"I would like to pursue only beautiful things in the future. It is a tribute to the life and the joy of being alive" - these words were said by the subject of the current article, Japanese Korean-born painter Sosuke Morimoto (1937-2015), in his speech at the Hoki Museum exhibition. As known, Plato considered artists and poets as people multiplying lies. If the philosopher had learned Morimoto's phrase, implying the multiplication of beauty, which is beyond the true/false dichotomy, maybe he wouldn't have expelled art from his ideal state.
Fig. 1. Sosuke Morimoto with piano (shunpudo.co.jp)
Fig. 2. Landscape painting (sohucs.com)
Fig. 3. Still life painting (xuite.net)
Fig. 4. Future (hoki-museum.jp)
Fig. 5. Seated girl (cocolog-nifty.com)
Fig. 6. Seated girl (ifengimg.com)
Fig. 7. Seated girl in a red blouse (sohucs.com)
Fig. 8. Pensive girl (g-bianca.jp)
Following The Father
Sosuke Morimoto was born in Korea in a family of painter Nihei Morimoto. In 1945, after Japan lost the war, Morimoto had to flee to Tokyo with his family. The future artist spent his childhood in Iwate Prefecture, in his mother's hometown Ichinoseki. There he received primary education in Municipal Ichinoseki Elementary School. Then, Morimoto relocated to Tokyo. Influenced by his father, who was a participant in the Free Artist Association, an avant-garde group of western-style artists, Morimoto aspired to become a painter, thus, enrolling in the Asagaya Art Institute in 1957. The following year, he entered the painting department of Tokyo University of the Arts. In 1961, he became a student of notable yoga artist Ren Ito and won the Ataka Prize, established by the avid art collector Eiichi Ataka. In 1963, Morimoto's works were selected for the 37th Kokugakai Exhibition. Next year, he graduated from the university with an MFA degree in oil painting. Morimoto kept winning prestigious prizes for his skill throughout his career. In 1977, the artist's first exhibition was held at the Nichido Salon in Tokyo. Morimoto painted landscapes, still lifes, and females nude and clothed. The latter became his main subject in the 1980s.
Fig. 9. Girl in a kimono with back exposed (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 10. Girl in a kimono (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 11. Girl with shoulder exposed (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 12. Standing girl (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 13. Girl with a vase and back exposed (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 14. Seated girl (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 15. Girl with back exposed (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 16. Seated girl with back exposed (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 17. Seated girl with back exposed (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 18. Standing girl with back exposed (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 19. Seated nude wearing pearls (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 20. Seated girl with back exposed (sj33.cn)
Between Abstract And Real
As the artist confessed later, his adoration for beauty was the reason for choosing a realistic manner: "When I feel that the subject is "beautiful," the desire to incorporate that element into the screen as faithfully as possible inevitably drives me toward realistic expression (hoki-museum.jp)." Nevertheless, Morimoto wasn't a realistic painter who studied Vermeer and Ingres from the start. In the 1950s and 1960s, the artist was influenced by abstract art that was on the rise. What's more, Morimoto describes his experience in rather a surprising way: "At that time, the wave of the art world, which was completely devoted to abstract painting, caused me to struggle on the screen all day long when I was young, and I could not finish a single work for several years.As a result of taking a good look at myself in order to get out of a difficult situation, I decided that "realistic painting" was the direction in which I could make the most of my qualities and abilities. And I knew the joy of painting."
Fig. 21. Standing nude (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
Fig. 22. Seated nude wearing a hat (auctions.yahoo.co.jp)
In Premium more on Morimoto's goals and ambitions with his art, the special way in which he depicted his female nudes, and 28 additional enticing pics!
Click HERE for the rare shunga paintings by the 18th century Korean artist Kim Hong-do (Danwon)
Sources: tobunken.go.jp; hoki-museum.jp; Wikipedia.org; auctions.yahoo.co.jp