Table of contents:
- 1. Katsushika Oi (Oops)
- 2. Uemura Shoen
- 3. Ike Gyokuran
- 4. Rieko Morita
- 5. Tycho Aoshima
- 6. Tatsu Hirota
- 7. Tamako Kataoka
- 8. Shirley Kaneda
- 9. Leiko Ikemura
- 10. Yayoi Kusama
Video: 10 famous female artists in Japanese art who surpassed men
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Many prominent Japanese female artists deserve great praise for the excellence of Japanese painting today. Too often, their contributions have been overlooked as galleries and art historians focus on their male counterparts. But there is no compelling reason why we all shouldn't take a closer look at the work of these exceptional female artists from the Edo period to the present day. They are innovators, feminists and simply the best at what they do.
1. Katsushika Oi (Oops)
It is impossible to talk about Japanese art without spending some time contemplating ukiyo-e, or woodcut, one of the country's greatest forms of art. Katsushika Oi is one of the ukiyo-e's superheroes. Oi's incredible artistic talent was almost guaranteed at birth, given the fact that her father was the legendary Hokusai. Although her legacy was somewhat overshadowed by her father, Oi was an incredible artist in her own right, thanks to her uncanny ability to use bold block coloration to capture the viewer's eye. Her forward-thinking attitude, combined with the traditional knowledge she gained while helping her father, brought a new perspective to a rich historical form and explains why she was one of the first female artists in Japan to be widely recognized for her skills.
2. Uemura Shoen
The name Uemura Shoen is actually the pseudonym of Uemura Tsune, an important artistic figure in Kyoto during the Meiji and Taisse periods. Her tireless exploration of the world of bijing (photographing beautiful girls) greatly influenced her artistic life, inspiring the artist to create images that would catalyze a new evolution in bijing painting. Thematically, Uemura's work focused on motifs common to classical bijing, such as beautiful women and iconic figures from the theater, but with a feminist twist: she loved to portray women in typically masculine poses. This bold move made Shoen's work some of the most sought-after and recognizable throughout the world.
3. Ike Gyokuran
Delving a little deeper into the history of Japanese art, Ike Gyokuran is one of the most influential and important female artists in the world of classical Japanese culture. Born in 1727, Gyokuran created most of her work in Kyoto, where she is still a very celebrated hero of her hometown. Her efforts in the world of calligraphy and poetry were highly acclaimed, but it was her contribution to the development of Southern painting that solidified her reputation. Thriving during the Edo period, this high-end painting style was heavily influenced by classical Chinese culture. Gyokuran's gentle, rhythmic and effortlessly sleek style can still be seen on many classic Japanese objects today, from folding screens and sliding doors to fans and hanging scrolls.
4. Rieko Morita
One of the most prolific nihonga artists in modern Japan and the most famous contemporary female artists, Rieko Morita has dedicated over thirty years to perfecting, redefining and influencing the nihonga world. In an exclusive interview with Japan Objects, Morita talked about how she drew inspiration from her previously undisclosed interest in the mysterious world of Maiko, saying, “It was a minor interest when I first started painting them, but gradually I really got caught up in the mysterious fascination of“traditional craft "The world of Maiko". Today, this mixture of appreciation of Japanese history, combined with a more modern approach to nihonga painting, is a great analogy for the country's commonly referred to old and new aesthetics.
5. Tycho Aoshima
Chiho Aoshima honed her pop art skills under the guidance of international pop culture legend Takashi Murakami, working with him on his Kaikai Kiki group exhibitions. Possessing an extraordinary talent, she managed to acquire support and collaboration with some of the legendary Japanese artists, one of which is Issei Miyake, known for his large-scale exhibitions around the world. After becoming disenchanted with her studies in economics, Aoshima learned to use Adobe Illustrator and from there she began to create her surreal dreamscape style that continues to challenge the concepts of what we think of as kawaii (cute) and kowai (scary).
6. Tatsu Hirota
Born in 1904 and raised in Kyoto, Tatsu Hirota's success in the arts isn't as easy as it might seem. Her family was poor, so the prospects for her career as an artist did not look so bright. Fortunately for Japanese art lovers, at the age of twelve, she firmly adhered to the idea of painting as her life's work. That is why most of her work is based on classic Japanese motives. Nevertheless, the subtle imagery of the stunning nudity and maiko (apprentice of the geisha), as well as the assertive use of the soft yet bold color of the block, brought her immense success.
7. Tamako Kataoka
Tamako Kataoka, born in Sapporo in 1905, is one of the most famous nihongi artists. Combining traditional Japanese imagery with a more Western style of pop art, she helped bring traditional nihonga painting into the modern era. Some of her most famous works are the Mount Fuji series, in which the artist took a surreal approach to painting nature, recreating an instantly recognizable figure in vibrant shades of white, red and blue.
8. Shirley Kaneda
Having settled in New York but born in Tokyo to Korean parents, Shirley Kaneda's cultural identity is diverse, as are the works she creates. She is commonly referred to as an abstract artist, as her bold, colorful, futuristic imagery is somewhere between surreal digital design and psychedelic dream landscapes. Kaneda left Japan in the 1970s to pursue her studies in the world of illustration at the Parsons School of Design in New York. Since then, she has continued to push the boundaries of shape and color to create pieces that somehow bring disparate elements together to evoke thought.
9. Leiko Ikemura
Originally from Mie Prefecture with Japanese and Swiss heritage, Leiko Ikemura is a sculptor and painter known for his masterful use of swirling colors and pastel shades that give her work a unique dream ambience. As a student, Ikemura left Japan to pursue her studies in Spain, then presented her debut show in Germany and moved to Zurich to live and pursue her artistic career. This worldly history, combined with her multi-medium occupations, makes her one of the country's most indefinable talents. In this haunting watercolor portrait, she presents her take on iconic artist Frida Kahlo.
10. Yayoi Kusama
The list is completed by the legendary Yayoi Kusama, known throughout the world for her hallucinogenic paintings. She was born in Nagano in 1929 and is a sculptor, installation artist, painter and writer. This woman is so important to the country's art scene that a special museum was opened in Shinjuku, Tokyo in October 2017 to honor her work and creativity. And who knows how the fate of the genius Japanese woman will develop in the future, who spent most of her life in a psychiatric clinic, but today, she continues to amaze, surprise, and sometimes even shock the public with her extraordinary, and sometimes even incredibly similar works, from which so dazzle in the eyes and dizzy.
Continuing the theme, read also about how an iconic Japanese artist has written a series of paintings that are currently worth millions of dollars.
Recommended:
Why did an Italian designer provocateur create a chair in the shape of a female body, and Why did he advocate "female thinking"
The armchair in the shape of a woman's body, created by Italian designer Gaetano Pesce, has been reproduced and copied hundreds of times, without thinking about the meaning of the designer himself. Brawler and provocateur, Pesce always knew how to tell sad stories in the most extravagant way, declared that "masculine thinking" is unacceptable in modern design, and architecture should be pleasant … to touch
Where did Japanese motives come from in the works of Claude Monet and other famous Western artists?
Claude Monet, like many other Impressionist painters, was deeply interested in Japanese art. Its novelty and sophistication fascinated many Europeans. This was a real revelation, as Japan was completely isolated from the outside world for almost two centuries. During this time, from the 17th-19th centuries, Japanese artists were able to develop a special artistic vocabulary that had a profound influence on some Western painters
The 8 most influential first ladies in the world: How they were remembered and in what they surpassed their presidential husbands
Being the wife of a head of state is not an easy job, and many of those whose husbands become presidents are not ready to be in full view all the time. But for some, the achievement of a high position by a spouse is a matter of honor. Already during the election campaign, the candidate and his other half act as a united front, and after the victory they again stand shoulder to shoulder in the political arena. Today we invite you to remember the most influential and brightest first ladies in history
What were the wives of great and famous Russian artists: Gallery of female portraits
Truly, there is a great woman behind every great man. And even if she is not even very noticeable against his background, her role is almost always very significant. And today I would like to tell a little about the wives of famous artists and present to the reader a gallery of their portraits, painted by their husbands, Russian painting masters of the late XIX - early XX centuries
8 famous men who chose young female companions similar to previous wives
It often happens that a man, going in search of new happiness, subconsciously looks for a woman who would be similar to the one with whom he was associated with many years of relationship. This pattern can be easily traced by looking at those life partners who were chosen by famous men after parting. After all, their new girlfriends, like the previous ones, are in sight, and therefore one glance is enough to understand: they belong to the same type