Yumeji Takehisa: Depicting the Great Kanto Earthquake 1

~ The Great Kanto Earthquake depicted by Yumeji Takehisa ~

I found an interesting article about Yumeji on Asahi Shimbun Digital.

Immediately after the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923), there was an artist who walked and sketched the streets of Tokyo, which had turned into mountains of rubble. He was Yumeji Takehisa , a painter from Gunma who is known for his portraits of beautiful women . A special exhibition entitled "The Great Kanto Earthquake as seen through Yumeji's eyes," which displays 14 of his pen drawings and sketches, is being held at the Takehisa Yumeji Ikaho Memorial Museum in Shibukawa City .

Yumeji's numerous paintings of the devastation in Tokyo are entitled "Tokyo Disaster Paintings." They were serialized in the Miyako Shimbun (one of the daily newspapers that became the Tokyo Shimbun ) for 21 issues, along with the manuscripts he wrote.

People rushing to get rations and lining up. Young people talking in a circle on the side of the road. Children stopping to listen to the song of cicadas amid the rubble... Yumeji's perspective captures the lives of people who continue to live their lives day by day, even in the midst of tragedy, and he paints them with a certain warmth.

...

When looking at Yumeji's works, one is amazed at how one man was able to portray such a wide range of emotions.

The most famous works are sexy? It is something you would never imagine from the paintings of women.

Cute designs of strawberries, flowers, etc. Children's scenes,

The design of the cover art for Senoo Music Sheets is truly divine.

Yumeji must be the "inventor of design"! I think so.

Such a genius, Yumeji walked through the rubble of the earthquake and sketched.

I feel like tears are coming out...

That may be because he is a painter.

Or maybe it was his own healing,

Perhaps it is a voice that cannot be put into words to those who are hurt.

He went to the United States before he turned 50, was deceived, and returned to Japan due to illness.

Nevertheless, he held a solo exhibition

He left us with a work that broke new ground.

Soon after

Yumeji left behind the words "Thank you."

It's a shame I wish he had lived longer and been able to see his later works...

That's what I thought, but...

To Yumeji, who brought light to people after the great loss of the earthquake

"thank you"

That was really all I needed.

Kyoko