was the

art-name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

of a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese painter in the ''

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 ...

'' style, active during the Taishō and early

Shōwa Shōwa most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

eras. His birth name was .

Biography

He was born on

Sado island is an island located in the eastern part of the Sea of Japan, under the jurisdiction of Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, with a coastline of . In October 2017, Sado Island had a population of 55,212 people. Sado Island covers an area of ...

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

into a wealthy and influential family. His younger brother was the noted philosopher Tsuchida Kyōson (1891-1934). As an adolescent, Bakusen's father put him on the career path of a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

priest, but he fled the temple where he was apprenticed in order to study art instead. He was accepted as a student by painter

Takeuchi Seihō (December 20, 1864 – August 23, 1942) was a Japanese painter of the '' Nihonga'' genre, active from the Meiji through the early Shōwa period. One of the founders of ''nihonga'', his works spanned half a century and he was regarded as master ...

, and later studied at the ''Kyoto Kaiga Senmon Gakko'' (present day

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 ...

) from which he graduated in 1911. In 1918, Bakusen established a painting collective together with Murakami Kagaku,

Ono Chikkyō ONO, Ono or Ōno may refer to: Places Fiji * Ono Island (Fiji) Israel * Kiryat Ono * Ono, Benjamin, ancient site Italy * Ono San Pietro Ivory Coast * Ono, Ivory Coast, a village in Comoé District Japan * Ōno Castle, Fukuoka * ...

Sakakibara Shihō is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, a Japanese samurai and martial artist *Nobuyuki Sakakibara, a Japanese businessman and mixed martial arts promoter *Seito Sakakibara, alias of the perpetrator of the Kobe child mur ...

, and Nonagase Banka called the Kokuga Society (''Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai,'' or "Society for the Creation of National Painting"), which was used as a vehicle to disseminate the group's eclectic style combining western ''

yōga is a style of artistic painting in Japan, typically of Japanese subjects, themes, or landscapes, but using Western (European) artistic conventions, techniques, and materials. The term was coined in the Meiji period (1868–1912) to distingui ...

'' and Japanese (''Nihonga'') painting techniques and styles. His favorite subjects were women (''

bijinga is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women () in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre. Definition defines as a picture that simply "emphasizes the beauty of women", and the ''Shincho Encyclopedia of W ...

''), especially portraits of ''

maiko A is an apprentice geiko in Kyoto (in Tokyo it is geisha). Their jobs consist of performing songs, dances, and playing the or other traditional Japanese instruments for visitors during banquets and parties, known as . are usually aged 17 ...

'', but he also painted flowers and

still life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

themes. The Kokuga Society established its own annual exhibition, the Kokuten (abbreviation for "Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai Tenrankai") in competition with the increasingly restrictive

Bunten 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 ...

Exhibitions in 1918. Seven Kokuten exhibitions were held between 1918 and 1928. In 1921, the Kokuga Society went on hiatus when Bakusen traveled to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

with Ono Chikkyō to tour Western art museums. They returned after a little more than a year, and resumed the Kokuga Society in 1923. Bakusen was particularly fond of

French Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject ...

and

Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

, especially the works of

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

and

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

, and collected several of their works while in Europe. The Kokuga Society broke up in 1928, due to financial difficulties and internal disagreements. In 1934, Bakusen was appointed to the ''Teikoku Bijutsuin'' ( Imperial Art Academy). He died in June 1936 of pancreatic cancer. His grave is at the temple of

Chishaku-in Chishaku-in (智積院) is a Buddhist temple in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan. It is affiliated with Shingon-shū Chizan-ha Buddhism. It was established in 1601. The temple has a historic garden that was said to be a favourite of Sen no Rikyū. ...

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. One of his works from 1918, , now at the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art is registered as an Important Cultural Property (ICP) by the

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The age ...

. However, his painting from 1923, owned by the same museum, is considered his masterpiece.

Philately

One of Bakusen's works was selected as the subject of a

commemorative postage stamp A commemorative is an object made to memorialize something. Commemorative may refer to: * Commemorative coin, coins that issued to commemorate something * Commemorative medal, a medal to commemorate something * Commemorative plaque, a plate typic ...

by the Japanese government: * 1979: ''Bugirinsen'', commemorating the 1968 Philatelic Week

Noted works

* , 1912, Tokyo National Museum of Modern Ar

* , 1918, Tokyo National Museum of Modern Ar

* , 1924, Tokyo National Museum of Modern Ar

* , 1927, Kyoto National Museum of Modern Ar

Gallery

File:Tsuchida Bakusen - Spring.jpg, Spring File:Tsuchida Bakusen - Serving Girl in a Spa (Yuna), 1918.jpg, Serving Girl in a Spa (Yuna) File:Tsuchida Bakusen - Woman Divers (Ama), 1913.jpg, Woman Divers (Ama) File:Sketch of White Lilies by Bakusen Tsuchida, detail, 1935, sumi and color on paper - National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo - DSC06712.JPG, Sketch of White Lilies, 1935, sumi and color on paper - National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo File:Sketch of Chrysanthemums by Bakusen Tsuchida, detail, c. 1933, pencil and color on paper - National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo - DSC06719.JPG, Sketch of Chrysanthemums, 1933, pencil and color on paper - National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

References

* Conant, Ellen P., Rimer, J. Thomas, Owyoung, Stephen. ''Nihonga: Transcending the Past: Japanese-Style Painting, 1868-1968''. Weatherhill (1996). * Szostak, John D. ''Painting Circles: Tsuchida Bakusen and Nihonga Collectives in Early Twentieth Century Japan''. Brill (2013).

External links

Biography and example from Adachi Art Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsuchida, Bakusen 1887 births 1936 deaths Kyoto City University of Arts alumni Nihonga painters People from Sado, Niigata 20th-century Japanese painters