岸田劉生

Ryūsei was born on June 23, 1891 (Meiji 24) at Ginza 2 Chōme 11 Banchi, Kyōbashi-ku, Tokyo (present-day Chūō-ku, Tokyo), the ninth child (fourth son) of Kishida Ginkō, an entrepreneur known as a literatus, and his wife Katsuko. His birth family operated the Rakuzendō pharmaceutical products company, best known for its eye medicine Seikisui. His one-year-younger brother Tatsuya became a director for the Takarazuka Revue. Ryūsei enjoyed painting from a young age. His parents died in quick succession in 1905 (Meiji 38), and the following year 1906 (Meiji 39), he quit the Middle School Attached to the Tokyo Higher Normal School, determined to become a painter. He was baptized a Christian by Tamura Naoomi, the priest of Sukiyabashi Church and worked at the church’s Sunday School. In 1908 (Meiji 41), he began studying under Kuroda Seiki at the Aoibashi Yōga Kenkyūjo (Aoibashi Institute of Western-style Painting) run by the Hakubakai (White Horse Society). In 1910 (Meiji 43), he received his first acceptance for his work submitted to the Fourth Bunten (Ministry of Education Fine Arts Exhibition). In 1911 (Meiji 44), he subscribed to the arts organization magazine “Shirakaba.” Seimiya Hitoshi introduced him to Yanagi Muneyoshi (Sōetsu) and Mushanokōji Saneatsu and he began interacting with Shirakaba members. That same year he met Bernard Leach and Kimura Shōhachi. During that period he was heavily influenced by the Post-Impressionist painters such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Paul Cézanne. In April 1912 (Taishō 1), he held his first solo exhibition at Rōkandō, a gallery in Kanda opened by Takamura Kōtarō. That same year he accepted a call from Saitō Yori to participate in the formation of the Fyūzan-kai (Fusain Society). He displayed works in the group’s first exhibition. He published “Kuroneko” [Black Cat]” (Shōbunkan), a book of poetry and paintings he co-authored with Nakura Tsurujirō (pen-name: Nakura Chizuru). In 1913 (Taishō 2), he entered “Self-Portrait Wearing a Coat” (1912, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto) and 18 other works in the Second Fusain Society exhibition. Kinoshita Mokutarō’s critique of the works was published in the first issue of the art magazine “Geijutsu.” He married Kobayashi Shigeru, and they moved to Ōkubomachi, Toyotama-gun, Tokyo (present-day Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo), and then to Yoyohata-mura, Toyotama-gun (present-day Shibuya-ku, Tokyo). Shigeru was the third daughter of Kobayashi Ryōshirō, a professor of Chinese studies at Gakushuin University, and his wife Shin. She studied Nihonga (Japanese-style painting) under Kaburaki Kiyokata and had visited the Fusain Society exhibition held the previous year. Ryūsei held two solo exhibitions in 1914 (Taishō 3). Influenced by such Northern Renaissance painters as Albrecht Dürer, he displayed the intricately brushed “Three Children Bathing” (1914, destroyed). He also studied etching under Bernard Leach around this time and produced works on Old Testament subjects. He served as a judging committee member for the Fourteenth Tatsumi Gakai exhibition. He was invited to become a member of the judging committee of the Nika Art Exhibition, which was founded that year, but refused the invitation. His first daughter Reiko was born in April. In 1915 (Taishō 4), he participated in the First Art Exhibition organized by the Gendai no Bijutsusha (Contemporary Art Society) along with Kimura Shōhachi, Seimiya Hitoshi, Nakagawa Kazumasa, and others. During the exhibition, it was re-named the Sōdosha (Grass and Earth Society) Exhibition. He entered works in the Sōdosha Exhibitions until the final Ninth Exhibition held in 1922 (Taishō 11). He painted “Road Cut through a Hill” (1915, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Important Cultural Property [ICP]). In 1916 (Taishō 5), he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and moved to Komazawa-mura, Ebara-gun, Tokyo (present-day Setagaya-ku, Tokyo) for convalescence. He became interested in still-life paintings during this convalescent period and followed his own artistic philosophy based on realism that he dubbed “the mystery of existence” (Kishida Ryūsei, ‘Jibun no fundekita michi’ [The path I took], “Shirakaba,” 10–4, April 1919). In 1917 (Taishō 6), he moved to Kugenumakaigan (present-day Fujisawa city, Kanagawa prefecture). That same year he entered five paintings in the Third Nika Exhibition, and his “Path in Early Summer” (1917, Shimonoseki City Art Museum) was awarded the Nika Prize. He lived in Kugenumakaigan until he moved to Kyoto in 1923 (Taishō 12). He led an active artistic life producing major figure paintings, landscapes, and still-lifes, including his series of works on his daughter Reiko and her friend Omatsu. In 1918 (Taishō 7), he produced his first oil painting of Reiko, “Reiko, Five Years Old” (The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). Angered by the Nika Exhibition’s rejection of his “Still Life (with Hand That Has Been Erased)” (1918, private collection), he withdrew the works that had been accepted (four paintings and one sculpture) after the end of the Tokyo venue showing. In 1919 (Taishō 8), he held “Kishida Ryūsei Solo Exhibitions Commemorating the Tenth Anniversary of Shirakaba” in both Tokyo and Kyoto. He made his first trip to Kyoto and Nara. In 1920 (Taishō 9), he began to produce Nihonga style works and became passionately interested in traditional Japanese performing arts, such as kabuki. In December of that year he published his first painting compendium and anthology, “Ryūsei gashū oyobi geijutsukan” (Ryūsei Painting Compendium and Art Commentary” (Shūeikaku). In 1921 (Taishō 10), he painted “Portrait of Reiko” (Tokyo National Museum, ICP). In 1922 (Taishō 11), he set out to express a mysterious form of beauty based on “deleting realism” (Kishida Ryūsei, ‘Shajitsu no ketsujo no kōsatsu’ [Considering deleting realism], “Kaizō,” 4–5, May 1922), a concept he acquired through his appreciation of antique art. He painted works such as “Two Reikos (Little Girls Fixing Their Hair)” (1922, Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo) and “Nowarame” [Wild Girl]” (1923, on deposit at The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama). He began to use the “gō” (art name) Tōgadō (塘雅堂) on his Nihonga works. He became a guest member of the Shun-yo-kai established by Umehara Ryūzaburō, and in 1924 (Taishō 13), was made a member of the group. He then quit the group the following year. His home was half destroyed by the Great Kantō Earthquake in September 1923, and he moved to the neighborhood near Nanzenji in Kyoto (present-day Sakyō-ku). He became an active collector of antique art around this period. Then starting around 1924 (Taishō 13), he began to frequent geisha houses and such entertainment areas. While his health gradually worsened due to his drinking, his Kyoto lifestyle led to the production of such works as “Portrait of Maiko, Satoyo” (1926, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto), and he published his book on early ukiyo-e paintings “Shoki nikuhitsu ukiyoe” (1926, Iwanami Shoten). In March 1926 (Taishō 15), he moved to Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture. His first son Tsurunosuke was born. In 1927 (Shōwa 2), he participated in the First Daichōwa Bijutsu Tenrankai (Daichōwa Art Exhibition), led by Mushanokōji Saneatsu. During a painting exhibition and sale in Kobe in 1929, he was invited by the South Manchuria Railway to visit Manchuria. There he painted the Dalian scenery, such as his “Garden of the President of the South Manchuria Railway Company” (1929, Pola Museum of Art, Kanagawa prefecture). He also held solo exhibitions there, but his original plan for receiving funds to pay for a trip to Europe fell through and he returned to Japan. An invitation from one of his patrons led to a visit to Tokuyama-chō, Yamaguchi prefecture (present-day Shūnan city), and there he painted landscapes and still-lifes. Immediately after a painting performance creating silver background folding screens during a banquet, he fell ill and collapsed. Severe renal failure occurred, and he died on December 20th. (Yoshida Akiko / Translated by Martha J. McClintock) (Published online: 2025-02-03)