Tokuoka Shinsen (徳岡神泉)
Shinsen TOKUOKA (February 14, 1896 - June 9, 1972) was a Japanese painter. He was born in Kyoto Prefecture. His real first name was Tokijiro.
He developed a realistic painting style aligned with the Kyoto Shaseiha (realistic painting) group, and his subtle, profound, symbolic, and unique Japanese paintings, often described as the Shinsen style, greatly influenced post-war Japanese painting. He is also famous for application of a delicate undercoat of paint that would give the entire piece more depth and a stronger impression. In 1966, he received the Order of Culture.
Biography
He was born on February 14, 1896, in Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City. In 1909, he joined a painting school called Chikujo-kai run by Seiho TAKEUCHI through Bakusen TSUCHIDA and started to seriously study painting. In the following year, he was admitted to the Department of Painting, Kyoto Prefectural School of Art and Crafts. During the 4 years until graduation, he won gold and silver medals thus achieving excellent results, and also, he received the honor of having his graduation work titled "Kantei" be purchased by his own school. He then entered Kyoto-shiritsu Kaiga Senmon Gakko (Kyoto City Specialist School of Painting).
Although his painting life had been smooth until this point, he encountered an unexpected frustration. Since it was a common belief among Kyoto modern painters at that time that receiving an award at an exhibition sponsored by the government was the starting point of a painter's career, he entered his works in the exhibition sponsored by the Ministry of Education while he was still at school, though none of them won an award. In 1918, he then entered his satisfactory work titled "Uo-Ichiba," but again, it did not win any awards, and this experience devastated him. While his classmates won awards and started their careers as painters one after another, Shinsen became isolated due to his own psychological conflict with art, and finally, he did not wish to see anyone any more. Around this time in his life, he lived in many temples such as Myoshin-ji Temple.
In 1919, he entered his work titled "Kumo no Nagare" in the 1st Japanese Obscure Exhibition. There he received a medal, but this did not restore his confidence. He then left Kyoto and escape to Iwabuchi at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Around this time, he called himself by the title Shunzei.
He was married in 1920. Around this time, he changed his name to Shinsen. His name Shinsen was chosen after an outstanding garden called Shinsen-en. He then moved to Fujikawa Town, Ihara County, Shizuoka Prefecture, but returned to Kyoto since he decided to refresh his career from scratch. He joined the Chikujo-kai again.
In 1925, he won an award for the first time with his work titled "Keshi" at the 6th Japan Art Academy Exhibition (Teiten). It had been almost 12 years since he entered a contest for the first time. He then received the Teiten special award with his works titled "Hasuike" and "Koi" at the 7th and the 8th Exhibitions respectively. In 1930, he became qualified for an exemption of examination when displaying art works at the Imperial Fine Arts Academy Exhibition, and this allowed him to regain his confidence.
He, however, retrospectively evaluated his works and he himself stated that 'he started to paint textbook pictures once he won an award at an exhibition.'
In 1938, he joined the panel of the Nitten Exhibition. In 1939, he entered his work titled "Shobu" at the 3rd New Bunten Exhibition. It was highly admired and purchased by the Ministry of Education. Also, it was around the time that his unique painting style also known as Shinsen style started to form, and this became the foundation of his soaring post-war career.
In 1947, he entered a contest with his work titled "Akamatsu."
Since the painting did not feature characteristics normally found in Japanese paintings such as a realistic depiction of seasonal changes in nature or the human world and only showed two akamatsu (Japanese red pine) trunks, there were some who questioned if 'it was really a Japanese style painting.'
However, it was his first post-war masterpiece that established the Shinsen style, and from this work on, application of a delicate undercoat started to become famous and became synonymous with him. Afterwards, he continued to enter contests, mainly centered on the Nitten Exhibition. He finally established his own painting style in which he supposedly sketched the inner world of models.
In 1951, his work titled "Koi" received the Award of the Japan Art Academy. In 1957, he became a member of the Japan Art Academy.
In 1961, he entered a contest with the work titled "Kojika," which later became one of his representative works. The simple form of the model and the subtle, dignified, and profound atmosphere of the painting indicated one of the highest achievements of the Shinsen style. In 1963, he held his first exhibition of self selected works in Tokyo and Osaka.
In 1966, he received the Order of Culture. Around this time he started to express concerns about his health, but he continued to paint. In 1971, his health deteriorated and he could not paint at all anymore.
On June 9, 1972, he died of uremia and kidney failure. He was 76 years old. He received the Junior Third Rank Silver cup after his death.
Famous works
"Kyojo" (circa 1919, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
"Tsubaki" (circa 1922, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
"Goen Ugo" (1927, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto)
"Shobu" (1939, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
"Imozu" (1943, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
"Akamatsu" (1947, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
"Nagare" (1954, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art)
"Akamatsu" (1956, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
"Kareha" (1958, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto)
"Kojika" (1961, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
"Fujisan" (unfinished)