17 Facts About Seison Maeda

Seison Maeda was the art-name of a nihonga painter in the Taisho and Showa periods of Japan.

Seison Maeda is considered one of the greatest contemporary Japanese painters, and one of the leaders of the Nihonga movement.

Seison Maeda's mother died when he was 13, and he moved to Hongo in Tokyo with his father.

In 1901, through the introduction of Ozaki Koyo, Maeda enrolled at the art school headed by Kajita Hanko, from whom he received the name "Seison" in 1902.

Seison Maeda met and befriended fellow student, Kobayashi Kokei, whose work influenced many of Maeda's early paintings.

Seison Maeda was a member of the Kojikai artistic group from 1907, and of the Japan Fine Arts Academy from 1914.

Seison Maeda visited Korea in 1915 and China in 1919.

However, Seison Maeda worked in a variety of genres, including still life and landscapes.

Seison Maeda became a member of the Imperial Art Academy in 1937.

Seison Maeda toured Manchukuo and northern China in 1943 under the sponsorship of the Japanese government.

In 1944, Seison Maeda was appointed as an official court painter to the Imperial Household Agency, and taught painting to Empress Kojun.

In 1946, Seison Maeda became an official judge of the annual Japan Arts Exhibitions.

Seison Maeda was a professor at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music from 1950 until his retirement in 1959.

Seison Maeda was awarded the Order of Culture and was named a Person of Cultural Merit in 1955.

Seison Maeda's work was selected to decorate the Shakkyo-no-Ma hall of the new Tokyo Imperial Palace.

In 1974, Seison Maeda received a commission from Pope Paul VI for a painting of Hosokawa Gracia for the Vatican Museums.

Seison Maeda's grave is a very distinctive 13-story white stone pagoda at the temple of Tokei-ji in Kamakura.