Okada Saburōsuke
Year Unknown
Oil on canvas
Okada Saburōsuke
1869-1939
Born in Saga Prefecture. Okada aspired from a young age to be a Western-style painter and studied under Masaaki Horie. In 1894, he formed the Hakuba-kai (White Horse Society) with Kuroda Seiki, Kume Keiichiro, Fujishima Takeji and others. From 1901, he studied in France for four years. He developed a delicate and elegant style of painting, and upon returning to Japan, he was active as the principal artist for Kanten government-sponsored exhibitions. His works can be identified by their graceful, dainty, peaceful and simple characteristics. He made great achievements during his time as an educator at the Hongo Western painting institute together with Fujishima Takeji. He produced many of the leading Western-painters of modern Japan.