江戸前期の画家「琳派」の先駆者である俵屋宗達の後継者で、その弟とも弟子とも言われるが定かでない。宗達存命中は、工房を代表する画工の一人だったと考えられる。後に金沢に下り、前田家の御用絵師となる。金沢地方には宗雪の後継者が制作した多くの草花図屏風が残されており、その伝統は江戸時代末頃まで続いた。

Tawaraya Sosetsu is a successor to Tawaraya Sotatsu, a precursor to the Rinpa artist group who lived during Japan’s early Edo period. Sosetsu is said to have been Sotatsu’s younger brother or his disciple, but no one knows for sure. During Sotatsu’s lifetime, Sosetsu is believed to have been a leading painter in his art group. Following Sotatsu’s death, though, Sosetsu moved to Kanazawa to serve as an official painter to the Maeda family. Many screen paintings of grass and flowers painted by Sosetsu’s successors can still be found in the Kanazawa area, and Sosetsu’s tradition continued until around the end of the Edo period.

俵屋宗雪の秋草図屏風

重要文化財。6曲1双・紙本金地着色、東京国立博物館蔵。 金地を透かせて伸びる緑青の緩やかに起伏する野辺に、萩・芙蓉・女郎花（おみなえし）をいった秋の草花が咲き乱れ、動きのある草花の配置と相まって、澄み切った秋の空をも想像させる広やかな空間を生みだしている。俵屋宗達なき後工房を継承していった宗雪の「琳派」らしい屏風絵の傑作。両隻の左右を入れ換えても連続する画面となるように構図されている。

Commentary on Sosetsu's Autumn Grass screens

Important cultural property; Two six-panel screens (left and right); colors on gold-leaf paper; in the possession of the Tokyo National Museum. This painting depicts autumn flowers (bush clovers, cotton roses and ominaeshiflowers [Patrinia scabiosifolia]) coming into full bloom in a copper green-colored gently rolling field against a gold background. In combination with the arrangement of the rhythmical movement of the plants, the composition of the painting creates a wide open space that reminds the viewer of a clear autumn sky. This is a Rinpa-style screen painting masterpiece by Sosetsu, who led Tawaraya Sotatsu’s artist group after his death. The two screens designed to form a continuous landscape even if the right and left screens are exchanged.