Ono Kōkichi
1927 (Shōwa 2)
Donated by Itō Kou
Ono Kōkichi (1909-1930) was born in Someya Koji, Sakata Town (modern 3-chome, Honcho, Sakata City), and suffered from an incurable sickness from childhood. Maturing as both a writer of prose and as an artist while still young, he left for Tōkyō in 1924, learning at the Taiheiyō Gakkai research center and the Kawabata School of Painting. In 1928 he received tutelage from Satomi Katsuzō and Hayashi Takeshi at the research institution of the Association of 1930. Despite the honor of having his work selected for the prestigious Nika Exhibition, he soon returned to his home prefecture in order to receive medical care. He continued to create his works until his early death at a Tōkyō hospital at the age of twenty. His passionate art, through which he pursued expressionism, as well as his lifestyle, made a major impression on many of his fellow artists, and his reputation only grew posthumously.