| Tsuchida Bakusen | |
|---|---|
Tsuchida Bakusen |
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| Birth name | Tsuchida Kinji |
| Born | February 9, 1887 Sado, Niigata, Japan |
| Died | June 10, 1936 (aged 49) Kyoto, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Field | Painter |
| Movement | Nihonga |
Tsuchida Bakusen (土田麦僊, February 9, 1887 - June 10, 1936) was the pseudonym of a Japanese painter in the Nihonga style, active during the Taishō and early Shōwa eras. His birth name was Tsuchida Kinji (土田金二).
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Bakusen was born on Sado island in Niigata prefecture into a wealthy and influential family. His elder brother was the noted philosopher Tsuchida Kyōson (1891-1934). As an adolescent, Bakusen's father put him on the career path of a Buddhist, but he fled the temple where he was apprenticed in order to study art instead. He was accepted as a student by painter Takeuchi Seihō, and later studied at the Kyoto Kaiga Senmon Gakko (present day Kyoto City University of Arts) from which he graduated in 1911.
In 1918, Bakusen established a painting collective together with Murakami Kagaku, Ono Chikkyō, Sakakibara Shihō, and Nonagase Banka called the Kokuga Society (Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai, or "National Creative Painting Association"), which was used as a vehicle to disseminate the group's eclectic style combining western yōga and Japanese (Nihonga) painting techniques and styles. His favorite subjects were women (bijinga), especially portraits of maiko, flowers and still life. The group established its his own annual exhibition, the Kokuten (abbreviation for "Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai Tenrankai") in competition to the increasingly restrictive Bunten Exhibitions in 1918, and held seven exhibitions between 1918 and 1928.
In 1921, Bakusen traveled to Europe with other Kokuga Society members, touring the great art museums, and returned again from 1921-1923. He was particularly fond of French Impressionism and post-impressionism, especially the works of Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne.
In 1934, he was appointed to the Teikoku Bijutsuin (Imperial Art Academy). One of his works from 1918, Bathhouse Maiden (湯女図 Yunazu), now at the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art is registered as an Important Cultural Property (ICP) by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. However, his painting Maiko in Garden (舞妓林泉 Bugi rinsen) from 1923, owned by the same museum, is considered his masterpiece.
Bakusen died in June 1936 of pancreatic cancer. His grave is at the temple of Chishaku-in in Kyoto.
One of Bakusen's works was selected as the subject of a commemorative postage stamp by the Japanese government:
| Artist | Tsuchida Bakusen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1924 |
| Type | Nihonga |
| Dimensions | 217.7 cm cm × 102.0 cm cm (?? × ??) |
| Location | Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo |