Koga Tadao

Saigō Takamori

Koga Tadao ( Japanese 古 賀 忠雄 ; born February 3, 1903 in Saga , Saga Prefecture ; died June 10, 1979 ) was a Japanese sculptor of the Shōwa period .

Life

Koga Tadao graduated from the Technical School Arita, then went to Tōkyō and enrolled at the Tōkyō Bijutsu Gakkō (東京 美術 学校), the forerunner of the Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku , and studied sculpture. As a student in 1929, a sculpture by him entitled “Buddhist Heart” (仏 心, Busshin) was accepted for the 10th “ Teiten ” exhibition. The following year he graduated from the school. He continued to exhibit in various places, his work "Man on the Cape" (岬 の 男; Misaki no Otoko) received a special mention at the 3rd " Shin-Bunter " exhibition in 1939. In the following year it was so far that his works were accepted without a jury. His sculpture "Establishment of Greater East Asia" (建 つ 大 東 亜, Tatsu Daitōa) received the award of the Academy of Arts at the 5th Shin-Bunten in 1942 . His work entitled "Summer Work" (夏 の 作, Natsu no Saku), which he exhibited in the same year, was acquired by the Ministry of Culture.

In 1962, Koga's sculpture "Resurrection of Japan after the Lost War" (敗 戦 か ら 立 ち 直 る 日本, Haisen kara tachinaoru Nippon) was installed on the site, which then became "Yomiuri Land" (よ み う り ラ ン ド) in 1964. In 1964 he became chairman of the "Japanese Society for Sculpture" (日本 彫塑 会, Nihon Chōso-kai), and in 1966 he became a member of the Academy of Arts . Then was a leading member in the department of sculpture of the " Nitten ", whose director he became in 1968, and to which he was later available as a consultant. In 1971 he became president of the "Japanese Society for Stone Sculptures" (日本, Nihon Tōchō-kai). In the same year he was awarded the Order of Merit awarded third class.

Koga's works are known for their pronounced masculine style, even if he has created small, simplified, sensitive works in the last years of his life, such as his series of crows and ducks. On the other hand, there are monumental works by him, such as “Vision of a forest” (森 の 幻想, Mori no Gensō) - a listening man, which was set up in 1973 in his hometown Saga, and “In memory of the cradle of Japanese medicine “(日本 医学 発 祥 記念 像, Nihon Igaku Hasshō Kinen-zō), which was built in Ōita the following year . The latter shows a treating doctor with assistants at a sick bed. In 1976 the sculpture "Sinnend" (想, So) was set up at a place in Saga.

After Koga's death, the almost 10 m high sculpture of Saigō Takamori with the title "Saigō Takamori, considering the present", which was initially intended for Kyoto, was set up in Saigō Park in Kirishima in the Kagoshima Prefecture . A sculpture park (古 賀忠雄 彫刻 の 森) has been set up for Koga at the Art Museum of Saga Prefecture (佐賀 県 立 美術館).

literature

• Tazawa, Yutaka: Koga Tadao . In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art. Kodansha International, 1981. ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .

Web links

• CV Koga, Japanese
• Koga Sculpture Park at the Saga Prefecture Art Museum.

Remarks

1. ↑ In Saigō Park.

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus, Koga is the family name, Tadao the first name.