Uemura Shoen
Encyclopedia
was the pseudonym
of an important woman artist in Meiji
, Taishō
and early Shōwa period
Japanese painting
. Her real name was Uemura Tsune. Shōen was known primarily for her bijinga
paintings of beautiful women in the nihonga
style, although she also produced numerous works on historical themes and traditional subjects.
, as the second daughter of a tea
merchant. She was born two months after the death of her father and thus grew up together with her mother and aunts in an all female household. Her mother’s tea shop attracted a refined, cultured clientele for the art of Japanese tea ceremony
. As a child, Shōen drew pictures and exhibited considerable skill at drawing human figures. She became obsessed with the ukiyoe works of Hokusai
. Unusually for the times, her mother supported her daughter's decision to pursue art as a career.
Shōen was sent to the Kyoto Prefectural Painting School
, where she studied under the Chinese style
landscape painter Suzuki Shōnen (1849–1918). She also began studying the Kanō school
and Sesshu schools styles of painting, and Suzuki was so impressed that he gave her the first kanji of his own pseudonym of “Shōnen” in recognition of her talent. This was an exceptional breakthrough for the times; however, for a while her reputation was tainted as she was suspected of a liaison with her teacher, which may have been true; soon afterwards she gave birth to an illegitimate son (the future painter Uemura Shōkō) whom she raised as a single mother. She later gave birth to a daughter, and likewise never revealed the name of the father.SEE DISCUSSION
, and later of his successor Takeuchi Seihō
. She won her first local award in 1898 with a work selected for the Exhibition of New and Old Art ("Shinko Bijutsu Tenrankai" or "Shinkoten") in Kyoto, and her first national award in 1900 for a painting submitted to an exhibition sponsored by the Japan Fine Arts Academy (Nihon Bijutsuin) together with the Japan Painting Association (Nihon Kaiga Kyokai). She later focused on producing work for display and sale at the government-sponsored Bunten exhibitions starting from 1907. The purchase of her painting, The Beauty of Four Seasons, by the Duke of Connaught on his visit to Japan, raised her to celebrity status.
Shōen drew from her artistic training and her personal interest in woodblock prints
and older painting styles to develop new techniques and styles of composition with a broad range of subjects. Themes and elements from the traditional Noh
drama frequently appeared in her works, but images of beautiful women (bijinga
) came to dominate her works. Eventually, her works would combine the themes of both Noh and women together into a single composition. From 1917 to 1922, she entered a slump, and declined to participate in exhibitions for several years.
In 1924, she returned to the art world by exhibiting a painting entitled "楊貴妃" Princess Yohki (Yang Guifei
) at the Fourth Exhibition of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. The painting is now at the Shōhaku Museum in Nara.
Jo-no-mai and Soshi-arai Komachi are both inspired by the Noh theater. (Jo-no-mai is a dance performed in the introduction to a Noh play, and Soshi-arai Komachi is the title of a Noh play about the Heian period
poetess
Ono no Komachi
.) Both paintings are characterized by a strong feeling of majesty, with a large central figure against an empty background. The use of color is carefully planned so that the light surfaces of clothes and other items stand out prominently against the negative space
.
In 1941, Shōen became the first woman painter in Japan to be invited to join the Imperial Art Academy
. She was also appointed a court painter
to the Imperial Household Agency
in 1944.
During World War II
she supported nationalism in pieces like Late Autumn which depicts a beautiful woman doing her part to help the war. Despite her advanced age, she even traveled to the war zone in China
at the invitation of the Japanese government for propaganda
purposes, to prove to people back home that all was going well. Many of her works from this period, including Twilight (1941), Clear Day (1941), and Late Autumn (1943), depict working women engaged in daily chores, who display a strong sense of vitality. As with her works from the 1930s, Shōen shows a skillful use of negative space, with realistic detail, neat lines and a calm use of color. As the war situation deteriorated, in February 1945, Shōen was evacuated from Kyoto to the suburbs of Nara
.
In 1948, she became the first woman to be awarded Japan's prestigious Order of Culture
. Her painting Jo no mae was also the first painting by a Japanese woman to be rated as an Important Cultural Property
by the Agency of Cultural Affairs.
In the year 2000, Uemura Shōen herself was the subject of a commemorative postage stamp under the Cultural Leaders Series by Japan Post.
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 an important woman artist in Meiji
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
, 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 early Shōwa 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...
Japanese painting
Japanese painting
is one of the oldest and most highly refined of the Japanese visual arts, encompassing a wide variety of genres and styles. As with the history of Japanese arts in general, the long history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis and competition between native Japanese aesthetics and adaptation of...
. Her real name was Uemura Tsune. Shōen was known primarily for her 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...
paintings of beautiful women in the 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...
style, although she also produced numerous works on historical themes and traditional subjects.
Early life
Shōen was born in Shimogyō-ku, KyotoShimogyo-ku, Kyoto
is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. First established in 1879, it has been merged and split, and took on its present boundaries in 1955, with the establishment of a separate Minami-ku....
, as the second daughter of a tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
merchant. She was born two months after the death of her father and thus grew up together with her mother and aunts in an all female household. Her mother’s tea shop attracted a refined, cultured clientele for the art of Japanese tea ceremony
Tea ceremony
A tea ceremony is a ritualised form of making tea. The term generally refers to either chayi Chinese tea ceremony, chado Japanese tea ceremony, tarye Korean tea ceremony. The Japanese tea ceremony is more well known, and was influenced by the Chinese tea ceremony during ancient and medieval times....
. As a child, Shōen drew pictures and exhibited considerable skill at drawing human figures. She became obsessed with the ukiyoe works of Hokusai
Hokusai
was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting...
. Unusually for the times, her mother supported her daughter's decision to pursue art as a career.
Shōen was sent to the Kyoto Prefectural Painting School
Kyoto City University of Arts
is a municipal university of general art and music art in Kyoto, Japan. Established in 1880, it is the oldest university of art in Japan. Among its faculty and graduates have been 16 recipients of the Order of Culture, 24 members of the Japan Art Academy, and 10 artists who have been designated...
, where she studied under the Chinese style
Chinese painting
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals...
landscape painter Suzuki Shōnen (1849–1918). She also began studying the Kanō school
Kano school
The ' is one of the most famous schools of Japanese painting. The Kanō school of painting was the dominant style of painting until the Meiji period.It was founded by Kanō Masanobu , a contemporary of Sesshū and student of Shūbun...
and Sesshu schools styles of painting, and Suzuki was so impressed that he gave her the first kanji of his own pseudonym of “Shōnen” in recognition of her talent. This was an exceptional breakthrough for the times; however, for a while her reputation was tainted as she was suspected of a liaison with her teacher, which may have been true; soon afterwards she gave birth to an illegitimate son (the future painter Uemura Shōkō) whom she raised as a single mother. She later gave birth to a daughter, and likewise never revealed the name of the father.
Early artistic career
In 1894, Shōen became a disciple of Kōno BaireiKōno Bairei
was a Japanese painter, book illustrator and art teacher. He was born and lived in Kyoto. He was a member of the Ukiyo-e school, and was a master of kacho-e painting in the Meiji period of Japan....
, and later of his successor Takeuchi Seihō
Takeuchi Seiho
was the pseudonym of 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 of the prewar Kyoto circle of painters. His real name was Takeuchi...
. She won her first local award in 1898 with a work selected for the Exhibition of New and Old Art ("Shinko Bijutsu Tenrankai" or "Shinkoten") in Kyoto, and her first national award in 1900 for a painting submitted to an exhibition sponsored by the Japan Fine Arts Academy (Nihon Bijutsuin) together with the Japan Painting Association (Nihon Kaiga Kyokai). She later focused on producing work for display and sale at the government-sponsored Bunten exhibitions starting from 1907. The purchase of her painting, The Beauty of Four Seasons, by the Duke of Connaught on his visit to Japan, raised her to celebrity status.
Shōen drew from her artistic training and her personal interest in woodblock prints
Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper....
and older painting styles to develop new techniques and styles of composition with a broad range of subjects. Themes and elements from the traditional Noh
Noh
, or - derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent" - is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and...
drama frequently appeared in her works, but images of beautiful women (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...
) came to dominate her works. Eventually, her works would combine the themes of both Noh and women together into a single composition. From 1917 to 1922, she entered a slump, and declined to participate in exhibitions for several years.
In 1924, she returned to the art world by exhibiting a painting entitled "楊貴妃" Princess Yohki (Yang Guifei
Yang Guifei
Consort Yang Yuhuan , often known as Yáng Guìfēi , known briefly by the Taoist nun name Taizhen , was known as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China...
) at the Fourth Exhibition of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. The painting is now at the Shōhaku Museum in Nara.
Later career
During the 1930s, when Shōen was in her late 50s and early 60s, she began producing very large works. These include Spring and Autumn (1930), Jo-no-mai (1936), and Soshi-arai Komachi (1937). Many of these works, especially Jo-no-mai are now considered her greatest masterpieces.Jo-no-mai and Soshi-arai Komachi are both inspired by the Noh theater. (Jo-no-mai is a dance performed in the introduction to a Noh play, and Soshi-arai Komachi is the title of a Noh play about the Heian period
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
poetess
Japanese poetry
Japanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry during the Tang Dynasty. It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of their native poetry. For...
Ono no Komachi
Ono no Komachi
was a famous Japanese waka poet, one of the Rokkasen—the Six best Waka poets of the early Heian period. She was noted as a rare beauty; Komachi is a symbol of a beautiful woman in Japan. She also figures among the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
.) Both paintings are characterized by a strong feeling of majesty, with a large central figure against an empty background. The use of color is carefully planned so that the light surfaces of clothes and other items stand out prominently against the negative space
Negative space
Negative space, in art, is the space around and between the subject of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, and not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and such space is occasionally used to artistic effect as the "real"...
.
In 1941, Shōen became the first woman painter in Japan to be invited to join the Imperial Art Academy
Japan Art Academy
is the highest ranking artistic organization in Japan. The Academy discusses art-related issues, advises the Minister of Education on art-related issues, and promotes art is the highest ranking artistic organization in Japan. The Academy discusses art-related issues, advises the Minister of...
. She was also appointed a 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...
to the Imperial Household Agency
Imperial Household Agency
The is a government agency of Japan in charge of the state matters concerning Japan's imperial family and also keeping the Privy Seal and the State Seal...
in 1944.
During 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...
she supported nationalism in pieces like Late Autumn which depicts a beautiful woman doing her part to help the war. Despite her advanced age, she even traveled to the war zone in China
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
at the invitation of the Japanese government for propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
purposes, to prove to people back home that all was going well. Many of her works from this period, including Twilight (1941), Clear Day (1941), and Late Autumn (1943), depict working women engaged in daily chores, who display a strong sense of vitality. As with her works from the 1930s, Shōen shows a skillful use of negative space, with realistic detail, neat lines and a calm use of color. As the war situation deteriorated, in February 1945, Shōen was evacuated from Kyoto to the suburbs of Nara
Nara, Nara
is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...
.
In 1948, she became the first woman to be awarded Japan's prestigious 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...
. Her painting Jo no mae was also the first painting by a Japanese woman to be rated 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....
by the Agency of Cultural Affairs.
Philately
Uemura Shōen's works have been selected as the subject of commemorative postage stamps twice by the Japanese government:- 1965: Jo no mae, to commemorate the 1965 Philatelic Week
- 1980: Mother and Child, as part of the Modern Art Series
In the year 2000, Uemura Shōen herself was the subject of a commemorative postage stamp under the Cultural Leaders Series by Japan Post.