Yamamoto Housui

Western-style painter. Born in Mino Province (Gifu Prefecture) in 1850. Childhood names were Tamezo and Tamenosuke. He first went to Kyoto to study Nanga painting, and in 1872 (Meiji 5) he became a disciple of Goseda Horyu in Yokohama and switched to Western-style painting. In 1876 he entered the Kobu Bijutsu Gakko (Ministry of Engineering) and studied under Fontanesi. The following year he exhibited at the First Domestic Industrial Exposition, winning the Flower Pattern Award and having his work purchased by the Imperial Household Ministry. In 1878 he traveled to France as an employee of the Paris World Exposition Secretariat, and entered the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, studying under Léon Gérôme, before returning to Japan in 1887. The following year he opened the Seikokan art school with Goda Kiyoshi, where he taught the next generation of artists, and in 1889 he founded the Meiji Bijutsu Kai (Meiji Art Association) with his comrades. He later participated in the founding of Kuroda Seiki's Hakuba-kai (White Horse Society). He served in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, producing documentary war paintings. His style of painting shows a refined academicism in the French style. His students at the Seikokan included Fujishima Takeji, Shirataki Ikunosuke, and Yuasa Ichiro. His representative works include "Nude," "Portrait of a Western Woman," and "The Twelve Zodiacs."

[Tadao Ogura]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

洋画家。嘉永(かえい)3年美濃(みの)国（岐阜県）に生まれる。幼名為蔵、為之助。初め京都に出て南画を学び、1872年（明治5）横浜で五姓田芳柳(ごせだほうりゅう)に入門、洋画に転じる。76年工部美術学校に入学してフォンタネージの指導を受け、翌年の第1回内国勧業博覧会に出品、花紋賞を受け、宮内省買上げとなる。78年パリ万国博事務局雇として渡仏し、国立美術学校に入ってレオン・ジェロームに師事し、87年帰国する。翌年合田清(ごうだきよし)とともに生巧館(せいこうかん)画学校を開いて後進の指導にあたり、89年同志と明治美術会を創立。のち黒田清輝(せいき)の白馬(はくば)会創立に参加する。日清(にっしん)戦争、日露戦争に従軍し、記録的戦争画を描いた。画風はフランス流に洗練されたアカデミズムを示す。生巧館門下に藤島武二(たけじ)、白滝幾之助(しらたきいくのすけ)、湯浅一郎らがいた。代表作に『裸婦』『西洋婦人像』『十二支』がある。

［小倉忠夫］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例