Ishii Tsuruzo

Ishii Tsuruzo

Classroom in Ueda

Ishii Tsuruzō ( Japanese 石井 鶴 三 ; born June 5, 1887 in Tokyo ; died March 17, 1973 ) was a Japanese sculptor, painter and woodcut artist of the Taishō and Shōwa period . He was the younger brother of Ishii Hakutei .

life and work

Ishii Tsuruzō first studied painting at Koyama Shōtarōs Gajuku Fudōsha (画塾不同社) and woodcuts by Kato Keiun (加藤景雲) before settling at the Tōkyō Bjitsutsu gakko (東京美術学), the predecessor institution of the Tokyo University of the Arts , enrolled. In 1913 he graduated from there. Ishii was fascinated from an early age by the Buddhist sculptures of the time of Empress Suiko ( Asuka period ), which he studied on frequent visits to Nara . In 1916 he became an associate member of the private art institution Nihon Bijutsuin , in whose sculpture department he then worked.

While Ishii dealt with the sculptures of the time of Empress Suiko, he began to be interested in French sculpture, especially Rodin . Ishii set great store by the physical correctness of his figures. - In 1936 he took part in the art competition in connection with the Olympic Games in Berlin with the works “Swimming” and “Race in the Rain”. However, his contributions were not awarded.

Ishii was a professor at his alma mater from 1944 to 1959. In 1950 he became a member of the Academy of Arts . He worked in the fields of woodcut, watercolor and oil painting all his life. He was a member of the Association of Japanese Woodblock Printers (日本 版画 協会. Nihon Hanga Kyōkai), the Association of Japanese Watercolor Painters (日本 水彩画 会, Nihon Suisai Gakai) and the Shun'yō-kai (春陽 会) artists' association. He shows his sculptures at the exhibitions of Nihon Bijutsuin, his paintings at the exhibitions of Shun'yō-kai.

Ishii's representative sculptural works include Shunkan and the wooden sculpture " Shimazaki Tōson Sensei". His illustrations for “Daibosatsu Tōge” (大 菩薩 峠), written by Nakazato Kaizan (1885–1944), and for Yoshikawa Eiji's “Miyamoto Musashi” (宮本 武 蔵) are also very much appreciated .

Ishii loved the mountains, climbed Mount Asama many times , and taught for many years in the city of Ueda in Nagano Prefecture . In 2009, the Matsumoto City Art Museum (松 本市 美術館) was donated the Ishii's legacy, a collection comprising over 20,000 pieces.

Individual evidence

1. ^ From Geijutsu-Shincho, April 1961.
2. ↑ There is a collection of materials on Ishii on the 2nd floor of this house in Ueda.

literature

• Tazawa, Yutaka: Ishii Tsuruzō . In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art. Kodansha International, 1981. ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .
• Laurance P. Roberts: Ishii Tsuruzō . In: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. Weatherhill, 1976. ISBN 0-8348-0113-2 .

Web links

• Ishii Collection at Matsumoto Art Museum

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