菊池契月

Kikuchi Keigetsu was born in Nakano-machi (present-day Nakano-shi), Shimotakai-gun, Nagano in 1879 (Meiji 12) as the second son of Hosono Katsutarō and Hatsu. Real name Kanji. He grew up in a good home environment and enjoyed drawing from a young age. In 1892 (Meiji 25), at thirteen years of age, he studied under Kodama Katei, a “nanga” (literati painting) artist who was born and grew up in Shibu Onsen, Yamanouchi-machi, in the same county, Shimotakai-gun, and was conferred the “gagō” (art name) Keigetsu. After finishing higher elementary school, Keigetsu worked at a kimono fabrics shop, a silk-reeling factory, a town office, etc. In due course, he aspired to becoming an artist. Following his family’s objection, amid the bustle of his younger sister’s wedding in 1896 (Meiji 29), he ran away to Kyoto together with his close friend Machida Kyokkō and became a pupil of the “nanga” artist Utsumi Kichidō. However, Utsumi Kichidō ascertained that the two young men did not have an aptitude for “nanga.” He introduced Keigetsu to Kikuchi Hōbun, an artist affiliated with the Shijō school of Kyoto, and Kyokkō to Terasaki Kōgyō, an artist from Akita who was to become an assistant professor at Tokyo Bijutsu Gakkō (Tokyo Fine Arts School, present-day Tokyo University of the Arts) the following year. Thus, Keigetsu and Kyokkō each began studying under their new teacher. Keigetsu’s teacher, Kikuchi Hōbun, was born in Osaka and studied art as a live-in apprentice under Kōno Bairei in Kyoto. Together with Taniguchi Kōkyō, Takeuchi Seihō, and Tsuji Kakō, he was known as one of “Bairei’s Big Four.” The year after Keigetsu began training under Hōbun, in 1898 (Meiji 31), he won a first-class certificate of merit at the 4th Shinko Bijutsuhin Ten (Exhibition of Old and New Artworks) (1898, Kyoto). Thereafter, Keigetsu continued to win awards at Shinko Bijutsuhin Ten, the National Painting Competition, and the National Industrial Exposition. In 1906 (Meiji 39), at age twenty-seven, he married Hōbun’s daughter, Aki, and became Hōbun’s adopted son-in-law. From then on, he assumed the surname Kikuchi. Keigetsu and his wife had their first son in 1908 (Meiji 41). He was named Kazuo and later became a sculptor. Their second son, Takashi, was born in 1911 (Meiji 44) and became a nihonga (Japanese-style painting) artist. Keigetsu also submitted his work to the Ministry of Education Art Exhibition (Bunten) from its first exhibition launched in 1907 (Meiji 40). At the 2nd Exhibition held the following year, in 1908, “Lamenting over the Tomb of a Sage” (1908, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) won the second prize. Commendation continued with “Kiyomori’s Young Spies” (1909, private collection) winning the third prize at the 3rd Exhibition, and “Dedicating Lanterns” (1910, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) the second prize at the 4th Exhibition. “Dedicating Lanterns” was also submitted to the International Fine Arts Exhibition held in Rome the following year, in 1911. Furthermore, in 1910 (Meiji 43), Keigetsu also became an assistant professor at Kyoto Shiritsu Kaiga Senmon Gakkō (Kyoto City Technical School of Painting, present-day Kyoto City University of Arts). Once the imperial era name changed to Taishō, unlike his former works treating historical events as their main theme, the subject matter of Kikuchi Keigetsu’s works focused exclusively on commonplace scenes and manners. The works he submitted to the Bunten also showed this tendency. “Damselflies” (1913, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) submitted to the 7th exhibition in 1913 (Taishō 2), “Summer Evening” (1914, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto) submitted to the 8th exhibition the following year, and “Urashima” (1915, Fukuda Art Museum, Kyoto) submitted to the 9th exhibition in 1915 all won the second prize. Keigetsu continued submitting his works to the Bunten and became able to exhibit without prior screening. In 1918 (Taishō 7), he became a judge for the Bunten. 1918 was the last year the Bunten was held, and through an organizational reform, the Teiten (Imperial Fine Arts Academy Exhibition) began anew from the following year. Keigetsu continued serving as a judge for the Teiten, too, and also became professor at Kyoto City Technical School of Painting. Moreover, following the death of his teacher and father-in-law, Kikuchi Hōbun, in 1918 (Taishō 7), Keigetsu took over the private art school “Kikuchi-juku,” thus establishing a presence in both the government-sponsored exhibitions and the art circles in Kyoto. In 1922 (Taishō 11), Kikuchi Keigetsu was sent by Kyoto City on an inspection tour of Europe together with Nakai Sōtarō, an aesthetician, art historian, and professor at Kyoto City Technical School of Painting, and Irie Hakō, a nihonga artist who also taught at the Technical School of Painting as assistant professor. During his year-long stay, Keigetsu visited various parts of Europe, mainly France and Italy, and is said to have been deeply impressed by Renaissance frescoes and portraits. Through copying works by late Gothic artists such as Cimabue and Giotto, he appreciated classic works anew, and upon his return to Japan the following year, began collecting and deepening studies on Buddhist art, “yamato-e,” and ukiyo-e. The year before traveling to Europe, in 1920 (Taishō 9), through works such as “Young Girls” (1920, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto), in which Keigetsu experimented with striking colors and vivid realism seemingly influenced by then-eye-catching Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai (Association for the Creation of National Painting) works, he demonstrated his desire, while based on Shijō-school tradition, to establish a new style of his own. After returning to Japan, he also created works such as “Standing Women” (1924, Nagano Prefectural Art Museum). The composition, shading, coloring, etc. of the figures exuding a tranquil atmosphere suggest the influence of Italian religious paintings. Meanwhile, the looks of the figures and the motifs on their clothing are similar to those depicted on a folding screen panel with bird feathers decorating the painting of a lady under a tree kept at Shōsōin. Having merged classic art of the West and the Orient, in “Standing Women,” Keigetsu composed a fresco-like solid and clear pictorial space. From the mid-1920s onward, by adjusting the shade and strength of simple but precise line drawing and employing generally restrained colors, he unfolded a sophisticated, elegant style delicately representing three dimensionality and texture. These works were referred to as “hakubyōga” (mainly line drawing with minimal coloration). They depicted classic figures as if making modern use of “yamato-e.” While the overall use of color was restrained, the lips were painted in bright red, giving many works a somewhat sensual touch. Beginning with “Atsumori” (1927, Kyoto City Museum of Art) painted in 1927 (Shōwa 2), Keigetsu continued to produce such works until his later years. During this period, he became principal of both Kyoto City Technical School of Painting and Kyoto City Technical School of Art in 1932 (Shōwa 7). However, the following year, he retired from both positions and concentrated on teaching as a professor at the Technical School of Painting. Having been appointed as an Imperial Artist in 1934 (Shōwa 9), in 1936 (Shōwa 11), he stepped down from his professorship at the Technical School of Painting too. In 1937 (Shōwa 12), Keigetsu became a member of the Imperial Art Academy, and also became a judge for the Monbushō Bijutsu Tenrankai (Shin-bunten), which began that year. Once the Pacific War broke out in 1941 (Shōwa 16), he submitted works to exhibitions such as one to raise funds for warplanes organized by the Nihon Gaka Hōkokukai (Patriotic Association for Japanese Painting), which was formed by more or less all nihonga artists the following year, and the Imperial Art Academy Exhibition to Donate a Battleship. Whether in accordance with the social conditions, he did many paintings of eminent figures in the history of Japan or those treating themes such as loyalty and patriotism. “Empress Kōmyō” (1944, Nagano Prefectural Art Museum), which effortlessly fused ultimately refined portrayal with not a single line too many nor too little and warmish colors in exquisite balance and succeeded in demonstrating dignified spirituality, was also produced during this period. Partly due to poor physical condition caused by worsening of chronic hypertension, Keigetsu withdrew from painting large works after 1945 (Shōwa 20). In the postwar era, he worked exclusively on witty and refined small works. After the war, he became a member of Nihon Geijutsuin (Japan Art Academy) in 1947 (Shōwa 22), and professor emeritus at Kyoto City University of Arts in 1950 (Shōwa 25). In 1954 (Shōwa 29), he became the first nihonga painter to be commended as an honorary citizen of Kyoto City. That year, he oversaw the copying of the murals at Byōdōin Hōōdō (Phoenix Hall), but died of cerebral embolism at his home the following year, on September 9, 1955 (Shōwa 30) aged seventy-five. A municipal funeral was held at Kyoto City Museum of Art. (Tanaka Masafumi / Translated by Ogawa Kikuko) (Published online: 2026-02-27)