Ishii Hakutei

Born in Tokyo as the eldest son of the nihonga painter Ishii Teiko. Real name Mankichi. After dropping out of school he became a block carver trainee at the printing offices of the Finance Ministry. He was a student of Asai Chü, and made Western-style painting for the Meiji Bijutsukai (‘Meiji Fine Arts Society’). He also excelled in the more traditional nihonga. In 1905 he gave up his studies of Western-style painting at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. His ‘Paretto nikki’ (‘Diary of a palet’) was serialized in the magazine Myöjö as well as the articles that he contributed to the magazine Heitan. In 1907 he launched together with Yamamoto Kanae and Morita Tsunetomo the magazine Hösun. In 1910 Hakutei produced the print series ‘Twelve views of Tokyo’. The carver was Igami Bonkotsu. The same year he went to Europe. In 1914 he challenged the traditional mode of production by self-carving and self-publishing his print ‘Kiba’. In 1921 Hakutei became a member of the Teikoku Bijutsuin. In 1922 he, together with a.o. Yasui Sötarö founded the Issuikai. He also wrote three art related books: Öshü bijutsu henro (‘Art pilgrimage in Europe’), Nihon kaiga sandaishi (‘Record of three generations of Japanese paintings’) and Hakutei jiden (‘Autobiography of Hakutei’). (The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties. Hotei Publishing, 2000).