book by Ogata Gekko

Book by OGATA GEKKO (Tokyo, Japan 1859- 1920).
"Manga behavior".
Measurements: 24.5 x 16.5 cm.
Ogata Gekk? (1859-1920) was a prominent Japanese artist, recognized mainly for his work as a painter and designer of woodblock prints in the ukiyo-e style. Self-taught in his artistic training, Gekk? won numerous awards both domestically and internationally, becoming one of the first Japanese artists to reach a global audience.
Born Nakagami Masanosuke in Edo (present-day Tokyo), after the death of his father in 1876 he began working in a lantern store. His artistic career began decorating porcelain and rickshaws, as well as designing flyers for entertainment districts. Influenced early on by the painter Kikuchi Y?sai, he adopted the surname Ogata around 1881 at the suggestion of a descendant of the painter Ogata K?rin. He soon began designing prints and illustrating books and newspapers, and in 1885 he joined the Society for the Appreciation of Painting, where he came into contact with intellectuals such as Ernest Fenellosa and Okakura Kakuz?
In 1886 he created the series of engravings Gekk? Zuihitsu and in 1888 he married his pupil Tai Kiku, adopting the surname Tai. He was one of the founders of the Japan Youth Painting Association in 1891, where he also acted as a juror. Between 1894 and 1895 he produced numerous triptychs on the First Sino-Japanese War, a recurring theme in his work.
From the 1890s onwards, Gekk? received several international awards. He won a prize at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair for his work Edo Sann? matsuri, and the Grand Prize for the Fuji hyakkei series at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. He also exhibited at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900 and at the Japan-UK Exhibition in London in 1910. In 1898, the Meiji Emperor acquired his painting Soga yo-uchi. Later, in 1912, he won third prize at the sixth Art Exhibition of the Ministry of Education.
Gekk?'s style, initially close to that of Kikuchi Y?sai and the tradition of Hokusai, evolved towards a more personal aesthetic, incorporating elements of nihonga. He was one of the main artists who visually documented the events of the Sino-Japanese war, and his war images were widely published in publications such as Seishin Bidan. Among his most notable works in this field are a large-scale print of the naval battle of Haiyang Island and various triptychs of land and sea battles.