Imamura Shikō

From the volume "Tropical Countries"

Mii-dera

Imamura Shikō ( Japanese 今 村 紫紅 ; born December 16, 1880 ; died February 28, 1916 ) was a Japanese painter of the Nihonga direction.

Live and act

Imamura was born in Yokohama; his first name was Jusaburō ( 壽 三郎 ). From 1894 he learned from Yamada Basuke ( 山田 馬 介 ; 1871–?) Watercolor painting in the English style. In 1897 he moved to Tokyo and took lessons with his brother in the Angadō ( 安雅堂 ) art school of the painter Matsumoto Fukō ( 松本 楓 湖 ; 1840-1923). Two years later he submitted pictures to Nihon Bijutsu-in and Nihon Kaiga Kyōkai. The following year he joined the artist group Shikō-kai ( 紫光 会 ) led by Yasuda Yukihiko , in which students of Kobori Tomome ( 小 堀 鞆 音 ; 1864-1931) had joined forces. The group then changed its name to Kōji-kai ( 紅 児 会 ) because of its artist name, which was spelled the same . This group worked on a new form of "painting in the Japanese style", which should be less academic than the artists Yokoyama Taikan , Hishida Shunso and Shimomura Kanzan , who were under the influence of Okakura Kakuzo .

In 1905 Imamura became a member of dr Tatsumi Gakai ( 辰 巳 画 会 ). In 1907 he joined the Nihon Bijutsuin , whose painting members had moved to Izura ( 五 浦 ) in Ibaraki Prefecture . There he came under the influence of Okakura and had personal contact with Taikan, ShunsO and Kanzan. In the same year he co-founded the National Art Association ( 玉成 会 ) and became one of the leading members. - At the 5th exhibition of the Ministry of Culture in 1911 Imamura received recognition for his submitted pictures “Under Cherry Blossoms” ( 護花 鈴 , Gokarei ) and at the 6th for his “Eight Views on Lake Biwa” .

In 1914 Imamura traveled to India and recorded what he saw in the vividly colored series “Tropical Land” ( 熱 國 之 巻 ; Nekkoku no maki ; 2 volumes), which he presented at the first exhibition of the resurrected Nihon Bijutsu-in, the he had joined, showed.

In the same year he founded the association Sekiyō-kai ( 赤 曜 会 ) in Tōkyō's Meguro district, together with Hayami Gyoshū , Ushida Keison ( 牛 田 鶏 村 ; 1890-1976), Omoda Seiju ( 小 茂 田 青樹 ; 1891-1933) and Koyama Taigetsu ( 小山 大 月 ; 1891-1946), all of whom had studied under Matsumoto Fukō, and Nakamura Gakuryō ( 中 村 岳 陵 ; 1890-1969), who had been a student of Kawanabe Mitate ( 川 辺 御 楯 ; 1838-1905). There they tried to develop the Nihonga style further. The group disbanded after Imamura's sudden death in 1916.

Imamura began studying painting in the Yamato-e tradition, then took influences from the Rimpa school and western painting. He was very impressed by Tomioka Tessai and took up elements of Nanga painting. In turn, he exerted a strong influence on Hayami.

literature

• Japan Art Institute (Ed.): Kindai Nihon bijutsu no kiseki . Exhibition catalog, 1998, ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .
• Suzuki, Toshihiko (Ed.): Imamura Shiko . In: Nihon daihyakka zensho (Denshibukku-han), Shogakukan, 1996.
• Tazawa, Yutaka: Imamura Shiko . In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art. Kodansha International, 1981, ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Suzuki, Toshihiko (ed.): Imamura Shiko . In: Nihon daihyakka zensho (Denshibukku-han), Shogakukan, 1996.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Tazawa, Yutaka: Imamaura Shiko . In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art. Kodansha

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