.
Nonoguchi Ryūho (1595–1669), a student of
Kanō Tan'yū, is sometimes credited with founding the style; though poetry was commonly accompanied by images for centuries prior, Ryūho was the first poet to regularly include paintings alongside his calligraphy.
Matsuo Bashō, the great master of haiku, frequently painted as well.
Haiga became a major style of painting as a result of association with his famous works of haiku. Like his poems, Bashō's paintings are founded in a simplicity which reveals great depth, complementing the poems they are paired with. Towards the end of his life, he studied painting under
Morikawa Kyoriku, his pupil in poetry; the works of both men benefited from the exchange, and a number of works were produced combining Morikawa's painting with Bashō's poetry and calligraphy. Composing haiku, and painting accompanying pictures, was a common pastime of
Edo period aesthetes, who would pursue these activities in their spare time, or at friendly gatherings as a communal form of entertainment. The famous novelist
Ihara Saikaku was one of many people not normally associated with either poetry or painting, who took part. By contrast, the
nanga painter
Yosa Buson, widely considered second only to Bashō as a master of haiku, is said to be "the only artist to be included in surveys both of great poets and great painters in Japanese history." Unlike other schools of painting which maintained a standard set of styles passed from master to apprentice, the genre of
haiga encompassed a variety of artists with different approaches. Some, like Bashō, were primarily poets, accompanying their compositions with simple sketches, while others, like Buson, were primarily painters, devoting more space and centrality of focus to the image.
Maruyama Goshun and
Ki Baitei were among those who tended to paint portraits of poets and other figures in a relatively quick, loose style which looks somewhat
cartoonish to the modern eye. Some
haiga paintings, such as those by Morikawa Kyoriku, reflect the formal training of the artists, while others, like those by
Nakahara Nantenbō, reflect the artist's background in
Zen. One overall trend that developed over time, despite this wide variety, was a shift from the circles of literati (
bunjin) painters to the orbit of the
Shijō school of the naturalistic painter
Maruyama Ōkyo. This move was effected primarily by Maruyama Goshun, and can be seen as well in the works of
Yamaguchi Soken. Some later painters, such as
Takebe Sōchō, were influenced by
ukiyo-e styles, and used color in highly detailed works. Though traditional-style
haiga are still produced today, contemporary artists experiment with the style, coupling haiku with digital imagery, photography, and other media. ==Haiga painters of note==