Murayama Kaita (村山槐多)
Kaita MURAYAMA (September 15, 1896-February 20, 1919) was a Western-style painter who lived during the Taisho period. He was male.
Since he was a teenager, he had indulged in reading books by Charles BAUDELAIRE and Arthur RIMBAUD, and he also often wrote poems. He suffered from tuberculous pneumonia due to his precociousness, decadent lifestyle and the agonies of frustrated love. Also, having died at the age of 22, he is often compared to his contemporary, Shoji SEKINE, based on their premature death; however, their styles are totally different. Murayama's portraits, which reflect the painter's surging emotions and unease, are not highly skilled but leave an unforgettable, deep impression. The painter Kanae YAMAMOTO is his male cousin.
Brief Personal History
1896: He was born the first son to an elementary school teacher, Tanisuke MURAYAMA, and his wife Tama in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. 1897: He moved from Okazaki-cho, Nukata County, Aichi Prefecture to Kodakasa-mura, Tosa County (present Kochi City), Kochi Prefecture. 1900: He lived in 58 Miyagaki-cho, Kojinguchi-agaru, Teramachi Street, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City. 1903: He finished Dohda Nursery School (present Kyoto Municipal Dohda Kindergarten) and entered Kyoto Municipal Kasuga Elementary School. 1909: He graduated from the elementary School attached to the Normal School of Kyoto Prefecture (present Kyoto Primary School, attached to Kyoto University of Education) and entered the Kyoto Prefectural Daiichi Junior High School (present Kyoto Prefectural Rakuhoku High School). 1914: He graduated from the Kyoto Prefectural Daiichi Junior High School and became a research student at the Nihon Bijutsuin (the Japan Art Institute) in Tokyo. 1915: His work 'Kanna to Shojo' (Cannas and a Young Girl) was given an award at the 2nd Nihon Bijutsuin exhibition. 1917: His work 'Kojiki to Onna' (A Beggar and a Woman) was given an award at the 4th Nihon Bijutsuin exhibition. 1918: He submitted 'Jumoku' (Trees), 'Jigazo' (Self-portrait), 'Kujukuri no Hama' (The Shore of Kujukuri), 'Otoko no Shusaku' (A Man's Study) and two other paintings to the 4th Nihon Bijutsuin shisaku (trial piece) exhibition and received an Encouragement Prize. February 1, 1919: He submitted 'Matsu to Enoki' (Pine Tree and Hackberry), 'Yuki no Tsugi no Hi' (A Day After the Snow), 'A Group of Pine Trees,' 'Jigazo', 'Matsu to Ie' (Pines and House), 'Oshima Fukei' (Landscape of Oshima), 'Bo Koshaku tei Enbo' (A Distant View of a Certain Marquis's House) and 'Yoyogi no Ichibu' (A Part of Yoyogi) to the 5th Nihon Bijutsuin shisaku exhibition and received the prize Bijutsuin Sho Otsu Sho. February 20, 1919: He died suddenly of tuberculous pneumonia caused by influenza (Spanish flu) and was given the kaimyo (posthumous Buddhist name) 清光院浄譽槐多居士 (Seikoin Joyo Kaita Koji). 1920: 'Kaita no Utaeru' (Thus Sings Kaita) (ARS publishing company) was published. 1921: 'Kaita no Utaeru Sonogo' (Thus Sings Kaita Continued' and 'Kaita Gashu' (Collection of Kaita's Paintings) (ARS publishing company) were published.
Works
Paintings
He produced a relatively large number of works compared to other painters who also died young of illness. On the whole, although his works are not highly skilled, they are characterized by his flamboyant brushwork with the heavy use of primary colors. As a motif, he liked female images as in "Girl in the Garden", "Roses and a Girl" and "Lake and Woman" and landscapes as in "Shu no Fukei" (Red Scenery), "Shinshu Fukei" (Landscape in Shinshu) and "A Group of Pine Trees." Also, his painting "Ibari suru Raso" (Nude Monk Urinating) which shows a naked Buddhist monk urinating on a takuhatsu (a small bowl used for begging, common to Buddhist monks in Japan) depicted in red as the main color brings an air of strange passion to the viewer, and is known as the best work that reflects Kaita MURAYAMA himself.
However, his life as a painter lasted for only under five years, so the actual number of his works is small.
Therefore, his existing works are set at a high price, and when Murayama's work was evaluated on "Kaiun! Nandemo Kanteidan" (a Japanese TV program which does antiques appraisal) (TV Tokyo Corporation), it was priced at 30 million yen (in addition, it was said on the program that its estimated value was merely the 'starting price for an auction' and 'it could in fact be worth more than a hundred million yen.')
Representative works
Girl in the Garden (1914, Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art)
Nude Woman (1914-15, Kuma Museum of Art)
Ibari suru Raso (1915, Shinano Dessankan [Shinano Drawing Museum])
Roses and a Girl (1917, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
Lake and Woman (1917, Pola Museum of Art)
Self-portrait (1918, Osaka Municipal Museum of Art)
A Group of Pine Trees (1918, Nakano Museum of Art)
Poems
A collection of his poems called "Kaita no Utaeru" was edited and published by his friends after Kaita Murayama's death. Like his paintings, the poems contained in it are not skillful but are filled with youthful passion and frankness. Although his poems had a big influence on Shinpei KUSANO as a poet, they are not estimated as highly as his paintings.