Kishi Chikudō

Kishi Chikudō (岸竹堂, 1826–1897) was a painter active from the end of the Edo period through the Meiji era. His childhood name was Yonekichi 米吉, and his personal name was Shōroku 昌禄. His style name (azana) was Shiwa 子和, and he was commonly known as Hachirō 八郎. Chikudō 竹堂 was his pen name, and he was also known by the pen names of Zanmu 残夢, Shingetsu 真月, Korin 虎林, and Joka(?) 如花. He was the fourth-generation artist of the Kishi school lineage, and alongside Mori Kansai (森寛斎, 1814–1894), and Kōno Bairei (幸野楳嶺, 1844–1895), he was considered one of the giants of the Kyoto painting community during the Meiji period. He was born in modern-day Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture. In 1836, at the age of 11, he was taught by the Kanō school by a local painter Nakajima Yasushi 中島安泰. At the age of 17 in 1842, he was taught by Kanō Eigaku (狩野永岳, 1790–1867), the 9th generation painter of the Kyō-Kanō lineage. However, he was dissatisfied with the teaching method of the Kanō school, and so in 1843, he began to study under Kishi Renzan (岸連山, 1804–1859) of the Shijō school. In 1854, at the age of 29, he married Renzan’s daughter and was adopted by the Kishi family. In 1859, Renzan’s son Kishi Kudake 岸九岳, succeeded him as the heir of the Kishi lineage. Chikudo's made smooth progress, adopting the style of Nagasawa Rosetsu of the Maruyama school. At the end of the Edo period, Chikudō’s life was chaotic. His teacher had died, his home was destroyed in a fire, and many of his artworks were lost in the fire. He turned to the Komuro 小室 family, a shipping wholesaler, for financial support and worked various odd jobs. In 1873, he met Nishimura Soraemon (西村總左衛門, 1855–1935), head of the Chiso studio of Kyō Yūzen textile dyeing. He began to work for Chiso, and his life became stable. In 1880, he became a teacher at the newly established Kyoto Prefectural School of Painting (See Entry B1a). He exhibited his artwork and won awards at the 2nd Domestic Painting Co-Promotion Society (Dai nikai naikoku kaiga kyūshinkai第二回内国絵画共進会) , the 3rd National Industrial Exhibition (Dai sankai naikoku kangyō hakurankai 三回内国勧業博覧会) and other exhibitions. He became a judge for this exhibition and a leading figure in the Kyoto painting community. Although he was an expert in tiger paintings, the ones that he depicted looked like large cats, and so when he finally viewed a tiger at a travelling circus – the first time he saw one in real life– he was shocked by its appearance, and his painting style changed completely. He became so obsessed with the appearance of tigers that in 1892 he was declared mentally ill and temporarily admitted to the temple asylum Eikandō Zenkakuin 永観堂の癲狂院. One of his tiger paintings won the bronze medal at the World’s Fair in Chicago. He was designated an Imperial Household Artist in 1896, but he passed away the following year at the age of 72. He is remembered for his keen sketching technique and for his shading method, which he adopted from Western paintings. His students included Nishimura Goun 西村五雲 (see Entry 39), Kato Eishū 加藤英舟, Fujishima Kiyoren 藤島清漣, Asae Ryūkyō 浅江柳喬, Yoshitani Kiyotoshi吉谷清聲, and Yoshioka Kadō吉岡華堂.