Asai Kan'emon

Asai Kan'emon ( Japanese 朝 井 閑 右衛門 , real first name Minoru ( 實 ); born January 24, 1901 in Osaka , Osaka Prefecture ; died April 23, 1983 ) was a Japanese painter of the Yōga direction during the Shōwa period .

life and work

Asai became head of the family after the death of his father in 1920. In the same year he went to Tokyo with the potter Kōno Kōhei ( 河野 公平 ) and began studying at the Hongō Art School ( 本 郷 洋 画 研究所 ). Asai Kan'emon enrolled in the Department of Literary Studies at Hōsei University in 1926 , but gave up the study that same year because one of his pictures was accepted for the exhibition of the Nika-kai ( 二 科 会 ) and he himself completely Dedicated to painting. In 1930 his picture "Miss K" ( 少女 K Shōjo K ) was accepted. In 1934 he exhibited at the exhibition of the Kōfū-kai ( 光 風 T ) and the Teiten. In 1936 he showed the "Portrait of an Artist" ( 画家 像 Gaka-zō ) and in the same year on the Shin-Bunten the work “On the Hill” ( 丘 の 上 Oka no ue ; 1936), for which he received an award from the Minister of Culture received. The picture shows a carnival group scene with musicians and dancers.

In 1938, with the beginning of the Pacific War , Asai was sent to China with Nakamura Ken'ichi , Koiso Ryohei , Mukai Junkichi , Wakita Kazu and other artists, where he painted war pictures. One example is the picture “Survivors of a special unit” ( 生還 特務 兵 Seikan tokumuhei ; 1938), which shows a group of exhausted fighters. Asai also portrayed Wang Jingwei .

After the war, Asai no longer presented his pictures in state exhibitions, but within the framework of the Shinju-kai ( 新 樹 会 ) association, which he himself had founded with painter friends. Another association was the exhibition series Kokusai keizōten ( 国際 形象 展 ), which he founded with Chōkai Seiji , Ebihara Kinosuke and Oka Shikanosuke .

Well-known works are “Karpfen” ( 鯉 Koi ), the series “The Clown” ( 道 化 Dōke ; 1956), “Farce (A)” ( フ ァ ル ス (A) , Farusu (A); 1959), the series “Snow Princess” ( 白雪 姫 Shirayuki hime ; 1967) and in 1969 the series " Don Quixote " ( ド ン ・ キ ホ ー テ Don Kihōte ). Another group of works consists of portraits of poets and scholars: " Murō Saisei in old age" ( 晩 年 の 室 生 犀 星 Bannen no Murō Saisei ; 1962), "Portrait of Professor Nakayama" ( 中山 教授 の 像 Nakayama kyōju no zō ; 1966), " Hagiwara Sakutarō ”( 萩 原 朔 太郎 ; 1976) and“ Portrait Wakimura Yoshitarō ”( 脇 村 義 太郎 先生 の 像 Wakimura Yoshitarō sensei no zō ; 1976).

Asai's early work was characterized by cubism, later he painted largely representational. He captured his own poetic world of fairy tales, but also painted simple flower pictures, using a thick application of paint.

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Teiten ( 帝 展 ) is the abbreviation for the annual state art exhibition ( 帝国 美術展 覧 会 Teikoku bijutsu-in tenrankai ) between 1919 and 1935. The predecessor from 1907 to 1918 was called Bunten ( 文 展 ) for Mombushō bijutsu tenrankai ( 文部省美術展 覧 会 ), the successor from 1936 to 1944 was given a shin ( 新 ) for “new”.
2. ↑ It is about the physician Nakayama Kōmei (1910-2005), for whom he also designed the cover of an essay collection.
3. ↑ Wakimura (1900–1997) was an economist interested in art.

literature

• Tazawa, Yutaka: Asai Kan'emon . In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art . Kodansha International, 1981, ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .

Web links

• CV (Tōbunken). (Japanese)

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Asai is the family name, Kan'emon the first name.