Mori Yoshio

Mori Yoshio ( Japanese 森 芳 雄 ; born December 21, 1908 in Tokyo Prefecture ; died November 10, 1997 ) was a Japanese painter in the Yōga style during the Shōwa and beginning Heisei period .

life and work

Yoshio was born the third son of Fukuyo Tōkurō, but was adopted by his aunt, Mori Fumi, soon after his birth. In 1926 he graduated from the middle school of Keiō Gijuku, the forerunner of today's Keiō University and began studying painting at the "Hongō Institute for Western Painting" ( 本 郷 洋 画 研究所 ; Hongō yōga kenkyūjo ). In 1930 he switched to the "Institute for Western Painting" ( 洋 画 研究所 ), where his teacher Nakayama Takashi ( 中山 巍 ; 1893–1973) was. In the same year he showed pictures at the exhibition of the Nika-kai ( 二 科 会 ) and the following year at the exhibition of the "Independent Art Society" ( 独立 美術 協会 ).

In 1931 Yoshio went to France, where he was able to show works in the Salon d'Autume . On his journey through Italy he was influenced by the work of Massimo Campigli . After returning to Japan in 1934, he was nominated as a "Friend of the Independent Art Society" ( 独立 美術 協会 , Dokuritsu bijutsu Kyōkai ) in 1937 , but left the company the following year. In the next few years he showed his work as a member of the "Association of Free Artists" ( Jiyū bijutsuka kyōkai ). During the Pacific War he worked in the department for special films of the Tōhō film company.

After the war, Yoshio helped rebuild the Association of Independent Artists. In 1950 he showed a number of works, including the painting "Zwei Personen" ( 二人 , Futari ), which reflects the gloom of a defeated nation. In 1951 he was invited to show pictures at the first São Paulo Biennale and in 1952 at the Salon de Mai. He created a series of pictures with human figures, including “The artist with family” ( 画家 と 家族 , Gaka to kazoku ; 1956), “Movement and silence” ( 動 - 静 , Do - Sei ; 1960), “People - mother and child ”( 人 - 母 と 子 , Hito - haha ​​to ko ; 1956).

From 1962 to 1963 Yoshio traveled through Europe and after his return exhibited pictures in a kind of wall painting, including “Street corner in Cairo” ( 街角 - カ イ ロ に て , Machikado - Cairo nite ) and “Memory of Greece” ( ギ リ シ ャ の 思 い 出 , Girisha no omoide ). - In 1964 he left the Association of Independent Artists and founded the “Association of Essential Art”, in which he worked as a central artist.

From 1952 to 1958 Yoshio was a professor at the Musashino Art School . His picture “Early Spring” ( 早春 , Sōshun ) was chosen by the director of the imperial court as a gift for the English queen.

Remarks

1. ^ The Salon de Mai was set up by a group of French artists who met in a café on Rue Dauphine in Paris in 1943 during the German occupation.

literature

• Suzuki, Toshihiko (Ed.): Mori Yoshio . In: Nihon daihyakka zensho (Denshibukku-han), Shogakukan, 1996.
• Tokyo-to bijutsukan, Kyoto-shi bijutsukan, Asahi Shimbun (ed.): Mori Yoshio . In: Kindai Nihon bijtsu no ayumi ten. Exhibition 1979.

Web links

• Pictures in the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

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