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Lot Essay
Ryuzaburo Umehara was born in Kyoto to a cloth-dyer family, and from a young age was influenced by the rich colours and patterns of Japanese dyed fabrics, which resulted in his sensitivity to colours and Japanese aesthetics.
15-year-old Umehara embarked on his artistic journey in 1903 when he settled in Europe and studied painting under Impressionist master Renoir. His resulting expert command of colours was praised by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who praised him for his painting that "possessed a unique personal style". In 1913, Umehara returned to his homeland and established the Nikakai (Nika Association) and the Shunyokai (Spring Principle Association) with Japanese contemporaries who had also returned from Europe, together furthering a shift towards Japanese aesthetics in oil painting. This proved highly influential to the development of oil painting in Japan and in Taiwan.
Ryuzaburo Umehara had a deep fascination with exploring the potentials of Japanese oil painting, while also being taken with Western Expressionism and Fauvism; he combined the exuberant stylistics of both schools of art and the decorative aesthetics of Japanese Momoyama Period art in his works, producing bright colours and vivid, lively images. To enhance the localisation of oil painting, Umehara went back to the very roots of painting—the media—by replacing oil-painting canvases with Japanese washi paper in his works, and mixing oil paint with the mineral paint that was particular to Japan. This lent his images a unique veneer that stands out from other oil paintings of its kind.
15-year-old Umehara embarked on his artistic journey in 1903 when he settled in Europe and studied painting under Impressionist master Renoir. His resulting expert command of colours was praised by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who praised him for his painting that "possessed a unique personal style". In 1913, Umehara returned to his homeland and established the Nikakai (Nika Association) and the Shunyokai (Spring Principle Association) with Japanese contemporaries who had also returned from Europe, together furthering a shift towards Japanese aesthetics in oil painting. This proved highly influential to the development of oil painting in Japan and in Taiwan.
Ryuzaburo Umehara had a deep fascination with exploring the potentials of Japanese oil painting, while also being taken with Western Expressionism and Fauvism; he combined the exuberant stylistics of both schools of art and the decorative aesthetics of Japanese Momoyama Period art in his works, producing bright colours and vivid, lively images. To enhance the localisation of oil painting, Umehara went back to the very roots of painting—the media—by replacing oil-painting canvases with Japanese washi paper in his works, and mixing oil paint with the mineral paint that was particular to Japan. This lent his images a unique veneer that stands out from other oil paintings of its kind.