Shima Seien

Born in Sakai. Real name Narie. Her father Eikichi and elder brother Issui were also nihonga artists. In Osaka she studied under Kitano Tsunetomi and Noda Kyüho. She exhibited her work in the sixth Bunten in 1912. In the seventh and ninth Bunten her work received a honorable mention. Together with the two other prominent women artists Uemura Shöen from Kyoto and Ikeda Shöen from Tokyo, she was labelled ‘Santo San-en’ (‘the three ‘EN’ from the three major cities’). In 1921 Seien married and moved to China. She interrupted her career although she did return to Hokkaido and other areas of Japan for short periods. After World War II, she returned to Osaka and resumed her painting career. She had an annual solo-exhibition at the Takashimaya Department Store. (The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties. Hotei Publishing, 2000).