Katō Jōsaku
ca. 1980 (Shōwa 55)
Donated by Ishii Masako
Katō Jōsaku (1901-1998) was born in Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture. After studying at the preparatory department of Keio University, he was hired as a Japanese language arts teacher in Kyōto. He then studied painting at the Sunday Department of the Kansai Bijutsuin. For around three years beginning in 1946, he engaged in agricultural work in the town of Yuza, but, collapsing from overwork, he moved to Sakata to convalesce. While continuing to work on his art, he also occasionally taught fine art at Sakata Nishi High School and Shōkō Commercial High School. He painted nudes inspired by the women farmers of the area, representing their vitality, destiny and connection to the land.