Ogawa Usen

Ogawa Usen: Kappa

Ogawa Usen ( Japanese 小川 芋 銭 , real first name: Mokichi ( 茂 吉 ), further artist name : Tengyorō ( 天 魚 楼 ); born March 11, 1868 in Edo (today: Tokyo ); died December 17, 1938 ) was a Japanese painter the Nihonga direction of the Taishō and Shōwa periods .

life and work

Ogawa Usen studied painting in the western style as a teenager under Honda Kinkichirō ( 本 多 錦 吉 郎 ; 1851-1921) and then under Kaji Tameya. From 1888 he worked for the newspaper Chōya Shimbun, for which he made a number of drawings. In 1893 he moved to Lake Ushiku ( 牛 久 湖 Ushiko-ko ) in Ibaraki Prefecture , the area where his family came from. There he dealt with agriculture and also made drawings depicting rural life. These were published by Heimin Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun and the haiku magazine Hototogisu ( 杜鵑 , "The Gackelkuckuck"). In 1915 he joined forces with Hirafuku Hyakusui , Kawabata Ryūshi and others to form the "Coral Society" ( 珊瑚 会 Sango-kai ).

In 1917 Ogawa saw an exhibition of Chinese and Japanese painting in the nanga style, which deeply impressed him. So he began to paint in the same way that was so popular among Japanese educated people. During this time, in which he was distancing himself from the ordinary world, he made the acquaintance of Yokoyama Taikan , who introduced him to his friends who continued the work of the former Nihon Bijutsuin . There he exhibited slightly tinted watercolors that suggested landscapes and bodies of water in which the so-called kappa and other water spirits often stayed. Despite his obvious love for mythical creatures, which he carried out in a relaxed manner, he also designed carefully composed landscapes.

Significant works by Ogawa are “Conversation of stone statues under the trees” ( 樹下 石人 団 Juka sekijin-dan ; 1919), “Water spirits playing” ( 水 魅 戯 Suimi tawamuru ; 1923), “Evening rest” ( 夕 凪 Yūnagi ; 1924) and "Sea Island in Autumn Storm" ( 海島 秋 来Kaitō shūrai ; 1932).

photos

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  Friend Shirafuji

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  "Sea island in an autumn storm"

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  surf

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  chicken

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  Ogawa Memorial House (former studio)

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  Kappa

Remarks

1. ↑ His stage name Usen can be reproduced as “potato penny”.

literature

• Tazawa, Yutaka: Ogawa Usen . In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art . Kodansha International, 1981, ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .
• Laurance P. Roberts: Ogawa Usen . In: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists . Weatherhill, 1976, ISBN 0-8348-0113-2 .

Web links

Commons : Ogawa Usen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Ogawa is the family name, Usen the first name.