Sentaro Iwata

Illustrator. Born in Tokyo. Influenced by his uncle, a woodblock printer, he became interested in popular paintings and taught himself how to paint from a young age. He began working as an illustrator at around the age of 20, but after the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923), he moved to Osaka for a time and illustrated Eiji Yoshikawa's Naruto Hicho, which ran in the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun from 1926 (Taisho 15), and became an instant hit. He specialized in beautiful, sensual line drawings of women, and in addition to appearing on the covers of popular entertainment magazines, he provided illustrations unique to Sentaro for novels in newspapers and magazines (especially popular historical novels), attracting the support of a wide range of enthusiasts. He also painted authentic Japanese paintings and exhibited them in exhibitions.

[Tadashi Kobayashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

挿絵画家。東京に生まれる。木版摺師(すりし)の伯父の感化を受けて大衆的な絵画に興味をもち、少年のころから独学で絵を学ぶ。20歳ごろから挿絵画家の生活に入るが、関東大震災（1923）後、一時大阪に移住、1926年（大正15）より『大阪毎日新聞』に連載の吉川英治作『鳴門秘帖(なるとひちょう)』の挿絵を担当して、一躍人気画家となった。線描の美しい官能的な女性画像を得意とし、大衆娯楽雑誌の表紙を飾ったほか、新聞や雑誌の小説（とくに大衆的な時代小説）に、いわゆる専太郎独特の挿絵を提供し、幅広い愛好者の支持を集めた。かたわら本格的な日本画も描き、展覧会にも出品した。

［小林　忠］

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