was a Japanese painter and luminary of the ''

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 ...

'' (or Western-style) scene in the late Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa eras. He was a member of the

Japan Art Academy is the highest-ranking official artistic organization in Japan. It is established as an extraordinary organ of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁, Bunkacho) in the thirty-first article of the law establishing the Ministry of Ed ...

, an

Imperial Household Artist An was an artist who was officially appointed by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan to create works of art for the Tokyo Imperial Palace and other imperial residences. History The system came into being during the Meiji period in 1890 and ...

, a recipient of the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

and

Order of Culture The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipien ...

, an ''Officier'' in the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, and a

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

Biography

Born in what is now the city of Tarumizu,

Kagoshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...

, Japan, in 1874, little Eisaku moved to

Azabu is an area in Minato,Tokyo, Japan. Built on a marshy area of foothills south of central Tokyo, its coverage roughly corresponds to that of the former Azabu Ward, presently consisting of nine official districts: Azabu-Jūban, Azabudai, Azabu ...

in Tokyo with his family at the age of four or five when his father , a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

, was appointed as an instructor in English at the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

. In 1887 the young Wada entered the Protestant ; among his classmates was fellow yōga painter , while author

Tōson Shimazaki was the pen-name of Haruki Shimazaki, a Japanese writer active in the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa periods of Japan. He began his career as a Romantic poet, but went on to establish himself as a major proponent of Japanese Naturalism. Ea ...

was in one of the years above. After learning the rudiments of Western-style painting from Uesugi Kumatsu, with his introduction, dropping out of Meiji Gakuin in 1891, he studied alongside Miyake and under Soyama Sachihiko at his painting school. After his death in 1892, Wada studied alongside Miyake at Harada Naojirō's ; the same year his work featured at the 4th Exhibition, and again at the 5th in 1893. In 1893 he also studied

Nihonga ''Nihonga'' (, "Japanese-style paintings") are Japanese paintings from about 1900 onwards that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and materials. While based on traditions over a thousand years ...

, under

Kubota Beisen was a Japanese artist and art instructor in the Meiji period. Although his style remained recognisably Japanese, his knowledge of Western principles and methods is also reflected in his work.Diósy, Arthur. (1900). Beisen trained under Suzuk ...

. After Harada's painting school closed in 1894, Wada studied under

Kuroda Seiki Viscount was a Japanese painter and teacher, noted for bringing Western art theory and practice to a wide Japanese audience. He was among the leaders of the ''yōga'' (or Western-style) movement in late 19th and early 20th-century Japanese pai ...

and Kume Keiichirō, on their return from Paris, at their newly established , where he became versed in pleinairism. Kuroda was not alone in being struck by his student's precocious abilities: at the following year's Fourth National Industrial Exhibition, his ''Early Summer Beside the Sea'' was awarded a "Virtuosity Prize" (similarly honoured were Kuroda (for his scandalizing ''Morning Toilette''), Kume, and

Asai Chū was a Japanese painter, noted for his pioneering work in developing the ''yōga'' (Western-style) art movement in late 19th century and early twentieth-century Japanese painting. Biography Asai was born to an ex-samurai class household in Saku ...

In 1896 Wada was involved, along with Kuroda and Kume, in the establishment of the

Hakuba-kai The or "White Horse Society" was a fluid late Meiji association of Japanese practitioners of yōga or Western-style painting. Established in June 1896, thirteen exhibitions were staged before the Society was disbanded in 1911 (the missing years b ...

or "White Horse Society", submitting nineteen pieces for the 1st Exhibition that year; he would continue to submit paintings for their exhibitions until the 12th in 1909, even during the time he was in Europe. Also in 1896, when Kuroda became Professor in the newly formed Department of Western-Style Painting (

) at the , Wada,

Fujishima Takeji was a Japanese people, Japanese painter, noted for his work in developing Romanticism and impressionism within the ''yoga (art), yōga'' (Western-style) art movement in late 19th- and early 20th-century Japanese painting. In his later years, he ...

, and

Okada Saburōsuke Okada Saburōsuke (Japanese: 岡田三郎助; 12 January 1869, Saga – 23 September 1939, Tokyo) was a Japanese painter in the Yōga style and a professor at the "Tōkyō Bijutsu Gakkō" (School of Fine Arts); precursor of the Tokyo University ...

were appointed Assistant Professors; however, in 1897 he resigned from his post, enrolling as a student in the same department, with special dispensation to enter as a fourth-year student, whence he then became the first to graduate, his graduation piece being his 1897 ''Evening at the Ferry Crossing''. He spent half of 1898 guiding Adolf Fischer ( de), future founder of the

Museum of East Asian Art (Cologne) The Museum of East Asian Art (''Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst Köln'') opened in Cologne, Germany in 1913 and is the oldest of its kind in the country. The collection of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese art originates in that of its founders Ado ...

, around various locales, including the

Kinai is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kinai ...

and Hokuriku regions and

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

. In 1899 Wada took up Fischer's invitation to assist with the cataloguing of his burgeoning collection of Japanese art, and travelled to Berlin; this was the time of the

Berlin Secession The Berlin Secession was an art movement established in Germany on May 2, 1898. Formed in reaction to the Association of Berlin Artists, and the restrictions on contemporary art imposed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, 65 artists "seceded," demonstrating ag ...

. In March 1900 he moved to Paris, where he saw his ''Evening at the Ferry Crossing'' at the

Grand Palais The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées ( en, Great Palace of the Elysian Fields), commonly known as the Grand Palais (English: Great Palace), is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th arro ...

during the Exposition Universelle (where it received an Honourable Mention). There he studied, like Kuroda, Kume, and Okada, under

Raphaël Collin Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin (17 June 1850 – 21 October 1916) was a French painter born and raised in Paris, where he became a prominent academic painter and a teacher. He is principally known for the links he created between French and Japa ...

at the Académie Colarossi, sponsored by the

Monbusho The was a former Japanese government ministry. Its headquarters were in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English. From Autumn 1901 to Spring the following year, Wada stayed in

Grez-sur-Loing Grez-sur-Loing (, literally ''Grez on Loing''; formerly Grès-en-Gâtinais, literally ''Grès in Gâtinais'') is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France. Sights * The Church of Notre-Dame et Saint-Laurent ''(Church o ...

with

, where they painted and penned their . In 1902 he learned decorative arts from Eugène Grasset who is a pioneer of Art Nouveau. His ''Thoughts of Home (Portrait of a Japanese Lady)'' appeared at the 1902

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

organized by the

Société des Artistes Français The Société des Artistes Français (, meaning "Society of French Artists") is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the "Salon des artistes français" (not to be confused with the ...

, while he sent '' Kodama'' back home for the Fifth National Industrial Exhibition, in 1903, where again he was awarded a runners-up prize. When he stayed in Paris, he held a gathering of haiku poets with Beisai Kubota. Returning to Japan, via Italy, also in 1903 he was appointed professor at his '' alma mater''. In 1904 he exhibited a landscape at the St. Louis World's Fair. In 1907 he was appointed one of the judges at the , where he was awarded a First Prize for his ''Setting Sun'', and also of the inaugural

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 (he would continue to be a member of the adjudicating committee until the 12th and final Bunten exhibition in 1918). Also in 1907, he married . In 1911 he painted the ceiling of the

Imperial Theatre The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed fo ...

as well as murals for its dining room. In 1914 he was appointed one of the judges at the , exhibited at the and painted murals for the Akasaka Detached Palace and

Tokyo Station Tokyo Station ( ja, 東京駅, ) is a railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is ...

. In 1919 he became a member of the Imperial Fine Arts Academy. In 1920 he travelled again to Europe, returning in 1921 after his involvement in the display of Japanese works in an exhibition organized by the French government. In 1922 he was awarded the

, 4th Class, and in 1923 membership in the ''

'' with the rank of ''Officier''. Also in 1923 he was appointed one of the judges at the second

Chōsen Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offici ...

Art Exhibition ( ja) ("Senten"). In 1925 he transferred his official place of residence from Kagoshima to Tokyo. In 1926 one of his paintings was included in the 1st Exhibition in Honour of

Shōtoku Taishi Shōtoku may refer to: * Prince Shōtoku (574-622), a politician of the Asuka period * Empress Kōken, or Empress Shōtoku (718-770), the 48th imperial ruler of Japan * Shōtoku (era) was a after ''Hōei'' and before '' Kyōhō.'' This period ...

, and in each of 1929, 1936, and 1941 he was the subject of one-man shows at the

Nihonbashi is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The current ...

Mitsukoshi is an international department store chain with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, which also owns the Isetan department store chain. History It was founded in 1673 with the (shop name) , selli ...

. In 1932 he became President of the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts (he retired in 1936, to become an emeritus professor). In 1932 he published a book “Sketch-books of Seiki Kuroda”.In 1933 he became a member of the Historical Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, and Natural Monuments Examining Committee. In 1934 he became an

. In 1936 he completed his ''Ceremony for the Promulgation of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

'' for the

Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery is a gallery commemorating the "imperial virtues" of Japan's Emperor Meiji, Meiji Emperor, installed on his funeral site in the ''Meiji Shrine#Gaien, Gaien'' or outer precinct of Meiji Shrine in Tōkyō. The gallery is one of the earliest Japanes ...

. In 1937 he became a member of the Imperial Art Academy. For three years from 1940 he was involved in the copying of the wall paintings of the Hōryū-ji kondō. In 1943 he was a recipient of the

. In 1945 he evacuated to what is now

Yamatokōriyama is a city in Nara Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 84,059 and 38,944 households. Geography Yamato Koriyama is located in the northern part of the Nara Basin and stretches approximately 9 km from east to west and ...

Nara Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...

, then to Chiryū in

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

. In 1951 he was recognized as a

and moved to Shimizu in

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

, where he died in 1959, posthumously receiving the

, 1st Class.

Works

Representative works include his early ''Evening at the Ferry Crossing'' (1897), ''Thoughts of Home'' (1902), and ''Kodama'' (1902); his mid-life series of portraits; and his late ''Ue-no-Midō'' (1945) and ''Summer Clouds'' (1950). He painted many

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

s with flowers, especially roses, and a number of views of

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...

. His ''Evening at the Ferry Crossing'' depicts a family of farmers at the Yaguchi crossing ( ja) of the

Tama River The is a major river in Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It is officially classified as a Class 1 river by the Japanese government. Its total length is , and the total of the river's basin area spans . The river ...

, strikingly illuminated, according to art historian , through his "skillful manipulation of evening light". '' Kodama'', inspired by the classical sculptures in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, and translated alternatively by Harada as ''

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...

'', is said to combine French

Academism Academic art, or academicism or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie d ...

with German

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

as a of Wada's period of study abroad; in Harada's words, it "evokes a Romantic sensuousness through gentle shading of the figure and barely visible handling of the brush"; the painting has also been likened in effect to Munch's ''

The Scream ''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...

.''

Exhibitions

Dedicated retrospectives include the 2002 , at the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, 2007 , at the

Kariya City Art Museum opened in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan in 1983. The collection focuses on local, modern, post-war, and contemporary art, and includes some 3,441 works by 168 artists, as of April 2020. See also * List of Cultural Properties of Japan - pain ...

, 2014 , at the Kagoshima City Museum of Art, and 2016 , again at the

Gallery

Hakubakai coterie in Paris (1900).jpg,

coterie in Paris in 1900; Wada Eisaku is the tall figure in the back row, with

to his right; in the centre is

, with Kume Keiichirō to his left Evening at the Ferry Crossing by Wada Eisaku (Geidai Museum).jpg, ''Evening at the Ferry Crossing'' (1897) (University Art Museum,

Tokyo University of the Arts or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

); exhibited at the 2nd

Exhibition and the Exposition Universelle Girl Reading a Newspaper by Wada Eisaku (Geidai Museum).jpg, ''Girl Reading a Newspaper'' (1897) (University Art Museum,

); exhibited at the 7th

Exhibition Shikyo by Wada Eisaku (Geidai Museum).jpg, ''Thoughts of Home (Portrait of a Japanese Lady)'' (1902) (University Art Museum,

); exhibited at the

and the 8th

Exhibition Kodama by Wada Eisaku (Senoku Hakukokan).jpg, '' Kodama'' (1902) (

Sen-oku Hakuko Kan 250px, Sen-oku Hakuko Kan is located in Kyoto, Japan and houses a large collection of Chinese bronze vessels, Chinese and Japanese mirrors, and a few Chinese bronze Buddhist figures. The collection was brought together by Sumitomo Kichizaemon V ...

); exhibited at the Fifth National Industrial Exhibition Old Woman by Wada Eisaku (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo).jpg, ''Old Woman'' (1908) (

National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo The in Tokyo, Japan, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art. This Tokyo museum is also known by the English acronym MOMAT (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). The museum is known for its collection of 20th-centu ...

); exhibited at the 2nd

Red Fuji by Wada Eisaku (Fujiyama Museum).jpg, ''Red Fuji'' (1916) (Fujiyama Museum) Celebration of the Completion of the Kondo by Waka Eisaku.jpg, ''Celebration of the Completion of the

Kondō Kondō, Kondo or Kondou (近藤 "near wisteria") is a surname prominent in Japanese culture, although it also occurs in other countries. Notable people with the surname include: * , Japanese ballet dancer * Dorinne K. Kondo, anthropologist * Kond ...

'' (1918) (

Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is , or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery. The temple wa ...

); exhibited at the 12th

Fukuzawa Yukichi by Wada Eisaku (1920).jpg, Portrait of

Fukuzawa Yukichi was a Japanese educator, philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and samurai who founded Keio University, the newspaper '' Jiji-Shinpō'', and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. Fukuzawa was an early advocate for reform in Japan. His ...

(1920) (private collection) Portrait of Taniguchi Goji by Wada Eisaku (Kagoshima City Museum of Art).jpg, Portrait of Taniguchi Goji ( ja) (1925) ( Kagoshima City Museum of Art) Roses by Wada Eisaku (Pola Museum of Art)2.jpg, ''Roses'' (c.1926) (

Pola Museum of Art is located in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It opened in September 2002 within Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. It houses the collection of over 9,500 works acquired by the former head of the Pola cosmetics group, including many works of Fr ...

) Girl in a Yellow Dress by Wada Eisaku (Yamatane Museum of Art).jpeg, ''Girl in a Yellow Dress'' (1931) (

Yamatane Museum The Yamatane Museum (山種美術館, ''Yamatane Bijutsukan'') is a museum in Japan specializing in the nihonga style of Japanese watercolour painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences) ...

); exhibited at the 12th Teiten Ceremony for the Promulgation of the Constitution by Wada Eisaku.jpg, ''Ceremony for the Promulgation of the

'' (1936) (

) Ue-no-Mido by Wada Eisaku (Kariya City Art Museum).jpg, ''Ue-no-Midō'' (1945) (

) Summer Clouds by Wada Eisaku (Toyota).jpg, ''Summer Clouds'' (1950) (

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Collection); exhibited at the 6th Nitten Landscape by Wada Eisaku (Toyota Municipal Museum of Art).jpg, ''Landscape'' (1951) ( Toyota Municipal Museum of Art)

References

External links

*
Tobunken bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wada, Eisaku 1874 births 1959 deaths Yōga painters Members of the Japan Art Academy Imperial household artists Recipients of the Order of Culture Persons of Cultural Merit Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Officiers of the Légion d'honneur 19th-century Japanese painters 20th-century Japanese painters Artists from Kagoshima Prefecture