Tenshō Shūbun

Tenshō Shūbun (天章 周文, died c. 1444–50) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and painter of the Muromachi period.

He became director of the court painting bureau, established by Ashikaga shōguns, which consisted of influential art patrons.

Under Josetsu's influence, Shūbun started studying Chinese Song dynasty painting by masters such as Xia Gui and Ma Yuan; consequently, Shūbun's style was an intermediate step between early Japanese artists who imitated Chinese models very closely, and later artists, who developed a national style.

Two more pairs of folding screens depicting landscapes of the four seasons are held by the Seikadō Bunko Art Museum.

Contemporary accounts describe Shūbun as a very versatile artist, yet the only extant works with the authorship issue resolved are landscapes.

Reading in a Bamboo Grove (1446)
Landscape of the Four Seasons in the collection of Tokyo National Museum, attributed to Shūbun