Nankaku Hattori (1683-1759) was a Japanese painter of the Edo period. He lived through much of the eighteenth century, in a Japan where painting developed through schools and workshops with their own traditions. He is remembered above all as the teacher of Yanagisawa Kien, a painter who later gained greater fame than he did.
The information available about his career is limited. Details of his training and the full range of his principal works are not well documented, so any assessment of his style should be approached with caution. His name is almost always linked to that of his pupil, and it is through this relationship that he is placed within the history of Japanese painting.
His legacy is therefore best understood as a link in the training of Yanagisawa Kien, whose work allows the reach of the instruction he received in the workshop to be appreciated.
Teachers and pupils
Pupils
- Ki-en 1703–1758