QUOTES
GALLERY
OUTFITS
BLOSSOMING
LETTERS
RECOLLECTIONS
BIRTHDAY
RING
State of Mind
Attack
Defense
Evasion
Technique
Talent
Aesthetics
Theme
Realism
「こんにちは。僕の道は一本だから、君についていくよ」
常に穏やかな笑みを絶やさないクールな芸術家。文学の分野では詩人として活躍しているが、その他にも彫刻や絵画、書道など多彩な才能を持つ。武道の心得もある一方で戦いは悲しみを生むだけと考えており、侵蝕者と戦わなければならないことには少し複雑に感じているようだ。彫刻に適した木を見ると周りが見えなくなる。
"Hello. I have but one path, so I'll follow you."
An attractive artist who perpetually has a gentle smile on his face. Although he is most active in the literary world as a poet, he possesses multiple talents which include carving and painting, as well as calligraphy. Even though he is well-versed in martial arts, due to the fact that he finds war to be a harbinger of sorrow, he feels a little complicated when he has no choice but to fight against taints. He gets tunnel vision when he sees wood that is suitable for carving.
- Was the first son of the famous sculptor Takamura Kōun (1852-1934).
- Takamura Kōtarō trained as a sculpturer under his father, before joining the Tokyo University of Fine Arts.
- After graduating in 1902, he went abroad to further complete his studies: first in New York, then London and finally in Paris.
- In Paris, he saw The Thinker by the sculptor Auguste Rodin for the first time; Takamura's response to this work was so intense he claimed that he could never look at art the same way again. He began to experiment with his own style, adopting a new approach to both his sculptures and his poetry.[1]
- He was also a translator and writer of many books and articles on Rodin's artistic career, and realized many tributes to the french artist. [1][2]
- When he returned from Europe, he was estranged from his family; and entered upon a decadent lifestyle, vigorously opposing social conventions of every kind. [3]
- He joined a poetry circle called Shinshisha (New Poetry Society), publishing his works to the literary magazine Subaru.
- In 1910 he published Midori iro no taiyô (Green Sun), an essay in wich he argued for the right of an artist to absolute freedom of self-expression; Midori iro no taiyô is still considered as one of the most influential "art-critical" texts in the country.[1]
- Takamura joined Pan no Kai (Society of Pan), the literary group founded by Yoshii Isamu and Kitahara Hakushuu.[4]
- He frequently drank with other Pan no Kai members, but he was also know to abandon such meetings halfway.
After a particular meeting broke up one night in 1910, he drunkenly went to observe some of the girls in the red-light district. He was attracted by the hair style and features of one girl in particular, whom he sketched on a pad that he kept in the breast of his kimono.[3]
- In 1911 he met Nagamuna Chieko (1886-1938) another painter and a member of Seitō-sha, a group for women's liberation. Takamura shared her anti-conformist and progressive aspirations, and the two got married in December 1914.
- The same year, he published his first poetry book Dōtei (Journey).
- In 1912 he founded the Fusain-Kai with other painters and sculptors of the time; the first and only exhibition was held in the Ginza at the Yomiuri Shinbun building and displayed the artists interpretations of various styles associated with European post-impressionism.[5]
- He and Kusano Shinpei were the first critics to take notice of Miyazawa Kenji's self -pulished books in 1924, both of them admired his writing and they introduced him to the literary world, pushing for a wider acknowledgement of his children stories.[6]
- In 1941 he published the book Chiekoshō, a collection of romantic poetry that he wrote about his life with Chieko, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1931 and died of tuberculosis in 1938.
- A movie based on Chiekoshō was made in 1967, and got nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
- In 1951 Takamura received the 2nd Yomiuri Prize.
- Takamura retired from public life during the war; as a self recluse he began making wood carving of animals and wrote the poetry collection A Brief History of Imbecility.[7]
- He died at age 73 due to pulmonary tuberculosis.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Takamura Koun and Takamura Kotaro: On being a Sculptor, Christine Guth, 2004
- ↑ Paris in Japan: The Japanese encounter with European painting, J. Thomas Rimer, Gerald D. Bolas, Takashina Shuji, 1987
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Singing Heart: An Anthology of Japanese Poems, Kenkichi Yamamoto, 2006
- ↑ Being Modern in Japan: Culture and Society from the 1910s to the 1930s, Elise K. Tipton and John Clark, 2000
- ↑ MAVO: Japanese Artists and the Avant-Garde, 1905-1931, Gennifer Weisenfeld, 2001
- ↑ Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan Gen Itasaka, 1983
- ↑ A Brief History of Imbecility: Poetry and Prose of Takamura Kōtarō, Hiroaki Sato, 1992