Ryusei Kishida

Western-style painter. Born on June 23, 1891 at Rakuzendo Seikisui Honpo in Ginza, Tokyo. His father was the Meiji era pioneer Kishida Ginkou. In 1907 (Meiji 40), he dropped out of Tokyo Higher Normal School after three years and was baptized. The following year, he entered the Hakuba-kai's Aoibashi Western Painting Institute and studied under Kuroda Seiki. In 1910, he exhibited at the Hakuba-kai Exhibition and the Bunten Exhibition. He was inspired by the Post-Impressionists, including Van Gogh and Cezanne, through the magazine Shirakaba, and began to associate with fellow Shirakaba-ha artists Yanagi Muneyoshi and Mushanokoji Saneatsu. In 1912 (Taisho 1), he formed the Fusan-kai, a subjectivist art group, with Takamura Kotaro and others, and held exhibitions over the following year. Later, he was drawn to the realistic paintings of the Nordic Renaissance, such as those of Dürer, and in 1915 he founded and led the Sodosha group with Kimura Sohachi and others, pursuing thorough realism to the point of being almost religious (Sodosha held nine exhibitions until 1922). In 1917, he exhibited at the Nikaten Exhibition and won the Nika Prize. The following year, he began to produce a series of portraits of young Reiko in various poses, starting with "Portrait of Reiko at the Age of Five" and continuing until his death. In 1921, he began to lean towards Japanese tastes and began to paint Japanese paintings, and the following year, he participated as a guest artist in the founding of the Shunyo-kai Society. In September 1923, his house in Kugenuma was partially destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake, and he moved to Kyoto, where he began collecting Song and Yuan paintings and early hand-painted ukiyo-e prints, and, drawn by the atmosphere of ukiyo-e prints, he began to hang out at teahouses. The influence of these traditional Japanese and Chinese aesthetics is reflected in "Portrait of a Young Girl Dancing" and still lifes. In 1926 he left Kyoto and moved to Kamakura, and participated as a judge in the first Daichowa Art Exhibition the following year. At the end of September 1929 (Showa 4), at the invitation of the South Manchuria Railway, he set sail from Kobe for Manchuria (northeastern China), staying in Dalian, Fengtian, and Harbin, and held solo exhibitions, but on the way back he suddenly died on December 20th in Tokuyama-cho, Yamaguchi Prefecture (now Shunan City). He was 38 years old. He was also an active writer, and his books include "Ryusei's Collection of Paintings and Views on Art," "Ryusei's Collection of Designs," "A Theory of Art Education," "A Theory of Theatre Aesthetics," and "The Essence of Beauty," as well as his detailed diary, which was later published as "Ryusei's Illustrated Diary."

[Tadao Ogura]

"The Complete Works of Kishida Ryusei, 10 volumes (1979-80, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "The Complete Works of Modern Japanese Art 8: Kishida Ryusei, by Oka Isamu (1972, Shueisha)" ▽ "Kishida Ryusei, by Toyama Hideo (Iwanami Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

洋画家。明治24年6月23日、東京・銀座の楽善堂精錡水(せいきすい)本舗に生まれる。父は明治の先覚者岸田吟香(ぎんこう)。1907年（明治40）東京高等師範付属中学校を3年で中退し、洗礼を受け、翌年白馬会の葵橋(あおいばし)洋画研究所に入って黒田清輝(せいき)の指導を受ける。1910年白馬会展と文展に出品。雑誌『白樺(しらかば)』によりゴッホ、セザンヌほか後期印象派に感動し、柳宗悦(やなぎむねよし)、武者小路実篤(むしゃのこうじさねあつ)ら白樺派の同人たちと交遊を始める。1912年（大正1）高村光太郎らと主観主義芸術グループのフュウザン会を結成し、翌年にかけて展覧会を開く。その後一転してデューラーなど北欧ルネサンスの写実絵画にひかれ、1915年木村荘八らと草土社を結成・主宰して、一種宗教的なまでの徹底した写実を追求した（草土社は22年まで9回の展覧会を開いた）。1917年二科展に出品して二科賞を受賞。翌年の『麗子五歳之像』に始まり、没年までさまざまな姿の娘麗子像のシリーズを制作する。そして1921年を境に日本趣味に傾き、日本画も描き始め、翌年の春陽会創立に際して客員として参加する。1923年9月の関東大震災で鵠沼(くげぬま)の家は半壊し、京都に移り住み、宋元画(そうげんが)や初期肉筆浮世絵の収集、さらに浮世絵情緒にひかれて茶屋遊びを始める。これら日本や中国の伝統的美意識の影響は、『童女舞姿』や静物画などに反映される。1926年京都を引き上げて鎌倉に移り、翌年の第1回大調和美術展に審査員として参加する。1929年（昭和4）9月末、満鉄の招待により神戸を出帆して満州（中国東北部）に赴き、大連(だいれん／ターリエン)、奉天(ほうてん／フォンティエン)、ハルビンに滞在し、個展を開くが、帰途山口県徳山町（現周南(しゅうなん)市）で12月20日急死した。享年38歳。文筆活動も盛んで、著書に『劉生画集及芸術観』『劉生図案画集』『図画教育論』『演劇美論』『美の本体』などがあり、克明な日記はのち『劉生絵日記』となった。

［小倉忠夫］

『『岸田劉生全集』全10巻（1979～80・岩波書店）』▽『岡畏三郎著『現代日本美術全集8　岸田劉生』（1972・集英社）』▽『富山秀男著『岸田劉生』（岩波新書）』

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