Aoki Shigeru

A genius oil painter who died young and was representative of the romanticism of the late Meiji period. Born on July 13, 1882 in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture. His father was a samurai of the former Arima domain and a Loyalist at the time of the Meiji Restoration. His classmate in high school was Sakamoto Hanjiro. During his time at Kurume Junior High School Meizen, he published a literary magazine with his classmates and began Western-style painting with Sakamoto under the tutelage of Mori Miyoshi. He eventually decided to become a painter, dropped out of junior high school, moved to Tokyo and became a student of Koyama Shotaro's Fudosha school, and enrolled in the Western painting department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts the following year in 1900 (Meiji 33). He studied plein air painting techniques under Kuroda Seiki, and was also passionate about philosophy, religion, mythology, and literature in general. The results of his studies were watercolors such as "Yomotsu Hirasaka" and "Jaimin", which he exhibited at the 8th Hakuba-kai exhibition in 1903 and received the 1st Hakuba-kai prize. These were inspired by ancient myths and legends from Japan and India, and are rich in literary romance and fantastical paintings. He graduated from the art school in 1904, and his classmates included Kumagai Morikazu and Yamashita Shintaro. In the summer of that year, he produced the impressionist series of "Seascapes" in Boso, as well as his masterpiece "Fruits of the Sea" (Important Cultural Property), the latter of which was exhibited at the Hakuba-kai exhibition and brought him instant fame, inspiring the poet Kambara Ariake and leading to their friendship. The following year, he and Fukuda Tane had a son, Yukihiko (Fukuda Rando).

Aoki absorbed the works of the Pre-Raphaelites, Gustave Moreau, and Chavannes in his own way, and in the late 1890s, against the backdrop of the rising energy and artistic trends of the times, he attracted attention by flowering a sophisticated romantic art that went beyond the Kuroda-style plein air school. After receiving the third prize at the Tokyo Industrial Exposition in 1907 for Wadatsumi no Iroko no Miya (Important Cultural Property), he returned home for family reasons and spent several years wandering and creating works around Kyushu, before dying in poverty on March 25, 1911, at the age of 28.

[Tadao Ogura]

"The Creation of Imaginary Images" by Aoki Shigeru (1966, Chuokoron-Shinsha Bijutsu Shuppan)" ▽ "Aoki Shigeru" by Kawakita Michiaki (1972, Nihon Keizai Shimbun)" ▽ "Japanese Masterpieces 12: Aoki Shigeru" by Dan Kazuo, Oshima Seiji, and Takashina Shuji (1975, Chuokoron-Shinsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治後期の浪漫(ろうまん)主義思潮を代表する夭折(ようせつ)の天才的油彩画家。明治15年7月13日、福岡県久留米(くるめ)に生まれる。父は旧有馬(ありま)藩士で明治維新の際は勤皇党であった。高等小学校の同級に坂本繁二郎がいた。久留米中学明善校時代は、級友と文芸雑誌を出すほか、坂本とともに森三美(みよし)について洋画を始めた。やがて画家を志して中学を退校し、上京して小山(こやま)正太郎の不同舎に入門するが、翌1900年（明治33）東京美術学校西洋画科に入学した。黒田清輝(せいき)に外光派の画法を学ぶほか、広く哲学、宗教、神話、文学に熱中している。その成果は『黄泉比良坂(よもつひらさか)』『闍威弥尼(じゃいみに)』などの水彩画となり、1903年白馬会第8回展に出品して第1回白馬会賞を受けた。これらは日本やインドの古代神話、伝説から画想を得ており、文学的浪漫性が豊かに、幻想的に絵画化されている。1904年美校を卒業、同級生に熊谷守一(くまがいもりかず)、山下新太郎らがいた。この年の夏、房州で印象派的な『海景』連作ならびに代表作『海の幸』（重要文化財）を制作し、後者は白馬会に出品されて一躍名声をあげ、詩人蒲原有明(かんばらありあけ)を感激させ、親交の機縁となった。翌年福田たねとの間に一子幸彦（福田蘭童(らんどう)）が生まれた。

　青木はラファエル前派、ギュスタブ・モロー、シャバンヌなども独自に吸収し、明治30年代後半、時代の上昇機運と芸術思潮を背景として、黒田系外光派を超えた香り高い浪漫的美術を開花させて注目される。1907年東京府勧業博覧会で『わだつみのいろこの宮』（重要文化財）により三等賞を受けたのち、家の事情で帰郷して数年間九州各地を放浪、制作し、明治44年3月25日、窮乏のうちに28歳の生涯を閉じた。

［小倉忠夫］

『青木繁著『假象の創造』（1966・中央公論美術出版）』▽『河北倫明著『青木繁』（1972・日本経済新聞社）』▽『檀一雄・大島清次・高階秀爾著『日本の名画 12　青木繁』（1975・中央公論社）』

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