Kiyokata Kaburagi
Encyclopedia
was the pseudonym
of a Nihonga
artist and the leading master of the bijinga
genre in Taishō
and Showa period
Japan
. His real name was Kaburagi Kenichi. Incidentally, although his name is universally transliterated as "Kaburagi" by western sources (and many Japanese sources), Kaburagi himself used the pronunciation "Kaburaki".
district of Tokyo
to an affluent and literate family. His father was the founder and president of the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun
newspaper, and a writer of popular novels. In 1891, young Kaburagi was sent to become a disciple of ukiyo-e
artists Mizuno Toshikata and Taiso Yoshitoshi when he was 13 years old. His first job was as an illustrator for Yamato Shinbun, a Tokyo newspaper founded by his father. When he was sixteen, his father went bankrupt and the family had to sell their home.
, producing frontispieces called kuchi-e, illustrating the titles of popular novel
s. His works were highly praised by noted author Kyōka Izumi
, who insisted that his novels be illustrated by Kaburagi. However, Kaburagi's first and foremost interest was in painting. In 1901, he helped create the , an art group dedicated to reviving and popularizing the bijin-ga (images of beautiful women) genre. When the government-sponsored Bunten exhibitions were started in 1907, Kaburagi began to paint full time, winning several prizes.
In 1915, his work Murasame won first prize at the 9th Bunten Exhibition.
In 1917, together with Hirafuku Hyakusui, Matsuoka Eikyu, Kikkawa Reika and Yuki Somei, he helped found the Kinreisha, a Nihonga association training promising young artists, including Kawase Hasui
.
When Watanabe Shozaburo
started an export woodcut print
business, he needed many talented artists to make print designs appealing to western audiences. Kaburagi's group became a recruiting center for Watanabe. Kaburagi organized exhibitions with works of his students and introduced his best students to Watanabe. Next to Watanabe himself, it was probably Kiyokata Kaburagi, who had the greatest influence on the development and promotion of the shin hanga
movement. Not only Kawase Hasui, but also Itō Shinsui
, Shiro Kasamasu, Yamakawa Shuho, Torii Kotondo and Terashima Shimei were trained by Kaburagi and then introduced to Watanabe.
When Kaburagi had reached his late 40s, he was well established and a highly respected artist. In 1929 he became a member of the Imperial Fine Art Academy (Teikoku Bijutsuin). His portrait of rakugo
actor San'yūtei Enchō (1930) has been registered as an Important Cultural Property
(ICP) by the Agency for Cultural Affairs
. In 1938 he was appointed to the Art Committee of the Imperial Household. He received the official position of court painter
in 1944. In 1946, he was asked to be one of the judges for the first post-war Nitten
Exhibition. In 1954, he received the Order of Culture
.
His house in Tokyo was burned down during the firebombing of Tokyo
in World War II
, and he relocated to Kamakura
, Kanagawa prefecture
, where he lived until his death.
Kiyokata Kaburagi died in 1972 at the age of 93. His grave is at the Yanaka Cemetery
in Tokyo. His house has been transformed into the Kaburagi Kiyokata Memorial Museum, displaying many of his works, and preserving his studio.
Art-name
An art-name is a pseudonym, or penname, used by an East Asian artist, which they sometimes change. The word and the idea to use a pseudonym originated from China, then became popular in other East Asian countries ....
of a Nihonga
Nihonga
or literally "Japanese-style paintings" is a term used to describe paintings that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and materials...
artist and the leading master of the bijinga
Bijinga
Bijinga , is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre, which predate photography...
genre in Taishō
Taisho period
The , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...
and Showa period
Showa period
The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. His real name was Kaburagi Kenichi. Incidentally, although his name is universally transliterated as "Kaburagi" by western sources (and many Japanese sources), Kaburagi himself used the pronunciation "Kaburaki".
Early life
Kaburagi was born in KandaKanda
-People:*Aika Kanda, a Japanese announcer of NHK*Hiroyuki Kanda, a top Japanese chef, and his eponymous Kanda restaurant in Roppongi, one of only 8 restaurants in Japan to earn 3 Michelin stars*Masaki Kanda, a Japanese actor...
district of Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
to an affluent and literate family. His father was the founder and president of the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun
Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun
The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun was a newspaper printed in Tokyo, Japan from 1872 to 1943.In 1875, the company began the world's first newspaper delivery service....
newspaper, and a writer of popular novels. In 1891, young Kaburagi was sent to become a disciple of ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e
' is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters...
artists Mizuno Toshikata and Taiso Yoshitoshi when he was 13 years old. His first job was as an illustrator for Yamato Shinbun, a Tokyo newspaper founded by his father. When he was sixteen, his father went bankrupt and the family had to sell their home.
Artistic career
Kaburagi initially made his living as an illustratorIllustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
, producing frontispieces called kuchi-e, illustrating the titles of popular novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s. His works were highly praised by noted author Kyōka Izumi
Kyoka Izumi
is the pen name of a Japanese author of novels, short stories, and kabuki plays who was active from the late Meiji to the early Shōwa periods. He is best known for a characteristic brand of Romanticism preferring tales of the supernatural heavily influenced by works of the earlier Edo period in...
, who insisted that his novels be illustrated by Kaburagi. However, Kaburagi's first and foremost interest was in painting. In 1901, he helped create the , an art group dedicated to reviving and popularizing the bijin-ga (images of beautiful women) genre. When the government-sponsored Bunten exhibitions were started in 1907, Kaburagi began to paint full time, winning several prizes.
In 1915, his work Murasame won first prize at the 9th Bunten Exhibition.
In 1917, together with Hirafuku Hyakusui, Matsuoka Eikyu, Kikkawa Reika and Yuki Somei, he helped found the Kinreisha, a Nihonga association training promising young artists, including Kawase Hasui
Kawase Hasui
was a prominent Japanese painter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and one of the chief printmakers in the shin hanga movement.Kawase studied ukiyo-e and Japanese style painting at the studio of Kaburagi Kiyokata...
.
When Watanabe Shozaburo
Watanabe Shozaburo
was a Japanese print publisher and the driving force behind the Japanese printmaking movement known as shin hanga . He started his career working for the export company of Kobayashi Bunshichi, which gave him an opportunity to learn about exporting art prints...
started an export woodcut print
Woodblock printing in Japan
Woodblock printing in Japan is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre; however, it was also used very widely for printing books in the same period. Woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books, long before the advent of movable type, but was only...
business, he needed many talented artists to make print designs appealing to western audiences. Kaburagi's group became a recruiting center for Watanabe. Kaburagi organized exhibitions with works of his students and introduced his best students to Watanabe. Next to Watanabe himself, it was probably Kiyokata Kaburagi, who had the greatest influence on the development and promotion of the shin hanga
Shin hanga
was an art movement in early 20th-century Japan, during the Taishō and Shōwa periods, that revitalized traditional ukiyo-e art rooted in the Edo and Meiji periods...
movement. Not only Kawase Hasui, but also Itō Shinsui
Ito Shinsui
, was the pseudonym of a Nihonga painter and ukiyo-e woodblock print artist in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. He was one of the great names of the shin hanga art movement, which revitalized the traditional art after it began to decline with the advent of photography in the early 20th century. His...
, Shiro Kasamasu, Yamakawa Shuho, Torii Kotondo and Terashima Shimei were trained by Kaburagi and then introduced to Watanabe.
When Kaburagi had reached his late 40s, he was well established and a highly respected artist. In 1929 he became a member of the Imperial Fine Art Academy (Teikoku Bijutsuin). His portrait of rakugo
Rakugo
is a Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone sits on the stage, called the . Using only a paper fan and a small cloth as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long and complicated comical story...
actor San'yūtei Enchō (1930) has been registered as an Important Cultural Property
Important Cultural Properties of Japan
The term is often shortened into just are items officially already classified as Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and judged to be of particular importance to the Japanese people....
(ICP) by the Agency for Cultural Affairs
Agency for Cultural Affairs
The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education . It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. As of April 2007, it is led by the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, Tamotsu Aoki....
. In 1938 he was appointed to the Art Committee of the Imperial Household. He received the official position of court painter
Court painter
A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Especially in the late Middle Ages, they were often given the office of valet de chambre...
in 1944. In 1946, he was asked to be one of the judges for the first post-war Nitten
Nitten
Nitten may refer to:* Nitten, the colloquial name for the town of Newtongrange in Midlothian, Scotland* Nitten, the annual Japan Art Academy Award...
Exhibition. In 1954, he received the Order of Culture
Order of Culture
The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature or culture; recipients of the order also receive an annuity for life...
.
His house in Tokyo was burned down during the firebombing of Tokyo
Bombing of Tokyo in World War II
The bombing of Tokyo, often referred to as a "firebombing", was conducted by the United States Army Air Forces during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. The U.S. mounted a small-scale raid on Tokyo in April 1942, with large morale effects...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and he relocated to Kamakura
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
, Kanagawa prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
, where he lived until his death.
Kiyokata Kaburagi died in 1972 at the age of 93. His grave is at the Yanaka Cemetery
Yanaka Cemetery
is a large cemetery located north of Ueno in Yanaka 7-chome, Taito, Tokyo, Japan. The Yanaka sector of Taito is one of the few Tokyo neighborhoods in which the old Shitamachi atmosphere can still be felt...
in Tokyo. His house has been transformed into the Kaburagi Kiyokata Memorial Museum, displaying many of his works, and preserving his studio.
Philately
Two of Kaburagi's works have been selected as the subject of a commemorative postage stamps by the Japanese government:- 1971: Tsukiji Akashimachi (1927), for the 1971 Philatelic Week
- 1980: Ichiba (1940), as part of the Modern Art series