Background
Kumagai Morikazu was born on April 2, 1880 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The son of a silk merchant and mayor of Gifu, Kumagai Morikazu.
Kumagai Morikazu was born on April 2, 1880 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The son of a silk merchant and mayor of Gifu, Kumagai Morikazu.
After graduating from Tokyo Art College (1904), Morikazu Kumagai spent a solitary life as a woodcutter in Kiso Mountains.
Morikazu Kumagai is widely recognized for a style that is distinguished by bright colors and distinct forms. His later works, depicting familiar living things like flowers, insects, and birds, are especially loved by people of all ages. At first sight, these works look humorous and seem to have been created with great ease. But in tracing back Kumagai’s over 70-year career, it becomes clear that he actually experimented with many different approaches, making paintings to see how things could be seen in the dark and developing a process to use the same design in multiple works. The reason Kumagai’s flowers and birds have such a lifelike appearance is due to the artist’s ingenuous means of dealing with color and form. Concealed within his works are an observational ability akin to that of a scientist and an elaborate production method.
Kumagai Morikazu was a member of Nika Fine Arts Association, and was a member of Dainiki Fine Arts Association.