Georges Ferdinand Bigot

French painter. Born in Paris, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. He was influenced by Japonism through his association with Zola and Felix Buot, and developed an interest in Japan. He learned copperplate printing from Buot, and came to Japan in January 1882 (Meiji 15) to study Japanese art. He initially opened an art school in Yokohama, but from October of the same year he served as an art teacher at the Military Academy for two years, and published four books of copperplate prints between 1883 and 1886. Around 1887, he decided to return to Japan, but got a job as a correspondent for Western journalism, and stayed there for a long time. At the same time, he began publishing satirical magazines such as "Tobae" (1887-1890) and collections of cartoons, but his harsh satire of treaty revisions, domestic and foreign political situations, and Japanese people put him under the watchful eye of the authorities. During the Sino-Japanese War, he served as a correspondent for the British newspaper "Graphic". In 1894, he married a Japanese woman, Sano Mas, and had a son, Maurice, but fearing that the treaty revision would lead to the abolition of the settlement and government oppression, he divorced Mas and returned to Japan with Maurice in June 1899. He died in Pièvres, a suburb of Paris.

[Isao Shimizu]

"Shimizu Isao, 'Meiji Satirist Bigot' (1978, Shinchosha)" ▽ "Shimizu Isao, 'Japanese Studies in Pictures - The World of Georges Bigot' (1981, Chuokoron-Shinsha)" ▽ "Shimizu Isao, ed., 'Bigot's Collection of Japanese Sketches' (Iwanami Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの画家。パリに生まれ、エコール・デ・ボザールに学ぶ。ゾラやフェリックス・ビュオらとの交際によりジャポニスムの影響を受け、日本に関心をもつ。ビュオに銅版画技術を学び、1882年（明治15）1月、日本美術研究のため来日。当初は横浜で画塾を開くが、同年10月から2年間、陸軍士官学校の画学教師を務め、83年から86年にかけて四冊の銅版画集を刊行。87年ころ帰国を決意するが、西欧ジャーナリズムの通信員の仕事を得て長期滞在するようになり、同時に『トバエ』（1887～90）などの風刺雑誌や風刺画集を刊行し始めるが、条約改正、内外政局、日本人の辛辣(しんらつ)な風刺で官憲にマークされる。日清(にっしん)戦争にはイギリスの新聞『グラフィック』の特派画家として従軍。94年に日本女性佐野マスと結婚して息子モーリスをもうけるが、条約改正による「居留地廃止・官憲の弾圧」を恐れ、マスと離婚し、99年6月モーリスを伴って帰国。パリ郊外ピエーブルに没。

［清水　勲］

『清水勲著『明治の諷刺画家・ビゴー』（1978・新潮社）』▽『清水勲著『絵で書いた日本人論――ジョルジュ・ビゴーの世界』（1981・中央公論社）』▽『清水勲編『ビゴー日本素描集』（岩波文庫）』

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