Tsuruoka Masao

Tsuruoka Masao ( Japanese 鶴 岡 政 男 ; born February 16, 1907 in Takasaki ; died September 27, 1979 ) was a Japanese painter of the Yōga direction during the Shōwa period .

life and work

Tsuruoka Masao was born in Takasaki, went to Tōkyō in 1914 and graduated from school there. He attended from 1922 to 1929 the art school Taiheiyō gakai kenkyūjo ( 太平洋 画 会 研究所 ) and in 1930 participated in the formation of the NOVA artists' association (NOVA 美術 協会 NOVA bijutsu kyōkai ). For a while he joined the left movement. While most artists had no problem with the "China Incident" and its consequences, he founded the "Association of Young Artists" ( 新人 画 会 Shinjin-gakai ) with like-minded people in 1943 . During the Pacific War he lost all of his works to air raids.

After 1945 Tsuruoka exhibited mainly at the exhibitions of the Association of Free Artists ( 自由 美術 家 協会 Jiyū bijitsuka kyōkai ), which he had founded with Ai Mitsu , Asō Saburō , Matsumoto Shunsuke and others. In 1954 he received a prize at the 1st "Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Art" ( 現代 日本 美術展 Gendai Nihon bijutsuten ) and then in 1963 the Grand Prize at the 7th International Mainichi Art Exhibition ( 毎 日 国際 美術展 Mainichi kokusai bijutsuten ).

With works such as “Gestalten in der Nacht” ( 夜 の 群像 Yoru no gunzō ; 1950), “Heavy hands” ( 重 い 手 Omoi te ; 1949), his best-known picture: a figure that consists almost entirely of hands and feet, “ Beggar ”( 物 乞 う 人 Monogoi hito ), a figure who holds huge hands in front of her cubist face,“ Evaporation of Man ”( 人間 気 化 Ningen kika ) he shows the grotesque sides of human existence. The image design later took on abstract traits: “Object” ( 物体 Buttai ), “Festivities at night” ( 夜 の 祭典 Yoru no strings ), “Blue curtain” ( 青 い カ ー テ ン Aoi kāten ) retain an ironic and humorous note. In 1977 he fell ill and fought for another two years. In August 1979 he saw the opening of an exhibition in the Museum of Modern Art in Gumma Prefecture ( 群 馬 県 立 近代 美術館 ), then died in September.

Remarks

1. ↑ The “China Incident” ( 支那 事 変 Shina jihen ) in Japan was the invasion of China that began with the incident at the Marco Polo Bridge .
2. ↑ This picture was shown at the exhibition Japanese Painting in Western Style 1985 in the Museum for East Asian Art in Cologne.

literature

• Japan Foundation (Ed.): Tsuruoaka Masao . In: Japanese painting in the western style, 19th and 20th centuries . Exhibition catalog, Cologne 1985.

Web links

• Some pictures and curriculum vitae. (Japanese, English)

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