Uchida Iwao
1938
Oil on canvas
From Mr. I’s Collection
Uchida Iwao
1900-1953
Born in Tokyo. Uchida studied yōga painting under Fujishima Takeji at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. After graduation, he exhibited at the Teiten and Kōfūkai exhibitions. He moved to Europe in 1930 to study at the Académie Ranson in Paris. In 1935, at the time of the reorganization of the Teiten, he founded the Shinseisaku with Inokuma Genichirō, Ise Masayoshi, and others. After the war, he became secretary general of the Nihon Bijutsukai and was a leading advocate in the movement for the democratization of the art world, questioning painters’ war responsibility. After joining the Japanese Communist Party, he led the post-war proletarian art movement.