Oka Shikanosuke

Oka, around 1962

Oka Shikanosuke ( Japanese 岡 鹿 之 助 , born July 2, 1898 in the Azabu district , Tokyo ; died April 28, 1978 ) was a Japanese painter in the Yōga style during the Shōwa period .

life and work

Oka was born as the eldest son of the writer Oka Onitarō (1872-1943) in Tokyo. In 1912 he began to paint with Okada Saburōsuke , a friend of his father's. In 1919 he began studying at the Tōkyō School of Art ( Tōkyō bijutsu gakkō , forerunner of the Tōkyō Geijutsu Daigaku ), which he finished in 1924. In the same year he traveled to France, where he continued his education under Fujita Tsuguharu . There followed several stays until 1940. In 1941 he became a member of the Shun'yō-kai ( 春陽 会 ) artists' association .

After the Second World War , Oka was back in France from 1959 to 1961, and in 1964 he also visited Switzerland, where he came into contact with Paul Klee , who inspired him. - In 1952 he won the Ministry of Education's award ( 芸 術 選 奨 , Geijutsu senshō ) and in 1957 the Mainichi Art Prize . In 1972 he was honored as a person with special cultural merits and received the Order of Culture in the same year .

His style shows the influence of the Paris school in a more conservative way. His well-known works include:

• "Pansy" ( 遊 蝶 花 , Yūchōka ; 1951),
• "Electricity plant in winter" ( 雪 の 発 電 所 , Yuki no hatsuden-jo ; 1956, Artizon Museum ),
• "Flowers in front of ruins" ( 花 と 廃 墟 , Hana to haikyo ; 1966, Museum of Modern Art of Gunma Prefecture ).

Remarks

1. ↑ The picture shows pansies in front of a winter landscape with a chapel in the background. It is said to refer to a poem by Rémy de Gourmont .
2. ↑ The picture was the motif of a 60-yen postage stamp issued by the Japanese Post in 1981.

literature

• Japan Foundation (Ed.): Oka Shikanosuke . In: Japanese painting in the western style, 19th and 20th centuries . Exhibition catalog, Cologne 1985.
• Laurance P. Roberts: Oka Shikanosuke . In: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists . Weatherhill, 1976. ISBN 0-8348-0113-2 .

Web links

• Flowers in front of ruins, picture with explanation, Japanese

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