KITAMURA, Haruyoshi, "The Bather" Japanese Art Deco

KITAMURA, Haruyoshi 1915 - 2001

Circa 1940 bronze figure of a bather.
Bronze is 15cm 9cm 18cm
Original wood box is 14.5cm 20cm 22.5cm

very interesting Japanese sculpture which reveals a complete part of art deco in the world, still little known. If at the beginning of the 20th century Japanese artists, beyond the usual styles associated with their millennia-old artistic grammar, were inspired by ancient Greek art, they quickly evolved towards modern sculpture very close to Western works. The foundry techniques largely mastered by local artisans, combined with the numerous trips of artists who came to Europe and returned to Japan with new knowledge, have led to the creation of works of great finesse. Completely unknown, this Japanese art deco is worthy of great interest. The sculpture that we present here, between Maillol and Belmondo, shows soft shapes without neglecting movement.

KITAMURA is exhibited in
- Collection of Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
- Collection of The National Museum of Art, Osaka.

Very interesting article about sculpture in Japan 1930-1945

https://amis-musee-cernuschi.org/en/sculpture-et-philhellenisme-au-japon-1930-1945/