Painted in 1929, the year of Japanese artist Ryūsei Kishida’s (岸田劉生) death, this is widely considered the last of his “Reiko” portraits and shows his mature synthesis of Western oil technique (洋画) with an East-Asian sense of stillness. His Reiko series became a cultural touchstone and remains a textbook image of modern Japan’s search for beauty in the everyday. The young Japanese woman with light-beige skin turns in three-quarter view, eyes lowered as if in quiet thought. Her glossy black hair is gathered in a high chignon with small ribbons; a soft flush warms her cheeks and lips. Her layered kimono of scarlet under-robe, a mustard-gold collar, and a boldly patterned outer robe in deep indigo, emerald, and vermilion create a lattice of color around her shoulders. The bust-length figure is held within a painted red surround like a lacquered window. Gentle modeling rounds the jaw and cheeks while the flat background and clear contours heighten calm presence, intimate rather than theatrical. Reiko (岸田麗子, 1914–1962) grew into an artist, stage actress, and writer. After Kishida’s death in 1929, she studied painting, acted with Mushanokōji Saneatsu’s Atarashiki-mura theatre, and later taught and exhibited including joining the women painters’ group Shuyōkai (朱葉会). She first married dentist Takimoto Teijirō and had three children, then divorced; she later remarried Usui Kōshirō, who took the Kishida surname. Reiko published the memoir "Father Kishida Ryūsei (Chichi Kishida Ryūsei)" in July 1962, but died shortly after on July 26, 1962, of a subarachnoid hemorrhage at age 48; she is buried at Tama Cemetery. Her father, the artist of this portrait, is pivotal in modern Japanese art: a Taishō–Shōwa yōga leader who formed the Fusain Society and later Sōdosha, bridged Shirakaba-era humanism with rigorous “depiction from life,” and helped establish realist portraiture as a central modern genre in Japan.

麗子十六歳之像 (Reiko at Sixteen) by 岸田劉生 / Ryūsei Kishida (Japanese) - Oil on canvas / 1929 - Fukuyama Museum of Art (Hiroshima, Japan) #WomenInArt #JapaneseArt #RyuseiKishida #岸田劉生 #岸田 #Reiko #福山市立美術館 #FukuyamaMuseumOfArt #洋画 #PortraitofaGirl #PortraitofaWoman #JapaneseArt #Kimono #JapaneseArtist #1920s

Ryūsei Kishida (岸田劉生) was a Japanese painter during the Taishō and Shōwa periods. He is best known for his realistic yōga-style (aka Western-style or 洋画) portraiture, but also for his nihonga (Japanese-style or 日本画) paintings in the 1920s. This 1913 portrait depicts his wife, Shigeru Kobayashi. In 1912, an exhibition of young painters influenced by Post-Impressionism was held in Ginza, Tokyo which included hometown artist Kishida who exhibited 14 works, including "Cloudy Day" and "Self-portrait." At the time, Kobayashi, who was studying under the Japanese painter Kiyokata Kaburagi, came to the venue and was impressed by Kishida's work. Before long, they started writing to each other, and the two got married in July of the following year, 1913. As Kishida’s wife, and as a model who responded to his sometimes unusual requests, Shigeru became a good companion who supported Kishida's life and art. Her facial features are soft, with dark almond-shaped eyes, a straight nose with a bump, and a gentle curve to her mouth. Her face is oval-shaped with strong bone structure and a skin tone that is light to medium. Her hair is long, dark, and appears to have a smooth, slightly wavy texture, styled in a way that falls past her shoulders. She is wearing a dark-colored deep purple, long-sleeved robe with small light-colored dots. The fabric appears to be heavy and substantial. Her expression is serene. She appears to be at ease, with her hands resting gently at her chest and her posture is straight and relaxed.

画家の妻 (Portrait of the Artist's Wife) by 岸田劉生 / Ryūsei Kishida (Japanese) - Oil on canvas / 1914 - Artizon Museum (Tokyo, Japan) #WomenInArt #art #ArtText #JapaneseArt #PortraitofaWoman #アーティゾン美術館 #ArtizonMuseum #RyuseiKishida #KishidaRyusei #岸田劉生 #womensart #JapaneseArtist #洋画 #oilpainting #bskyart