Fumiko Hori | |
---|---|
Born | Tokyo, Japan | July 2, 1918
Died | February 5, 2019
Hiratsuka, Japan | (aged 100)
Style | Nihonga |
Fumiko Hori (堀 文子, Hori Fumiko, July 2, 1918 [1] – February 5, 2019) was a Japanese artist, known for her paintings in the Nihonga style.
Hori was born to a scholarly family in Hirakawacho, in Tokyo, Japan, in 1918. [2] [3] In 1940, she graduated from Women's School of Fine Arts (now Joshibi University of Art and Design). [4] [5] [6] She trained in Nihonga, a traditional Japanese painting style. [2] In 1952, she won the Uemura Shōen Award, given to outstanding Japanese female painters. [7]
In 1960, Hori's husband, a diplomat, died of tuberculosis. [8] Hori decided to travel the world, leaving Japan for the first time and visiting Egypt, Europe, the United States and Mexico. [2] Upon her return to Japan, she moved to the Kanagawa countryside [8] and created works inspired by her travels. [2] The natural world, including flowers and animals, was a theme of her work throughout her career. [3] [9]
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Hori created illustrations for magazines and children's books, [2] [3] including a 1971 picture book adaption of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker that won an award at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. [3] [10] She also taught painting at Tama Art University. [9] In 1987, she won the Kanagawa Culture Prize. [9]
Hori lived in Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy, for five years from 1987, setting up a studio there and painting colourful images of the local setting. [8] [3] She continued to travel to countries around the world, including such destinations as the Amazon, Nepal, and Mexico. [8]
In 2000, she survived life-threatening aneurysm; she was inspired by this experience to paint microorganisms, as viewed under a microscope. [2] [8] This work appeared in a solo exhibition at Nakajima Art Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo. [8] A ceramic piece based on one of her paintings, Utopia, was installed in the lobby of Fukushima Airport in 2014. [11]
Hori continued to paint into her final years. [2] [7] The Museum of Modern Art in Hayama showed a retrospective of her work from November 2017 to March 2018; [12] the earliest piece was a self-portrait from 1930, and the most recent piece was Red-Flowering Japanese Apricot, painted in 2016 when Hori was 98 years old. [2]
Hori died on February 5, 2019, at a hospital in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, at age 100. [10] The Narukawa Art Museum in Hakone, home of over 100 of her works, hosted a memorial exhibition from July to November 2019. [13]
堀文子(ほり・ふみこ)大正7年7月2日、東京生まれ。(Fumiko Hori was born in Tokyo on July 2, Taisho 7 [1918]).
Fumiko Hori | |
---|---|
Born | Tokyo, Japan | July 2, 1918
Died | February 5, 2019
Hiratsuka, Japan | (aged 100)
Style | Nihonga |
Fumiko Hori (堀 文子, Hori Fumiko, July 2, 1918 [1] – February 5, 2019) was a Japanese artist, known for her paintings in the Nihonga style.
Hori was born to a scholarly family in Hirakawacho, in Tokyo, Japan, in 1918. [2] [3] In 1940, she graduated from Women's School of Fine Arts (now Joshibi University of Art and Design). [4] [5] [6] She trained in Nihonga, a traditional Japanese painting style. [2] In 1952, she won the Uemura Shōen Award, given to outstanding Japanese female painters. [7]
In 1960, Hori's husband, a diplomat, died of tuberculosis. [8] Hori decided to travel the world, leaving Japan for the first time and visiting Egypt, Europe, the United States and Mexico. [2] Upon her return to Japan, she moved to the Kanagawa countryside [8] and created works inspired by her travels. [2] The natural world, including flowers and animals, was a theme of her work throughout her career. [3] [9]
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Hori created illustrations for magazines and children's books, [2] [3] including a 1971 picture book adaption of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker that won an award at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. [3] [10] She also taught painting at Tama Art University. [9] In 1987, she won the Kanagawa Culture Prize. [9]
Hori lived in Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy, for five years from 1987, setting up a studio there and painting colourful images of the local setting. [8] [3] She continued to travel to countries around the world, including such destinations as the Amazon, Nepal, and Mexico. [8]
In 2000, she survived life-threatening aneurysm; she was inspired by this experience to paint microorganisms, as viewed under a microscope. [2] [8] This work appeared in a solo exhibition at Nakajima Art Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo. [8] A ceramic piece based on one of her paintings, Utopia, was installed in the lobby of Fukushima Airport in 2014. [11]
Hori continued to paint into her final years. [2] [7] The Museum of Modern Art in Hayama showed a retrospective of her work from November 2017 to March 2018; [12] the earliest piece was a self-portrait from 1930, and the most recent piece was Red-Flowering Japanese Apricot, painted in 2016 when Hori was 98 years old. [2]
Hori died on February 5, 2019, at a hospital in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, at age 100. [10] The Narukawa Art Museum in Hakone, home of over 100 of her works, hosted a memorial exhibition from July to November 2019. [13]
堀文子(ほり・ふみこ)大正7年7月2日、東京生まれ。(Fumiko Hori was born in Tokyo on July 2, Taisho 7 [1918]).