Umehara Ryūzaburō

Umehara, in Paris in 1910

Umehara, 1953

Umehara Ryūzaburō ( Japanese 梅 原 龍 三郎 , also 梅 原 竜 三郎 ; born March 9, 1888 in Kyōto ; died January 16, 1986 ) was a Japanese painter of the Yōga direction in the Taishō and Shōwa period .

life and work

Umehara's family ran a kimono fabric shop and dye factory. So he was used to design and colors from childhood. In 1909 he left school and attended the "Shōgo Institute for Western Art" ( 聖 護 院 洋 画 研究所 , Shōgo-in Yōga kenkyūjo ), which later became the " Kansai Art Academy " ( 関 西 武術院 , Kansai bijutsu-in ). There he studied painting together with his friend Yasui Sōtarō under Asai Chū .

In 1908 Umehara went to France, where he studied at the Académie Julian . Impressed by Renoir's paintings , he visited the artist in Cagnes , where he took him to see his friends. Umehara stayed in Europe for five years, during which time he also visited Italy and Spain. Renoir's great influence remained, but he also took inspiration from Gauguin , Matisse and Nolde . The pictures that were taken during this period include self-portraits ( 自 画像 , jigazō ; 1911, 1912), “The golden collar” ( 黄金 の 首飾 り , Ōgōn kubikazari ; 1913) and “Narcissus” ( ナ ル シ ス , Narushisu ; 1913). After his return he settled in Tokyo and exhibited a large number of pictures that had been made in Europe in the “Kanda Venus Club”, thus impressing Japanese art connoisseurs.

In 1914 Umehara was one of the founders of the artists' association Nika-kai ( 二 科 会 ), but left the association in 1917. In 1929 he went back to France for a year. In 1922 he became a founding member of the artists' association Shun'yō-kai ( 春陽 会 ), in 1926 he became one of the heads of the department for western painting in the "National Society for Creative Painting" ( 国画 創作 協会 , Kokuga sōsaku kyōkai ). When the department for traditional painting was given up in 1928, the name of this society was changed to "National Society for Painting" ( 国画 会 , Kokuga-kai ), in which Umehara remained a leading member for a long time.

Umehara began to experiment with a mixture of oil paints and mineral paints around 1934, and in his painting style he also combined traditional and western painting. The landscape paintings from this period include Sakurajima ( 桜 島 , 1935), Kirishima ( 霧 島 , 1936) and those painted during his stay in Beijing from 1939 to 1943, i.e. during the Japanese occupation, such as “The Forbidden City in Beijing” ( 紫禁城 , Shikinjō ; 1940), “ Autumn sky over Beijing” ( 北京 秋天 , Pekin shūten ; 1942) and figurative representations such as “Nude at the bamboo window” ( 竹 窓 裸 婦 , Chikusō rafu ; 1935) and “Nude and fans” (裸 婦 扇, Rafu ōgi; 1937). In 1944 Umehara was named "Artist at the Imperial Court" (帝室 技 芸 員, Teishitsu gigei-in). In the same year he became a teacher at the "Tokyo Art School" ( 東京 美術 学校 , Tōkyō bijutsu gakkō ), the later Geidai , where he taught numerous students in the following eight years.

After the Second World War, he simplified his painting style, as shown in a series of landscape paintings with Mount Fuji and Asama . There are also pictures, especially of Cannes , that were taken during his repeated trips to Europe. In 1952 Umehara was honored as a person with special cultural merits and, like his friend Yasui, was awarded the Japanese Order of Culture . In 1956 he was awarded the Asahi Prize .

Umehara's composition was European, especially his later works show more traditional Japanese feelings in their execution.

Remarks

1. ↑ This act is done in Matisse-style entirely in brightly lit green.
2. ↑ This act lies in front of a screen painted with fans on a sofa.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Umehara Ryūsaburō . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993. ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 1625.
• Japan Foundation (Ed.): Japanese Painting in the Western Style, 19th and 20th Centuries. Exhibition catalog, Cologne, 1985.
• Kawakita, Michiaki et al. a .: Umehara Ryuzaburo . Asahi Kurabu Bessatsu Nihon-hen 40, Bijutsu tokushu. 1985
• Laurance P. Roberts: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. Weatherhill, 1976. ISBN 0-8348-0113-2 .
• Tazawa Yutaka: 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, Umehara is the family name, Ryūzaburō the first name.