was a Japanese painter. She was born in Futamata, Iwata-gun,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

(currently, Nimata Town,

Tenryu Ward Tenryū may refer to: *Tenryū, Shizuoka, a city *Tenryū, Nagano, a village *Tenryū River *Tenryū-ji, a temple * , several ships People with the name *Tenryū Saburō (Saburo Wakuta, 1903-1989), Japanese sumo wrestler and martial arts fighter * ...

Hamamatsu City is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the total urban area o ...

). She became known by her paintings of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n themes, landscapes and peoples.

Life and career

Akino got a degree in teaching from Shizuoka's Normal School (current Shizuoka University Faculty of Education) in 1926. She taught classes at an elementary school, but quit after a year. Akino then went to Kyoto to learn Japanese-style painting (''

Nihonga ''Nihonga'' () is a Japanese style of painting that typically uses mineral pigments, and occasionally ink, together with other organic pigments on silk or paper. The term was coined during the Meiji period (1868–1912) to differentiate it from ...

''), under the guidance of Suisho Nishiyama. In 1948, Akino left the

Japan Fine Arts Exhibition The is a Japanese art exhibition established in 1907. The exhibition consists of five art faculties: Japanese Style and Western Style Painting, Sculpture, Craft as Art, and Sho (calligraphy). During each exhibition, works of the great masters ar ...

and joined the Sozo Bijutsu (Creative Arts) group, together with Uemura Shoko and Fukuda Toyoshiro, seeking a renewal of Japanese art. The following year, she became an assistant professor at

Kyoto City University of Arts (/Kyoto Univ. of Arts). The official abbreviated name is Kyōgei. is a public, municipal university of general art and music in Kyoto, Japan. Established in 1880, it is Japan's oldest university of the arts (the predecessor of Tokyo Universi ...

. When she was 53 years old, Akino was invited by India's

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati (IAST: ''Viśva-Bhāratī''), () is a public central university and an Institute of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which ...

to be a visiting professor. Charmed by the country, she started to work on Indian themes. Akino visited India several times, painting the country's landscapes, buildings and peoples. Akino also visited Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia and Africa. Akino died on 11 October 2001, in Kyoto, of a heart attack.

Honors

Akino was named a

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honour which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

in 1991 and was awarded the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese Order (decoration), order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japanese Art, Japan's art, Japanese Literature, literature, science, technolog ...

in 1999. A museum housing her artworks was built in her hometown of Hamamatsu in 1998. The museum was designed by Japanese architect

Terunobu Fujimori is a Japanese architect and architectural historian. During the 1970s and 1980s he made studies of the city about early Western buildings and unusual occurrences, and did not turn to architecture until he was in his forties. His work is consid ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akino, Fuku 1908 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Japanese women artists Nihonga painters Artists from Shizuoka Prefecture