Kondö Köichiro
Japan, 1884 - 1962
CountryJapan
BiographyKondō Kōichirō (近藤 浩一路 , 1884–1962) was a specialist of traditional black-ink paintings and a cartoonist. He was born in Yamanashi prefecture. His grandfather wanted him to be a doctor, and so he studied at an English school and a cram school, but he was passionate about literary pursuits such as haiku poetry, and so in 1904, he decided to become an artist, and so he joined the White Horse Society (Hakubakai, see Entry D10), and later that year, he entered the Western Painting department of Tokyo Fine Art School (see Entry B6) as a student. He exhibited with the White Horse Society while he was a student, and during this period, one can see in his work influence from the Pleinair school of Impressionism. Influenced by his classmates, he began to work in the medium of traditional black-ink painting. He graduated in 1910, and he continued to exhibit his paintings with the White Horse Society and in the Bunten exhibitions. He taught painting to women in Kyoto, and he displayed his ink paintings and cartoons in exhibitions there. In 1915, he began to work for the Yomiuri Newspaper as a cartoonist, and he focused upon political cartoons and illustrations. He and his classmate Okamoto Ippei 岡本一平 (see Entry 47), a columnist for the Asahi Newspaper, produced artworks in association with the Tokyo Manga Society (Tokyo manga kai 東京漫画会), and he also participated in artist groups such as the Sekiōkai 赤甕会 and the Sangokai 珊瑚会. During the Taishō era, the New Literati Painting movement, in which the Sangokai group was active, had gained momentum, and beginning in 1919, Kondō displayed his work at the Nihon Bijutsu-in exhibition. In 1922, along with Okamoto Ippei (see Entry 47), Kodera Kenkichi (小寺健吉, d. 1977), Suzuki Ryōji (鈴木良治, 1916–1992), and others, he travelled throughout Europe.Further info on the artist can be found in Literati Modern.
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