Ikeda Terukata

Ikeda Terukata 池田輝方 (1883-1921)

BIOGRAPHY

Sources: Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture, Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, University of Hawaii Press, 2000, p. 198-199; Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 40; In Battle's Light: Woodblock Prints of Japan's Early Modern Wars, Elizabeth de Sabato Swinton, Worcester Art Museum, 1991, p. 122.

Art Names (gō): 2: Akebono; 3: Akebon; 4: Kazan; 5:Kazan

The artist in 19031

Born in Kobiki-cho, Tokyo, with the given name Ikeda Seishiro, he was the son of a joiner. He studied Japanese style painting with Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908), who gave him the name Terukata, and then with Kawai Gyokudō (1873-1957). Terukata became engaged to the artist Sakakibara Shōen (1886-1917), who took the surname Ikeda after marriage, and was also a student of Toshikata. Soon after the engagement, Terukata disappeared from Toshikata’s studio for about five years, during which time he designed kuchi-e, bijin-ga, and triptychs of Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) battles. He reappeared for Toshikata’s funeral in 1908. He was a friend of Kaburaki Kiyokata (1878-1972) and formed the Ugōkai2 (Cormorant Society) in 1901 with Yamanaka Kodō (1869-1945) and Hirezaki Eihō (1881-1968).

Terukata exhibited and won prizes at the Bunten, the annual Ministry of Education art exhibition.3 Many of his prints were published by Akiyama Buemon.

Terukata was the teacher of the Japan-based French ukiyo-e artist Paul Jacoulet (1902-1960). After the death of his wife Ikeda Shōen in 1917 he became a heavy drinker, and the quality of his work deteriorated. He died of tuberculosis in May 1921.

1 Cropped from a 1903 photo showing the members of the Cormorant Society, appearing in Yoshitoshi, Masterpieces from the Ed Freis Collection, Chris Uhlenbeck and Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing, 2011, p. 26.

2 A small organization of ukiyo-e illustrators that were concentrating on producing paintings.

3 The Bunten started in 1907 and was the equivalent of the official exhibitions of nineteenth century Europe as the route to recognition and financial success.