Iwao Akiyama (秋山 巌, Akiyama Iwao, March 21, 1921 – September 15, 2014) was a Japanese woodblock printmaker and artist known for distinctive prints of owls, cats, and other animals in the style of naive or folk art.
Akiyama was born in 1921 in Takeda, Ōita Prefecture, on the island of Kyushu. He studied drawing under the direction of a Buddhist monk during his childhood, then at the Taiheiyo Bijutsu Gakkō, graduating 1956. He originally pursued suiboku-ga, a type of ink painting. However, Akiyama changed his focus to woodblock printing after meeting Shikō Munakata, under whom he studied from 1959 until 1965.
Akiyama's prints are primarily made in black ink, and early ones contained a single red dot within the image, although later works sometimes feature more colors. In his prints, Akiyama limited himself to few subjects: animals, nude female figures, Buddhist deities and Buddhist monks. Akiyama's work often incorporated verses of haiku and other text by Japanese poets like Ryōkan Taigu, Kobayashi Issa, and Zen monk Santōka Taneda, as well as from his own original poetry.
Iwao Akiyama died in Matsudo, Chiba, on September 15, 2014, at the age of 93.
Collections
Examples of Akiyama's prints are currently held within the collections of the following institutions:
- British Museum
- Cincinnati Art Museum
- National Gallery of Victoria
- National Museum of Scotland
- Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art
- The U.S. Library of Congress
See also
References
- ^ "Artist Biography: Iwao Akiyama". Artist Biography: Iwao Akiyama. Archived from the original on 2018-08-10. Retrieved 2014-10-11.
- ^ "Owls". Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
- Voon, Claire (2015-10-28). "Four Centuries of Cat Art Go Up for Auction". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
- ^ Robert, Henri (2021-03-30). "Iwao Akiyama's World of Cats and Owls". Pen Magazine International. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
- "#686-99 Colorful Cats | Iwao Akiyama". Scriptum. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
- "版画家の秋山巌氏死去". Jiji Press. 2014-09-18. Archived from the original on 2014-10-11. Retrieved 2014-10-11.
- Library of Congress (April 2007). "On the Cutting Edge: New Exhibition Celebrates Acquisition of Contemporary Japanese Prints". LoC Information Bulletin. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
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