Mukai Junkichi

Mukai Junkichi

Mukai Junkichi ( Japanese 向 井 潤 吉 ; born November 30, 1901 in Kyōto ; died November 14, 1995 ) was a Japanese painter of the Yōga direction of the Shōwa period .

life and work

Mukai Junkichi was the son of Mukai Saikichi, an artisan who specialized in the construction and repair of Shinto shrines. From 1914 he attended the Municipal School for Arts and Crafts Kyōto ( 京都 市立 美術 学校 , Kyōto shiritsu bijutsu gakkō ). He left this but soon again and enrolled in the Kansai Art Academy ( 関 西 美術 院 , Kansai bijutsuin ), where he became a student of Itō Yoshihiko (1867–1942). At the same time he studied at the Kawabata School of Painting ( 川端 画 学校 , Kawabata gagakkō ) and the Shinanobashi Institute for Western Painting ( 信 濃 橋 洋 画 研究所 , Shinanobashi yōga kenkyūjo ) in Osaka. In 1919 Mukai was able to show a picture for the first time at the 6th annual exhibition of the artist community Nika-kai with the title "In der Zimmerecke" ( 部屋 隅 に て , Heyasumi nite ). From 1921 a two-year military service interrupted his artistic activity.

From 1927 to 1930 Mukai stayed in Paris and from there visited various countries in Europe. In Paris he copied around twenty classical paintings in the Louvre . After his return he was able to show eleven pictures at the 17th annual Nika-kai exhibition, including the “Woman turning back” ( 後 ろ 向 く 女 , Ushiro muku onna ). He was awarded for these pictures and in 1936 became a member of the Nika-kai. - From 1937 Mukai served in the military in China and made documentary paintings, including one about the incident at the Marco Polo Bridge . In 1939 he received the “Shōwa Prize for the Development of Painting in the Western Style” ( 昭和 洋 画 奨 励 賞 , Shōwa yōga shōrei shō ) for his war paintings .

After the Pacific War , Mukai and like-minded people founded the "Society for Action Art " ( 行動 美術 協会 , Kōdō bijutsu kyōkai) and showed his pictures there. Around this time, Mukai began painting traditional Japanese houses, which he regretted disappearing. And from 1960 he held several exhibitions at which he showed his pictures of houses painted in oil. In 1961, Mukai's studio was destroyed by fire and he lost over a hundred pictures.

In 1974 an exhibition was held at the Central Art Museum in Tōkyō, which gave an overview of his life's work under the title "Circular Exhibition" ( 還ten 展 , Kanryū-ten ). - The typical works of Mukai include "Woman undressing" ( 衣 を ぬ ぐ 女 , Koromo o nugu onna ; 1933) and " Autumn Beginning in Hida" ( 飛 騨 立秋 , Hida risshū ; 1962), both owned by the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo .

Remarks

1. ↑ Hida (飛 騨) is the name of an ancient province that now forms the northern part of Gifu Prefecture . The province is known for its old farmhouses.

literature

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

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