city has long been known for its leatherwork; its tanned goatskins were sent (from about 15th cent.) to N Africa and were known in Europe as Morocco leather.

One of the seven Hausa city-states, Kano's written history dates back to A.D. 999, when the city was already several hundred years old. It was a cultural, handicraft, and commercial center, with wide trade contacts in W and N Africa. In the early 16th cent. Kano accepted Islam. Kano reached the height of its power in the 17th and 18th cent. In 1809 it was conquered by the Fulani, but it soon regained its leading commercial position. In 1903 a British force captured the city. The emir of Kano, the Muslim ruler of the former Kano city-state, remains an influential Islamic figure in Nigeria. In Kano are Abdullahi Bayero College (1960; part of Ahmadu Bello Univ., Zaria); Gidan Makama Museum, with examples of local art; and the palace of the emir.

Kano

 

a city in northern Nigeria, the administrative center ofKano State. Population, 351, 200 (1970). Kano has a railroadstation and is a highway junction; it has an international airportand is a major center of trade for peanuts, cotton, goatskins, andhides. Manufacturers of peanut oil, canned meat, soap, leatherfootwear, tannin, and cement are there, as well as a textile factory. Prior to the 19th century Kano was the capital of thecity-state of Kano of the Hausa nation.

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Kano

 

a school of Japanese painting, dating from the second half of the 15th century. It was named after its founders, Kano Masanobu and Kano Motonobu. Early Kano paintings, from the second half of the 15th century to the second half of the 16th, were primarily landscapes and depictions of “flowers and birds” on scrolls, screens, and folding doors. Based on the traditions of the yamato-e school and monochromatic painting, they are characterized by the combination of a stylized and decorative composition with emphatically lifelike details (for example, birds and tree branches). Kano painting was at the peak of its development during the late 16th and mid-17th centuries. At this time, individual details became somewhat stylized and were totally subordinated to the ornamental and decorative arrangement of the composition; this is seen in the paintings of Kano Eitoku, Kano Sanraku, and Kano Tanyu. The works of Kano artists of the late 17th to the 20th century, such as Kano Yasunobu, Kano Tsunenobu, and Taikan Yokoyama, were masterfully executed. However, sometimes these paintings are essentially repetitions of old motifs and are cold and lifeless.

REFERENCE

Brodskii, V. E. Iaponskoe klassicheskoe iskusstvo. Moscow, 1969.

Kano

1. a state of N Nigeria: consists of wooded savanna in the south and scrub vegetation in the north. Capital: Kano. Pop.: 2 884 000 (2005 est.). Area: 20 131 sq. km (7773 sq. miles)

2. a city in N Nigeria, capital of Kano state: transport and market centre. Pop.: 674 100 (1996 est.)