Goseda Yoshimatsu

Self-Portrait, 1877

Harbor (Yokohama), around 1873

Goseda Yoshimatsu ( Japanese 五 姓 田 義 松 ; born June 12, 1855 in Edo ; died September 4, 1915 ) was a Japanese painter who was one of the first to paint in the Western Yōga style during the Meiji period .

life and work

Goseda Yoshimatsu, born in Edo as the second son of the painter Goseda Hōryū ( 五 姓 田芳 柳 ; 1827-1892), studied painting with Charles Wirgman with his father . His talent was shown early on. In 1874 he and his father showed pictures at a private exhibition, one of the first in Japan. From 1876 he was able to train in the art school of the Ministry of Public Works ( 工部 大学 美術 学校 , Kōbu daigaku bijutsu gakkō ) under Antonio Fontanesi . In 1878 he was with Emperor Meiji on his trip to the Hokuriku region, where he captured famous places in pictures.

From 1880 to 1889 he stayed in France, where he studied under Bonnat . Already in Paris, the artist Matsuda Rokuzan ( 松田 緑 山 ; 1837–1903) handed him the picture “Fuji from Shimizu” ( 清水 の 富士 , Shimizu no Fuji ) at the 2nd National Industrial Exhibition ( 内 国 勧 業 博 覧 会 , Naikoku kangyō hakurankai ) in 1881. With it he won a 3rd prize. In 1882 he took part in an exhibition at the Salon de Paris and also won a prize there, the first prize awarded to a Japanese painter in Europe. He traveled back to Japan via the USA and Canada, where he took time to sketch landscapes. The following year he traveled to America again with his father.

Since Goseda was ill throughout his life, his pictures date from the late 1870s to around 1900. He painted in oil, but also created watercolors. The main themes were portraits, landscapes and French genre scenes. His style was reserved, realistic, sometimes showing an academic note.

photos

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  Fuji from Shimizu, 1881

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  Paris, puppet theater

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  European woman

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  Niagara Falls , 1889

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  Canada, Victoria, 1890

Remarks

1. ↑ This picture was shown at the exhibition Japanese Painting in Western Style 1985 in the Museum for East Asian Art in Cologne.
2. ↑ At the time of these exhibitions, painting was still viewed as a craft.

literature

• Tokyo National Museum & a. (Ed.): Meiji no yōga - Meiji no toō gaka . Nihon no bijutsu. Issue 350, 1995.
• Japan Foundation (Ed.): Japanese Painting in the Western Style, 19th and 20th Centuries. Exhibition catalog, Cologne, 1985.
• Laurance P. Roberts: Goseda Yoshimatsu . In: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. Weatherhill, 1976. ISBN 0-8348-0113-2 .

Web links

Commons : Goseda Yoshimatsu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Goseda is the family name, Yoshimatsu the first name.