京都の商家に生まれ、若くして家族を失いました。室町時代の絵師・曾我派の後継ぎを名乗り、伊勢などを旅しながら絵を描きます。中国の仙人や龍などを、おどろくほど力強い筆と、ちょっと不気味でユーモラスな表情で描きました。同じ時代の若冲や芦雪とともに「奇想の画家」とよばれ、近年再び注目されています。
Shōhaku was born into a merchant family in Kyoto and lost his family when he was young. He claimed to be the heir of the old Soga school of painters and traveled to places like Ise while painting. He painted Chinese immortals and dragons with powerful brushwork and strange, funny faces. Along with Jakuchū and Rosetsu, he is called one of the 'eccentric' painters of his age.
