Murai Masanari

Murai Masanari ( Japanese 村井 正 誠 , also Murai Maçanari; born March 29, 1905 in Ōgaki , Gifu Prefecture ; died February 5, 1999 ) was a Japanese painter of the Yōga direction, i.e. a painter in the Western style.

Live and act

Murai was born in Ōgaki ( Gifu Prefecture ) as the second son of the ophthalmologist Murai Masazumi. He developed an interest in painting while still at school. After he was one of the first to graduate from Bunka Gakuin in 1924, he studied at the same institution with Ishii Hakutei , Arishima Ikuma and others. While he was still in training, a picture entitled "Landscape of Shingū" ( 新 宮 風景 , Shingū fūkei ) was exhibited at the 14th annual exhibition of the artist community "Nika-kai" ( 二 科 会 ) in 1927 .

In the following year, shortly before his exams, Murai traveled to Europe and stayed there until 1932. His base was Paris, but he also traveled all over Europe and was mainly attracted by Byzantine art, but also by Mondrian . Its influence is shown by the pictures he took in the Salon des Indépendants for his “Peinture No. 1 "(1931) and" Peinture No. 2 ”(1932) and which were praised in the magazine Coméda.

After his return to Japan, Murai had a solo exhibition in 1934 with pictures from his time in Europe in the Kinokuniya Gallery on the Ginza. He then exhibited pictures in the exhibition of the "Independent Art Society" ( 独立 美術 協会 , Dokuritsu bijutsu kyōkai ), but then founded the group "New Age" (New Age ) together with Hasegawa Saburō and Yamaguchi Kaoru, his friends from the Parisian era ( 新 時代 , Shin jidai ) and opened a first exhibition.

In the following year, Murai's group and the groups "Black Color" ( 黒 色 , Kokushoku ) and the "Form" ( フ ォ ル ム ) joined together to form the “Association of Free Artists” ( 自由 美術 家 協会 , Jiyū bijutsuka kyōkai ), which deals with abstract art concerned. In their first exhibition, Murai exhibited eight pictures from his URBIN series, which he had created in a montage style.

After 1945 different views developed between Murai and the resurrected Association of Free Artists. Murai finally left, and together with seven artists who had also left, such as Arai Tatsuo, Yamaguchi and others, the "Society for Modern Art" ( モ ダ ン ・ ア ア ト ・ 協会 , Modan Aato kyōkai ) and continued to exhibit there. In addition, he also exhibited at the "Exhibition of Japanese Independents" ( 日本 ア ン デ ペ ン ダ ン 展 ).

From around 1960 his pictures were increasingly determined by black. In 1962 he exhibited his work “Black Lines” ( 黒 い 線 , Kuroi sen ) in the fifth annual “Exhibition of Japanese Contemporary Art” ( 現代 日本 美術展 , Gendai Nihon bijtsu-ten ) , as well as the lithographs “Person from behind” ( 後 ろ 姿 , Ushiro sugata ) and "human" ( 人 , hito). For this he was awarded the prize for the best work. He supported the Bunka Gakuin and the Musashino Art School .

Murai's work is perhaps best represented by his painting "Face" ( 顔 , kao ) from 1965, which shows a red, woodcut-like surface of the face surrounded by a black line. After his death, a museum was built for him, the "Murai Masanari Memorial Art Museum" ( 村井 正 誠 記念 美術館 , Murai Masanari kinen bijutsukan ) in the district of Setagaya , Tōkyō.

Remarks

1. ↑ The private school and college founded by Nishimura Isaku (1884–1963) in 1921 pursues a free and art-oriented education.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Tazawa, Yutaka: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art . Kodansha International, 1981. ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .
2. ^ Suzuki, Toshihiko (ed.): Murai Masanari . In: Nihon daihyakka zensho (Denshibukku-han), Shogakukan, 1996.
3. ↑ "Face", accessed on November 16, 2016.

literature

• Tokyo-to bijutsukan, Kyoto-shi bijutsukan, Asahi Shimbun (ed.): Kindai Nihon bijtsu no ayumi ten. Exhibition 1979.

Web links

• Murai Masanari Memorial Art Museum, Japanese

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