Kenjirō Azuma

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Kenjirō Azuma ( Japanese 吾 妻 兼治 郎 , Azuma Kenjirō ; in Italy also romanized as Kengiro Azuma ; born March 12, 1926 in Yamagata , Japan ; † October 15, 2016 in Milan , Italy ) was a Japanese sculptor who lived in Italy and worked. He is one of the most important representatives of Japanese sculpture after the Second World War .

life and work

Work by Kengiro Azuma (1971) at a sculpture symposium in St. Margarethen

Azuma comes from a family that has a long tradition in bronze crafting . In 1943 he was drafted into the Japanese Navy Air Force . After the end of World War II, he returned to Yamagata and graduated from high school. From 1949 to 1954 he studied sculpture at the Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku ("Tokyo Art School"). Azuma got the opportunity to complete a two-year master's degree, where he studied the Italian sculptors such as Emilio Greco , Pericle Fazzini , Luciano Minguzzi , Giacomo Manzù and above all Marino Marini .

In 1956, Azuma became an assistant at the university. After a short time, however, he decided to move to Italy. He received a state scholarship and began studying at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. In 1958, Azuma had his first solo exhibition at Marukyū in Yamagata. During his time at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, he studied with Marino Marini, who was a professor of sculpture, and eventually became his assistant. Azuma's first solo exhibition in Europe took place in 1961 at the Minima Galleria in Milan. Also in 1961 he took part in the exhibition “ Arte e Contemplazione ” in the Palazzo Grassi in Venice , in which a room was only dedicated to his works. In 1963, Azuma won the Tōkyō-Kokuritsu-Bijutsukan Prize ( National Museum of Modern Art Award ), the first of a series of important international awards and recognitions for the sculptor Azuma.

In the 1960s, Azuma had a few solo exhibitions in Italy, Germany and Switzerland . He also participated in annual art exhibitions by Japanese artists in Tokyo . In 1964 he was invited to documenta III in Kassel . In 1968 he created works for the design of a Franciscan monastery together with Alberto Burri and Antoni Tàpies . The monks there rejected his design for the crucifix , but thanks to the intercession of Pope Paul VI. it was instead included in the Sacred Art Collection of the Vatican Museums .

During the 1970s Azuma had numerous solo exhibitions in Japan (Tokyo, Yamagata and akasaka 1974), in the Netherlands and Italy (Milan: Galleria Stendhal 1975 and 1979), in Yugoslavia ( Aranđelovac and Belgrade 1976), and at the Villa Reale in Monza 1979. Azuma took part in Expo 70 in Osaka and was also a participant in the “ Art japonaise d'Aujourd'hui ” in 1970 at the Musée Cernuschi in Paris . In 1971, 1972 and 1973, he took part in numerous exhibitions in Japan and in the later 1970s and 80s in numerous other European countries and had several solo exhibitions. He made outdoor works and monumental sculptures in Italy and other countries, for example at the sculpture symposium St. Margarethen in 1971.

In 1980 he received a professorship at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan, where he taught until 1990. From 1986 to 1991 Azuma taught at the International Summer Academy for Fine Arts in Salzburg . In 1989 he had an important retrospective in five Japanese museums - Kamakura , Kofu , Sendai , Tokyo and Osaka. In 1993 Azuma was appointed to the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. In 1995 the Tennō awarded him the "Medal on the Violet Ribbon" for culture. In 1996 he received the Ambrogino d'oro from the city of Milan for civil service. He also had numerous solo exhibitions in the 1990s, mainly in Italy. In 1999 Azuma was visiting professor at the Tokyo Art School . In 2001 Azuma received another award from the Tennō, the small order of the rising sun . After that and until 2008, the artist had other solo exhibitions in Italy and Japan.

Literature and Sources

Individual evidence

  1. ^ È morto a Milano lo scultore giapponese Kengiro Azuma . ArteMagazine, October 15, 2016, accessed October 16, 2016 (Italian).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Azuma, Kenjirō
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 吾 妻 兼治 郎 (Japanese); Azuma, Kengiro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Yamagata (Yamagata) , Yamagata Prefecture , Japan
DATE OF DEATH 15th October 2016
Place of death Milan