(3 July 1887 – 24 December 1924) was a Japanese

yōga is a style of artistic painting in Japan, typically of Japanese subjects, themes, or landscapes, but using Western (European) artistic conventions, techniques, and materials. The term was coined in the Meiji period (1868–1912) to distingu ...

painter best known for his portraits of Sōma Toshiko including ''Girl, Shojo'' (1914).

Life

Girl by Nakamura Tsune (Nakamuraya Salon Museum of Art)

Nakamura Tsune was born in 1887 in what is now

Mito City is the capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 269,330 in 123,282 households and a population density of 1239 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged ...

, into a family that had served as

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

in the

Mito domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Hitachi Province in modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture.tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. While recuperating, he developed aspirations to become a painter, and in 1906 joined the , before moving the following year to the . That same year he was baptised. In 1908 he began to socialize with artists including Ogiwara Rokuzan at the Atelier in

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

. Two of his works, ''Cloudy Morning'' and ''Cliffs'' (now in the

Museum of the Imperial Collections The Museum of the Imperial Collections is located on the grounds of the East Garden of Tokyo Imperial Palace. It showcases a changing exhibition of a part of the imperial household treasures. History The Museum of the Imperial Collections was con ...

) featured in the Third

Bunten The is a Japanese art exhibition established in 1907. The exhibition consists of five art faculties: Japanese Style and Western Style Painting, Sculpture, Craft as Art, and Sho (calligraphy). During each exhibition, works of the great masters are ...

Exhibition in 1909, the latter receiving a commendation. In 1911 he moved into a studio behind the Nakamura-ya. The following year

haemoptysis Hemoptysis is the coughing up of blood or blood-stained mucus from the bronchi, larynx, trachea, or lungs. In other words, it is the airway bleeding. This can occur with lung cancer, infections such as tuberculosis, bronchitis, or pneumonia, and ...

began. In 1913 Sōma Toshiko, daughter of Aizō and Kokkō, became his model. In 1914, ''Girl'' won a prize at the Eighth

Exhibition. Later that year he visited

Izu Ōshima is an inhabited volcanic island in the Izu archipelago in the Philippine Sea, off the coast of Honshu, Japan, east of the Izu Peninsula and southwest of Bōsō Peninsula. As with the other islands in the Izu Island group, Izu Ōshima form ...

. In 1915 his petition for the hand of Toshiko in marriage was opposed by her parents (she went on to marry

Rash Behari Bose Rash Behari Bose (; 25 May 1886 – 21 January 1945) was an Indian revolutionary leader against the British Raj. He was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar Mutiny and founded the First Indian National Army during World War 2. The Indian N ...

). In 1916 he built a studio in in Shinjuku and exhibited ''Dr. Tanakadate'' and ''Nude'' at the Eleventh Bunten Exhibition. His ''Portrait of Eroshenko'' was exhibited at the Second Teiten Exhibition in 1920. In December 1924 at the age of 37 he died in his studio in Shimo-Ochiai. His remains were interred at in Mito the following year.

Shinjuku Nakamura Tsune Atelier Memorial Museum

The opened in Shinjuku in 2013. Admission to the museum is free.

References

{{Authority control 1887 births 1924 deaths Japanese painters

Life

Shinjuku Nakamura Tsune Atelier Memorial Museum

See also

References