Hirakushi Denchū Art Museum 井原市立平櫛田中美術館

Official explanation

Sculptor Hirakushi Denchū (1872–1979) created emotionally compelling works in a wide range of styles. Born in Ibara but adopted at the age of 10 into a family in nearby Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, he moved to Tokyo in 1897 where he struggled for years to find success. Acclaim from Okakura Tenshin (1863–1913) and other influential art instructors proved crucial to bringing attention to his work. Denchū felt great admiration for Okakura, and even decades after Okakura’s death, Denchū created many masterpieces modeled on Okakura’s likeness. In 1944, Denchū was appointed an Imperial Household Artist, and in 1970, the city of Ibara built this museum to display his achievements. It is in the heart of town not far from Ibara Station, and when he visited, Denchū planted the camphor tree that stands in front of the building.

The museum’s collection showcases a wide range of Denchū’s artistic themes. Some pieces appear to depict figures from Buddhism, such as a demon spitting out a human in the fearsome work Tenshō, while others focus on more intimate themes. His work Ane Musume shows Denchū’s daughter kneeling, hands cupped to her ears, listening to a neighbor’s distant radio because her family was too poor to own one.

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One of Denchū’s masterpieces is Kagamijishi, an imposing statue of Kabuki actor Onoe Kikugorō VI (1885–1949) in costume for the play of the same name as the statue. The statue itself usually stands in the lobby of the National Theatre of Japan in Tokyo, but prototypes and unfinished models of Kagamijishi are kept on display here.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.