was a Japanese ''

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 ...

'' painter. Her maiden name was Yuki Mizoguchi. She was known for her ''

bijinga is a generic term for pictures of beautiful women () in Japanese art, especially in woodblock printing of the ukiyo-e genre. Definition defines as a picture that simply "emphasizes the beauty of women", and the ''Shincho Encyclopedia of W ...

.''

Biography

Ogura was born in

Ōtsu file:Otsu City Hall.JPG, 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km². The total a ...

city,

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...

and graduated from the Nara Women's Normal School (the predecessor of

Nara Women's University is a national women's university located in Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It is one of two national women's universities in the country, the other being Ochanomizu University.For more about the legal status of "national universities" in Japan, se ...

). She was employed as a school teacher, but her interest in art led her to study under noted ''Nihonga'' painter Yukihiko Yasuda in 1920. In 1926, her painting ''Kyuri'' ("Cucumbers") was selected for an ''Inten'' Exhibition by the

Japan Fine Arts 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 ...

(''Nihon Bijutsu-in'') . Ogura became the first female member of the Japan Fine Arts Academy in 1932. She specialized in graceful family scenes,

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 ...

, and pictures of women. During the 1950s and 1960s, she painted many large

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

of friends and family members in the nude. Although Ogura never departed from the traditional framework of the ''Nihonga'' style, her figure paintings are often described by contemporary critics as "modern," both in style and content. A very prolific artist, in 1976, she was selected to become 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 ...

(''Nihon Geijitsu-in''), and later become honorary chairperson of that organization. She was awarded the

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 ...

in 1980, and is one of only two women painters (the other being fellow ''Nihonga'' painter

Uemura Shōen was the pseudonym of an artist in Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japanese painting. Her real name was Uemura Tsune. Shōen was known primarily for her ''bijin-ga,'' or paintings of beautiful women, in the ''nihonga'' style, although sh ...

) to be so honored. Her studio and home were located in

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

, where she lived to the age of 105.

Famous works

*''Yuami Onna'' ("Bathing Women", 1938) *''Oyako'' ("Mother and Child", 1961) *''Maiko'' ("Apprentice Geisha", 1962)

References

* Conant, Ellen P., Rimer, J. Thomas, Owyoung, Stephen. ''Nihonga: Transcending the Past : Japanese-Style Painting, 1868–1968''. Weatherhill (1996). * Mason, Penelope. ''History of Japanese Art''. Prentice Hall (2004). * Ogura, Yuki. ''Ogura Yuki''. Kodansha America (1988). {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogura, Yuki 1895 births 2000 deaths Japanese centenarians Nihonga painters Buddhist artists People from Ōtsu, Shiga Recipients of the Order of Culture 20th-century Japanese painters 20th-century Japanese women artists Women centenarians Artists from Shiga Prefecture Japanese women painters Nara Women's University alumni