Imamura Shiko · 1880–1916
Imamura Shiko
Imamura Shiko was a Nihonga painter from Yokohama. Until his early death at 35 he produced bold, original works, and through Tropical Country scrolls and other works he strongly influenced younger painters.
Imamura Shiko was born in 1880 (Meiji 13) in Onoecho, Yokohama. After studying watercolor at about the age of fifteen, he entered the studio of Matsumoto Fuko in 1897 (Meiji 30) and spent years copying Yamato-e models. He took his art name Shiko himself, using two characters from the phrase senshi banko (a thousand purples, ten thousand reds).
With Yasuda Yukihiko and others he studied historical figure painting in the Kojikai and became a leading figure in opening up a new Nihonga. In 1907 (Meiji 40) he visited Izura in Ibaraki and received guidance from Okakura Tenshin. He later received support from Hara Sankei and became familiar with Japanese and Chinese classical art at the Hara residence.
He died in 1916 (Taisho 5) at the age of 35, but with works such as the Eight Views of Omi series (1912) and Tropical Country (1914), bold and original, he gave the art world a fresh stimulus.
