Morita Shigeru

This article is about the painter Morita Shigeru. The politician of the same name can be found under Morita Shigeru (Politician) .

Morita Shigeru ( Japanese 森田 茂 ; born March 30, 1907 in Ibaraki Prefecture ; died March 2, 2009 ) was a Japanese painter in the "Western style" ( Yōga ).

Live and act

Morita Shigeru was born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1907, lived briefly in Tokyo, then grew up in Osaka when his father was transferred. He trained as a teacher, and from 1920 also began to be interested in painting. In addition to his teaching activities, he trained under the painter Kumaoka Yoshihiko (熊 岡 美 彦; 1889-1944). In 1934 a picture of him was accepted at the 15th exhibition of the state "Teiten". In the early phase he mainly painted dolls and people. After traveling through Southeast Asia in 1965, he began to paint landscapes. In 1966 he happened to see traditional Noh theater in the Haguro area of Yamagata Prefecture. He was so fascinated by it that he designed a whole series about it. Later he also dealt with the topic of maiko . In 1977 he became the first leader of the artist group Tōkōkai (東 光 会). Typical of most of his pictures is an impasto application of paint.

In 1989 Morita was honored as a person with special cultural merits , in 1993 he was awarded the Order of Culture .

At his hometown Shimodate, now part of Chikusei , Morita can be seen in the Shimodate Art Museum (し も だ て 美術館). A bronze bust in front of the museum commemorated him.

Remarks

1. ↑ Teiten ( 帝 展 ) is the abbreviation for the annual state art exhibition ( 帝国 美術展 覧 会 , Teikoku bijutsu-in tenrankai ) between 1919 and 1935. The predecessor from 1907 to 1918 was called Bunten (文 展) for Mombushō bijutsu tenrankai ( 文部省 美術展 覧 会 ), the successor from 1936 to 1944 was preceded by a shin (新) for “new”.
2. ↑ Traditional Nō theater (日本 伝 統 芸 能, Nihon dentō geinō) is performed with simple actors in the open air, often in small places. Best known is the Kurokawa-no in the Kurokawa district of Tsuruoka .

Web links (images)

• Seiko Gallery (Japanese)

Web links

• CV in Tobunken (Japanese)
• Shimodate Art Museum (Japanese)

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