Hara Hiromu

Hara Hiromu ( Japanese 原 弘 ; born June 22, 1903 in Iida ( Nagano Prefecture ), Japan , † March 26, 1986 in Tokyo ) was a Japanese graphic and graphic designer specializing in commercial art .

life and work

Hara Hiromu graduated from Tōkyō-furitsu kōgei-gakkō ( 東京 府 立 工 芸 学校 , "Tokyo Prefecture School of Applied Arts") in 1921 and taught there himself from 1922 to 1941. During this time he worked intensively on the artistic work of László Moholy -Nagy , Herbert Bayer and El Lissitzky . He also had connections with Murayama Tomoyoshi and other members of the artist group (painters) Sankakai . These contacts had a great influence on his later artistic development and led to Hara being considered the founder of Japanese modern design.

In 1933 he helped found the Japan Studio ( Nihon Kōbō ). In collaboration with the photographer Kimura Ihei, he designed the photography exhibitions in Sakakura Junzō's Japanese pavilion for the 1937 Paris World's Fair and the 1939 New York World's Fair . His designs for the Japanese propaganda magazine Front during World War II defined the standards for modern Japanese design.

In 1951, Hara was a founding member of the Japanese Advertising Artists' Club ( 日本 宣 伝 美術界 , Nihon send bijutsukai ), which played a leading role in the post-war development of Japanese graphic design. He was the artistic director of New Japan magazine , advisor to the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, and director of the graphic department at the Musashino Art School . In 1960 he helped found the Nippon Design Center . In the 1960s he was a member of the International Center for the Typographic Arts ( ICTA )

In 1964, his works were shown in the graphics department at documenta III in Kassel . Hara worked as a freelance artist for most of his life.

Literature and Sources

• documenta III. International exhibition ; Catalog: Volume 1: Painting and Sculpture; Volume 2: Hand Drawings; Volume 3: Industrial Design, Graphics; Kassel / Cologne 1964

Web links

• Examples of his work
• Materials by and about Hara Hiromu in the documenta archive

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