“Yotsugisoga no asahina” 世継曽我の朝比奈

Description

Original woodblock print – Nishimura Goun西村五雲(1877-1938) -“Yotsugisoga no asahina” 世継曽我の朝比奈- ca. 1923

This woodblock print drawn by Nishimura Goun (ca.1923)
The Asahinasaburou(朝比奈三郎) that appears in Kabukisogataimen(寿曽我対面)charactor is drawn.

Nishimura Goun西村五雲(memo)

Best known for his paintings of animals Nishimura Goun(西村五雲) war born and lived his life in Kyoto. His real name was Genjirō 源次郎 and he was the second son of a Kyoto dyer. At the age of twelve he became the pupil of the Kyoto painter Kishi Chikudō(岸竹堂) (1826-1897), known for his paintings of animals, studying under him for seven years until Kishi’s death. In 1899 he began studying with Takeuchi Seihō(竹内栖鳳) (1864-1942), known for his paintings of animals  which “stunned the public”, at Seihō‘s private art school, Chikujokai. He showed at the Nihon Bijutsu Kyokai (Japan Art Association) and then with the Zenkoku Kaiga Kyoshinkai (National Competitive Painting Exhibition). He was a prize winner at the first Bunten in 1907, winning for his painting of a polar bear poised over a captured seal, shown below. He would go on to become a member, and frequent juror, of the Teiten, a member of the Imperial Art Academy and a professor at various Kyoto Art schools. He would go on to establish his own painting school(晨鳥社) in 1912.In 1914 he contracted a debilitating illness which limited him to producing small-scale works. In 1924 he returned to teaching and remained active until his death in 1936.