松岡壽

Born in Okayama on February 5, Bunkyū 2 (Gregorian calendar March 5, 1862), the second son of Matsuoka Rin, a retainer of the Okayama domain and a scholar of Western studies. In November 1870, Matsuoka Hisashi entered the Okayama Domain School. The following year, he was one of thirteen students approved by the domain governor to study English under Percival Osborne, a British teacher employed by the domain. On February 27, Meiji 5 (April 4, 1872), he moved with his father to Tokyo. They rented a row house belonging to Nishi Amane, his father’s close friend, a scholar of Western learning and formerly a Tsuwano domain retainer, in Nishi-Ogawamachi, Kanda. Nishi and his wife recognized Matsuoka’s artistic talent, and, encouraged by his father, he entered Kawakami Tōgai’s painting school, the Chōkō Dokugakan, in 1873 to study Western-style painting. Among his fellow students were Koyama Shōtarō, Chiba (Indō) Matate, and Nakamaru Seijūrō. In March 1874, he studied drawing under Albert Guérineau, a French instructor employed by the Army Ministry. That same year, Matsuoka exhibited his work in an exhibition that Kunisawa Shinkurō, who led the Shōgidō art school, organized in Takekawa-chō, Kyōbashi, Tokyo, in which Chōkō Dokugakan students were invited to participate. On November 6, 1876, Japan’s first national art school, the Kōbu Bijutsu Gakkō (Art School of the Imperial College of Engineering), was established in Tokyo. The previous June, the Italian Ministry of Education had begun recruiting instructors from six art schools in Italy. Applications were received from 23 painters, 15 sculptors, and 5 architects. Antonio Fontanesi was selected as the instructor in painting, Vincenzo Ragusa in sculpture, and Giovanni Vincenzo Cappelletti in interior decoration, to come to Japan. Their official three-year contracts took effect on August 29, 1876. The new art school’s entrance examinations were held on November 13. Matsuoka was permitted to take the exam even though he was still a few months short of the permitted age range (15 to 30). On November 25, he was admitted to the Painting Department and began studying under Fontanesi. The school’s painting curriculum followed that of the Italian art academies of the time, as Matsuoka’s “Painting Classroom at the Art School of the Imperial College of Engineering” (private collection) indicates. Students also practiced outdoor sketching. Matsuoka’s painting “Girl” (1877; University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts) demonstrates his early mastery of chiaroscuro and his adept understanding of oil painting, soon after entering the school. Fontanesi returned to Italy after only two years, without completing his contract. Shortly before his departure, on July 30, 1878, a “grand examination” was held: first place went to Koyama Shōtarō, an assistant in the Painting Department; second place to Chiba (Indō) Matate; and third to Matsuoka. Although Fontanesi’s return was officially due to illness, there were also circumstances related to his reinstatement at the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti, Torino, where he had been on a year’s leave, requiring that he go back. Prospero Ferretti—an artist then residing in Calcutta and a recipient of a decoration from the Kingdom of Italy—came to Japan as his replacement. A financial dispute between Fontanesi and Ferretti, however, eventually led to a lawsuit. Ferretti’s mocking of Fontanesi in the classroom alienated students, and many in the Painting Department, including Matsuoka, withdrew from the school and began studying together on their own. In November 1879, Matsuoka began studying French under the Swiss teacher Bockmest[?] at the Kondō French Language School. On July 9, 1880, when Nabeshima Naota was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Italy, Matsuoka set sail from Yokohama as an attendant to Hyakutake Kaneyuki, First Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, who accompanied Nabeshima. Matsuoka’s journey to Italy was arranged with the assistance of Hanabusa Yoshimoto, then Minister to Korea, who had studied Western learning with Matsuoka’s father, Matsuoka Rin. Matsuoka arrived in Rome in August 1880 and began his painting studies in October at the Accademia Gigi. Hyakutake, who was both a Foreign Ministry official and also a painter, had previously studied under the renowned portraitist Léon Bonnat in Paris, and, through the introduction of a fellow student, had studied in Rome with the history painter Cesare Maccari. Matsuoka also began studying under Maccari in November. The fact that Matsuoka and Hyakutake studied together is evident from their paintings of the same model—Hyakutake’s “Reclining Nude” (Artizon Museum, Tokyo) and Matsuoka’s “Reclining Woman” (University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts). In December, he began studying Italian under Pio Gherardini. On November 21, 1881, he began the four-day entrance examination for the “Free School of the Nude (Scuola Libera del Nudo)” at the Accademia Belle Arti di Rome, was accepted in December, and officially enrolled in February of the following year. His work “Man Dressed as PIETRO MICCA,” (Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art), known to have been painted in November of his examination year, shows that he had already mastered oil painting techniques. On October 3, 1883, he entered the standard course at the Accademia Belle Arti di Roma. He studied in that course for four years, completing it with outstanding grades in 1887. That October, he followed Tanaka Fujimaro, the Japanese Minister to Italy, when he transferred to Paris. After a short stay there, Matsuoka returned to Japan in October 6, 1888. The painting “Sentry of Bersagliere” (The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shōzōkan, Tokyo; Important Cultural Property), in which Matsuoka demonstrated the figure painting skills that formed the foundation for his history paintings, was commissioned by order of Emperor Meiji through Hanabusa Yoshimoto, who had become a court councilor in April 1887. The artist was granted a stipend of one thousand yen for the work by the Emperor Meiji. Matsuoka presented this painting to the Emperor on November 7, shortly after his return to Japan. When the Tokyo Fine Arts School (Tokyo Bijutsu Gakkō) was founded in 1887, education in Western art was excluded from its curriculum. Together with like-minded colleagues, in 1888 Matsuoka planned the establishment of an organization for Western-style artists, which led to the founding of the Meiji Art Society (Meiji Bijutsukai) the following year. When the Meiji Art School (Meiji Bijutsu Gakkō) was established in 1892, he took charge of its administration, dedicating himself to the advancement of Western art in Japan. In 1889, at the first Meiji Art Society exhibition, he exhibited “Portrait (Father)” and “Portrait (Soldier)”; the former was apparently “Portrait of the Artist’s Father” (1889, Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art) and the latter the aforementioned “Sentry of Bersagliere.” At the society’s second exhibition, in 1890, he also showed two portraits; at the fifth, in 1893, two figure paintings and a painting of fruit. At the eighth, in 1897, he exhibited ten oil paintings, including “Fortune-ｔeller” (Tokyo National Museum). After exhibiting “The Government Official Yoshi’i Tomozane” (Tokyo National Museum) at the 4th National Industrial Exposition, held in Kyoto in 1895, he did not participate in large-scale exhibitions for many years. Matsuoka’s next major appearance was in 1934, when he exhibited “Still Life” (Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art) at the 15th Exhibition of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, in Tokyo. During his studies abroad, Matsuoka became acquainted with many other Japanese students studying overseas. Of them, he maintained a lifelong friendship with Tatsuno Kingo, who had studied in Britain and introduced the concept of “architecture as art” (“bijutsu kenchiku”) to Japan. This enduring relationship is reflected in “Portrait of Tatsuno Kingo” (1921, private collection). In 1892, Matsuoka began teaching courses in decorative and freehand painting in the Department of Architecture in the College of Engineering, Tokyo Imperial University, where he contributed to the training of architects for the following decade. This position marked the starting point of his long career in public education. In January 1897, he also served as an instructor for Bokuyōkai, a watercolor study group formed by students and graduates of that department, and show work in several of the Bokuyōkai exhibitions. After being appointed as a judge for the 3rd National Industrial Exposition in 1890, he went on to serve on the juries of numerous exhibitions and expositions, both in Japan and abroad. In 1897, he was appointed Director of the Commercial Museum of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, while also serving as an examiner at the Patent Office. When the Ministry of Education established its Fine Arts Examination Committee in 1907, he was selected as a member and remained involved through the 7th Bunten (Ministry of Education Fine Arts Exhibition), in 1913. In 1906, Matsuoka was appointed professor at the Tokyo Higher Technical School, where he also served as head of the Department of Industrial Design. In 1914, he concurrently held a professorship at the Tokyo Fine Arts School (now Tokyo University of the Arts). In 1919, he became a founding committee member for the establishment of the Tokyo Higher School of Arts and Crafts, and upon its founding in 1921 was appointed principal and dedicated himself to the training of the younger generation of artists. While performing his public roles, Matsuoka produced more than seventy portraits, including “The Court Noble Konoe Tadahiro” (Tokyo National Museum). He also undertook several monumental projects. In 1918, he painted ceiling murals, including “Tenchi Kaibyaku（Myth of creation of the world)” for the guest room of the Osaka City Public Hall (now the Special Room of the Osaka City Central Public Hall). In 1925, he received a commission from the Bank of Japan to create a mural to be dedicated to the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery. He completed that work, “The Establishment of the Convertible Currency System” (Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery, Tokyo) in 1928. In 1934, the Tokyo Prefectural Governor commissioned Matsuoka to produce paintings for the National History Picture Gallery at the Tokyo Prefectural Yōjōkan as part of the commemoration celebrating the birth of the Crown Prince. He completed the history painting “Emperor Nintoku” (Jingu Museum, Mie Prefecture) in 1935 and “The Crown Prince’s Official Visit Abroad” (Jingu Museum) in 1937. After returning to Japan, Matsuoka was active less as a painter than as a public official—serving as a juror for expositions and exhibitions, and an educator in art and design. He devoted himself to the promotion of fine art, crafts, and industrial design. He died at his home in Zushi, Kanagawa prefecture, on April 28, 1944. (Kawakami Mari / Translated by Ruth McCreery) (Published online: 2026-05-25)