Konoshima Ōkoku
Japanese, 1877 - 1938
Person TypeIndividual
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BiographyKonoshima Ōkoku (木島 桜谷, 1887–1938) was a Nihonga painter active in the Shijō school from the Meiji period through the early Shōwa period. His name was Bunjirō 文治郎, his style name (azana) was Bunshitsu 文質, and his other pen names included Ryūchisōdō Shujin龍池草堂主人 and Rōroujin 聾廬迂人. Having possessed a style that displays the technically sophisticated realism for which the Shijō school was famous, he is known as “the [Matsumura] Goshun of the Taishō era” and “the last painter of the Shijō school.” He was born on Sanjō Avenue in Kyoto. In 1892, he began to apprentice under Imao Keinen (今尾景年, 1845–1924), who gave him the name of Ōkoku, and who played a paternal role in the artist’s life after the early death of Konoshima’s father. Around the same time, Konoshima studied Confucianism, herbal medicine, and Classical Chinese literature from the painter Yamamoto Akio (山本渓愚, 1827–1903). He graduated from Keinen’s painting school in 1897, and at this time he produced depictions of animals in a style that combined realist elements from the Shijō and Maruyama schools. He began to display his work in juried exhibitions, and he won various awards. In 1913, he became a judge for the Bunten exhibitions. Along with Takeuchi Seihō (see Entry 81), he became a well-respected artist in the Kyoto painting community. He died in 1938 at the age of 62. His students included Nishimura Ryū’u (西村柳塢, 1865–1937), Imai Shōsō (今井松窓, n.d.), Sasakibara Kōsen (榊原虹泉, n.d.), Kumagaya Unshō (熊谷雲裳, n.d.）, Maegawa Shūhan (前川秋帆, n.d.), Yui Sōsen (由井漱泉, n.d.), Ikeda Zuigetsu (池田瑞月, 1877–1944), Ikeda Suiun (池田翠雲, n.d.), Takenaka Kidō (竹中椅堂, n.d.), Kobayashi Ukō (小林雨郊, 1895–1976), Nozaki Sanko (野崎三湖, n.d.), and Hama Koshō (浜孤嘯, 1894–1969).