Hashimoto Meiji

Hashimoto Meiji ( Japanese 橋本 明治 ; born August 5, 1904 in Hamada , Shimane Prefecture ; died March 25, 1991 ) was a Japanese Nihonga- style painter .

life and work

Hashimoto grew up in Hamada and started painting early. In 1933 he was able to show the painting Gracia at the prefecture exhibition. From 1925 he attended the "Tokyo Art Academy" (later Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku ) and studied under Matsuoka Eikyū (1881-1938) painting in the Nihonga style. Even when he was a student he was able to show the picture “On the flower meadow” ( 花 野 , Hanano ; 1929) at the 10th Teiten ( 帝 展 ) exhibition . After graduating in 1930 he continued to work successfully, winning prizes at the "Shin Bunten" exhibitions in 1937 with the picture "Pure Heart" ( 浄心 , Jōshin ) and in 1938 with another picture. From 1940 on, Hashimoto took part in a project that consisted of copying the murals of the Hōryū-ji temple , while continuing to participate in the ongoing exhibitions.

In 1946 he was represented with the picture “In front of the mirror” ( 鏡 の 前 , Kagami no mae ). Together with Yamamoto Kyūjin (1900–1986), Yoshioka Kenji (吉岡 堅 二; 1906–1990), Uemura Shōkō (上 村 松 篁; 1902–2001), Mukai Kuma (向 井 久 万; 1908–1987), Fukuda Toyoshirō , Katō Eizō (加藤 栄 三; 1906–1972) and others he supported the founding of the “Initiative for Creative Art” ( 創造 美術 , Sōzō bijutsu ) in 1948 . However, he returned with Katō Eizō in 1951 to the "Nitten", the successor to the Bunter. In the same year he won the "Great Art Prize" ( 芸 術 選 奨 , Geijutsu senshō ) of the Ministry of Culture , in 1954 the Prize of the Japanese Academy of Arts , and in 1971 he became a member of the Academy. In 1972 he became chairman of the Nitten exhibition, in 1974 he was awarded the Japanese Order of Culture .

Hashikmoto's pictures have shown an unmistakable style since the 1950s: an image structure structured with strong lines, which is underlaid with light, shaded colors. The director Ozu Yasujirō occasionally decorated interiors with pictures of Hashimoto in his films, for example with the painting “Stone Bridge” ( 石橋 , Shakkyō , 1961) owned by the National Museum of Modern Art .

Hashimoto often painted geishas as a type of woman. A well-known picture owned by the Yamatane Art Museum shows two geishas on a bench in the "Garden in the Moonlight" ( 月 庭 , Gettei ; 1959). Specifically, however, the "Portrait of Mari Chiyo" ( ま り 千代 像 , Mari Chiyo-zō ; 1954) is owned by the Shimbashi Embujō Theater.

Remarks

1. ↑ In the Nō drama “Shakkyō”, the painting shows the main character in the second act as a dancing lion.
2. ↑ Mari Chiyo (1908-1996) was a well-known geisha.

Individual evidence

• Painting: Shakkyō

literature

• Asahi Shimbun (Ed.): Hashimoto Meiji. Asahi kurabu bessatsu, 1950.
• Tazawa Yutaka: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art . Kodansha International, 1981. ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .
• Laurance P. Roberts: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. Weatherhill, 1976. ISBN 0-8348-0113-2 .

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