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.Asano Takeji (1900 - 1999) |
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1900 |
Asano Takeji was born
in Kyoto. |
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1927 |
He started to learn
under Tsuchida Bakusen. His Japanese style painting was |
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accepted for the Exhibition
of the Kokuga Sosaku Kyokai. |
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1928 |
He started to make
woodblock prints after joining the course for print making |
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held by Hiratsuka Unich
iat Gasendo in Kyoto |
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1964 |
Asano' s works were
deeply admired by Ben Shahn, who was visiting Japan this year. |
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Ikeda Hiroshi (artist) says; |
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Asano's woodblock prints seem to
depict a world of his own, felt and touched at ease, |
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but they also hide some magic inside
that brightens the viewer's mind. |
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.YAMAGUCHI GEN (1896-1976) |
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1896 |
Born in Fujinomiya
City, Shizuoka prefecture in 1896. |
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1914 |
To assist his father
in his business, he moved to Taiwan, where he met |
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Fujimori Shizuo. |
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1923 |
After the great eathquake
that attacked the central part of Japan, he reunited |
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with Fujimori in the
devastated Tokyo. Soon after this reunion the two paid a |
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visit to Onchi Koshiro,
which opened Yamguchi's way into the world of hanga. |
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1939 |
Together with Sekino
Jun'ichiro, he helped to support the Ichimoku-kai |
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hanga meeting led by
Onchi. |
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1958 |
'Noh Actor' won the
Grand Prix at the 5th Lugano Biennial. |
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He also had the honor
to be the first Japanese artist to win this award. |
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. |
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Yamaguchi Gen says,
'Suppose I had not visited my family in Taiwan, I might never
have |
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encountered. the world of hanga' (1964) |
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SHIMOZAWA KIHACHIRO (1901
- 1986) |
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1901 |
Born in Hirosaki City
in Aomori prefecture . |
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1916 |
His enthusiasm for
art brought him far down south to Tokyo, where he |
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worked for Chuo Bijutsusha
(Central Art Publishing). |
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1921 |
He got acquainted with
Ishii Hakutei and started to paint in oil, water- |
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color and tempera.
During the1921-22 period, he had to be enrolled in |
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the artillery and returned
nearly deaf. |
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1924 |
Around 1924, introduced
by Ishii Hakutei, he started to learn woodcut |
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techniques under Hiratsuka
Un'ichi. |
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1927 |
He became member of
the Hanga Association. |
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Besides woodblock printing
he also composed Haiku poems. |
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Shimozawa says, 'The
coldest winter bites my soul but brings the warmest |
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joy when a scene is
printed beautifully snowbound' (1949) |
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MAEDA MASAO (1904 -1974) |
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1904 |
Born in Hakodate City
in Hokkaido. |
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1924 |
He met Hiratsuka Un'ichi,
who was on his lecturing tour in this northern- |
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most island. Maeda
later moved to Tokyo to learn oil painting under Umehara |
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Ryuzaburo, whom he
had admired, and printing under Hiratsuka Un'ichi. |
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His work was first
exhibited in the 7th Exhibition of the Sosaku-hanga |
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1927 |
Association in 1927. |
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In December he joined
with Hiratsuka and the print artists in his circle for |
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the first publication
of the magazine 'Han', which was continued until the |
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9th issue. His main
theme was the sea in the pre-war period and mountains |
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in the postwar years. |
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Maeda Masao, along
with Azechi Umetaro and Shimozawa Kihachiro, is counted among |
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the three outstanding
talents in the Hiratsuka school. His collected works, however, |
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were never published.
We made researches into his so far unknown achievements during |
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the prewar period and
published the result in 'Han News No.6 Maeda Masao' |
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The works and documents
we collected then were exhibited in his hometown of Hakodate: |
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'Maeda Masao Exhibition'
Hakodate Museum of Art, Hokkaido Jan.21- Mar.21, 2006 |
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