At the beginning of this year Phiadelphia museum has held an exhibition about the Kano painters - Ink and Gold: Art of the Kano, displaying various artpieces of the famous lineage of artists whose signature were large-scale paintings with oversize animals, figures, ans landscapes set against a background of lustrous gold leaf.
More infos at: http://buff.ly/1g1HRhI
Here is a video of Philadelphia artist Diane Pieri showing how the Kano painters traditionally used gold leaf in their works.