Teijiro Nakahara

Japanese: 中原悌二郎 - なかはら・ていじろう

Year of death: March 28, 1921
Year of birth: October 4, 1888 (Meiji 21)
A sculptor from the end of the Meiji period to the Taisho period. Born in the port town of Kushiro, Hokkaido, he moved to Tokyo in 1905 (Meiji 38) with the aim of becoming a painter. He studied at the Hakuba-kai Western Painting Institute and the Taiheiyo Gakai Institute, but in 1906 he was impressed by the work of Ogiwara Morie and switched to sculpture shortly after Morie's death in April 1908. At the Taiheiyo Gakai Institute, he studied under sculptor Shinkai Taketaro, while also becoming a member of a group of artists who gathered at Shinjuku Nakamuraya, where he became friends with Western painter Nakamura Tsune and others. In 1908, his work "Head of an Elderly Man" was selected for the fourth Bunten exhibition. In 1910, he was inspired by seeing Rodin's work for the first time, but his health deteriorated and he returned home temporarily. He returned to Tokyo again in 1915 (Taisho 4), and in 1916 he joined the sculpture department of the Japan Art Academy, and in the same year he submitted "Portrait of Ishii Kakuzo" to the third Inten exhibition, winning the Chogyu Prize. In 1833, he submitted "Portrait of an Old Gravekeeper" to the 3rd Inten Trial Exhibition, where he won an Encouragement Award. In 1834, he became a member of the Inten Association, and the following year, he submitted his representative work, "Young Caucasian," to the Inten Exhibition. From Rodin, he learned how to grasp form rather than express emotion, and left behind works with a solid sense of volume that were based on realism but did not focus on details. To make ends meet in a small rented room, he produced paint paintings while devoting himself to the study of sculpture. In 1833, he coughed up blood. Although he found a temporary remission, two years later, his illness progressed and he died at the age of 32. Due to his sincere attitude toward his work, he destroyed any works he was not satisfied with, so there are few posthumous works, but some can be seen at the Rokuzan Museum of Art in Hotaka Town, Nagano Prefecture. After his death, an exhibition of his posthumous works was held at the Japan Art Academy, and the Institute published "Collected Works of Nakahara Teijiro." His posthumous manuscripts have been published as "The Life of Sculpture."

(Emiko Yamanashi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：大正10.3.28(1921)
生年：明治21.10.4(1888)
明治末から大正期の彫刻家。北海道釧路の港町に生まれ,画家を志して明治38(1905)年上京。白馬会洋画研究所,太平洋画会研究所に学ぶが,41年,荻原守衛の作品に感銘を受け,43年4月の守衛死去後間もなく彫刻に転向する。太平洋画会研究所では彫刻家新海竹太郎に師事する一方,新宿中村屋に集う芸術家グループの一員となり,洋画家中村彝らと交遊。43年,第4回文展に「老人頭像」で初入選する。45年,初めてロダンの実作を見て啓示を受けるが,その後体調を崩し,一時帰郷。大正4(1915)年再び上京し,5年日本美術院彫刻部に参加,同年第3回院展に「石井鶴三像」を出品して樗牛賞を受けた。6年,第3回院展試作展に「墓守老人像」を出品して奨励賞を受賞。7年院展同人となり,翌年,代表作となった「若きカフカス人」を院展に出品した。ロダンからは感情表現よりも,むしろ形体把握の方法を学び,写実に基づきつつも細部にこだわらない,堅固な量感を持つ作品を残した。狭い借り部屋で糊口をしのぐため,ペンキ絵制作をする一方,彫刻研究に打ち込む。6年に喀血。一時,小康を得たが,2年後,病が進み32歳で死去した。制作に対する真摯な姿勢から,納得のいかない作品は自ら破壊したため遺作は少ないが,いくつかは長野県穂高町の碌山美術館で見られる。没後の院展では,日本美術院を会場に遺作展が開かれ,『中原悌二郎作品集』が同院によって刊行された。遺稿は『彫刻の生命』として刊行されている。

(山梨絵美子)

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