Oka Shikanosuke

BIOGRAPHY

Brought up in Tokyo, his father was Oka Onitaro (1872-1943), theater critic and playwright. At the age of 14 while attending Azabu junior high school, he studied under the well-known Western-style painter (and sometime print maker) Okada Saburosuke (1869-1939), an acquaintance of his father. In 1919, Oka entered the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, graduating in 1924. Upon graduation, Oka, as did many young Japanese artists of the time, left for France, the “world capital of art.” In France he would exhibit at, and become a member of, the Société du Salon d’Automne2, winning a prize in their 1926 exhibition. Unlike many of his compatriots his stay in France was long, remaining there until being forced to return home in 1939 by the start of WWII. His long stay was, in part, due to his early recognition that much of his work and the work of his fellow Japanese painters was of poor quality and to improve his work he needed to dedicate himself to relearning the techniques of oil painting. “He began studying untiringly, carrying out research on paints and canvasses and soon realized three or four years would not be sufficient for his re-education."3 

Upon his return home in 1940, via England and America, Oka became a member of the Shunyō-kai6, founded in 1922 to provide a forum and exhibition space for Western-style art. He would gain continual acclaim in succeeding years, receiving numerous awards and prizes, including the Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in 1952, the Mainichi Art Award in 1957, and the Japan Art Academy Award in 1964. In 1969 he became a member of the Japan Art Academy and in 1972 he received the Order of Cultural Merit.7 

Returning to France several times after the War, much of his work was based on the old chateaus and churches he'd see traveling through France.

Passing away on April 28, 1978 in Tokyo, his work continues to be widely exhibited in Japan and his paintings, as well as some of his lithographs, can be found in the collections of the Bridgestone Museum of Art, the Hiroshima Museum of Art, the Menard Art Museum, the Yokohama Art Museum and the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art, among others.

Artist's Statement

Source: The Contemporary Artist in Japan, David Kung, East-West Center Press, Honolulu, 1966, p. 80.

My subject matter has been largely composed of temples, light houses, and landscapes in which no human beings are seen.  Now I want to paint landscapes which are fully animated.  Even if there is no trace of human figures, I want my landscape and buildings to be occupied by living souls.

Usually my subject evolves in my mind in much the same manner as a stew is slowly cooked.  As in cooking, timing is important - it should be neither too long nor too short.  Therefore the constant engagement of "croquis" is needed in my head.  As soon as I construct my imaginary subject, my painting is about 90 percent completed.  Drawing functions a a memo, in which there are letters as well as lines inscribed.  But I feel I should not translate my memos = that is, drawings - into a tableau, since that amounts only to copying.  A painting should not become a mere finished copy of one's design.

I am presently trying to reduce my number of colors in order to conserve my tender feelings toward my subject.  Brown in all its shades is most fitting to my personality, and I want to develop various color schemes using browns.

The Artist's Prints

While Merritt credits Oka with creating “lithographs and woodcuts of flowers, birds, and fish”8 it seems like all the woodcuts were created by print makers after Oka’s works.  Both the print artist and printer Okuyama Gihachirō (1907-1981) and the Kato Print Institute [Katō hanga kenkyūjo 加藤版画研究所]9 created prints after famous Oka paintings, with the Katō Print Institute issuing a series of prints in two portfolios in the years 1970 and 1973, shown below.  Okuyama seems to have created only one print based on an Oka painting, also shown below.  The only lithographs of the artist’s that I’m aware of are two multiple print portfolios, one issued in the mid-1950s and listed, but not illustrated, in the collection of The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (P0004-010) and the other containing seven prints published by Suita Bōeki in 1974 and also shown below.

Lithographs

Prints Published by Suita Bōeki

Recent Exhibition

Source: http://www.bridgestone-museum.gr.jp/en/exhibitions/archive/2008/ [no longer accesiable [11-25-23] 

Bridgestone Museum of Art - Shikanosuke Oka: Variations in Serenity 26 April - 6 July 2008

"This exhibition spans the career of the figurative painter Oka Shikanosuke with works from his early years to his very last paintings. To display his oeuvre, the works have been grouped along nine themes that continued to occupy Oka during his artistic career. The painting style that Oka developed during the 1920s while living and working in Paris and Brittany would not change dramatically throughout his life. However, his intrepid pursuit of adventurous new artistic challenges and his passion for consistently higher levels attainment in his painting represent achievements that cannot be ignored. Exploring these elements in this exhibition gives us a fine opportunity to rediscover the art of Oka Shikanosuke." 

1 Quoted text originally appeared on the site of the Bridgestone Museum of Art, now the Artizon Museum of Art. The original quoted text is no longer accessible.

2 The Salon d’Automne was formed in opposition to the conservative polices of the official Paris Salon.

3 "Contemporary Artists in Japan: Oka Shikanosuke and Wakita Kazu," KAZU Ogawa, Masataka appearing in, Japan Quarterly 23.1  (Jan 1, 1976): 75. 

4 ibid.

5 Studio International, vol 148 Studio Trust, 1954 p. 42 Publisher:London, National Magazine Co., etc.

6 The “Shunyo-kai”(the Shunyo-kai Art Society), currently with a membership of more than 600 painters and printmakers, was established in 1922 by Hoan Kosugi and Tsunetomo Morita of the Nihon Bijitsuin, the Sodosha Group’s Ryusei Kishida and Kazumasa Nakagawa, and Ryuzaburo Unmehara. The Society's stated goal is "to promote 'individualism' within the context and tradition of Japan." Member's have included the painters Shikanosuke Oka and Tai Nakatani and printmakers such as Kiyoshi Saito and Naobumi Seimiya. http://shunyo-kai.or.jp/about/ [accessed 11-25-23]

7 About the Order of Culture (Bunka-Kunsho) - "The Order of Culture is a Japanese Order presented to practitioners of the arts and sciences by the Emperor of Japan himself. The Order is reserved for only the most influential people that have contributed significantly to the cultural history of Japan." 

http://www.hotelokura.co.jp/tokyo/en/material/pdf/press_release/hot_0608.pdf [no longer accessible 11-25-23]

8 Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975, Helen Merritt, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 117.

last revision:

11/25/2023

Prints in Collection

click on thumbnail for print details