Kuroda Seiki: Google Doodle celebrates Japanese painter :: Dancehall Reggae :: Forums

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Posted August 9, 2022 11:07 AM

Japanese artist Seiki Kuroda features in today’s Google Doodle – with the artist featuring on the Doodle to mark what would be his 156th birthday.

Kuroda was an influential artist who’s known as the father of Western-style paintings in Japan – as well as Western art theory in his teachings.

The painter was influential during the 19th and early 20th century – and is widely considered to be on Japan’s greatest artists to this day.

Who was Seiki Kuroda?
Kuroda was born on 9 August 1866 in Takamibaba, Satsuma Domain. The son of a samurai of the Shimazu clan, he was adopted as his uncle’s heir at birth and moved to his estate in Tokyo.

After pursing studying in Paris, where he was to study law in 1886 at the age of 18, he met the painters Yamamoto Hosui and Fuji Masazo, as well as art dealer Tadamasa Hayashi, and they convinced him to pursue painting full time.

It was during his time in Paris that he mastered Western styles bringing back to Japan a painting called “Morning Toilette”, which went on to become the first nude painting to be publicly exhibited in Japan.

Sadly it was destroyed in WW2.

In 1886, he founded the Hakuba-kai – also known as the White Horse Society – a group of Japanese practitioners of yoga and painting and was invited to teach the Western Painting Department at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts.

He also served as the President of the Imperial Art Academy and was titled a Viscount in 1917. Then, in 1920, Kuroda was elected to join Japan’s House of Peers, or Kizoku-in, the new aristocratic social class during the Meiji Era.

Seiki Kuroda legacy
Upon his death, Kuroda was given the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government – with his own painting style impacting many artists still to this day.

His work continues to inspire Impressionist and Pleinairist artists.

Two of his works, Maiko (1893) and Lakeside (1897), have also been selected as commemorative postage stamps by the Japanese government.

Kuroda Seiki: Why a Google Doodle is celebrating the influential painter and teacher today

Kuroda is credited with bringing western art theory to Japan, where he has come to be known as ‘the father of Western-style painting’

Tuesday’s Google Doodle celebrates what would have been the 156th birthday of Japanese artist and teacher Seiki Kuroda.

Kuroda is credited with bringing Western art theory to Japan, where he has come to be known as “the father of Western-style painting”.

He was very influential during the late 19th and early 20th century, and is still remembered among Japan’s greatest artists today.

Here is everything you need to know about him.

Who was Seiki Kuroda?
Kuroda was born on 9 August 1866 in Takamibaba, Satsuma Domain, which is present day Kagoshima Prefecture.

He was the son of a samurai of the Shimazu clan, but was adopted as his uncle’s heir at birth and moved to his estate in Tokyo. His uncle, Kuroda Kiyotsuna, served in high positions in the imperial government. He was named a viscount while Kuroda was young.

Kuroda travelled to Paris to study law when he was 18 but in 1886 he met the painters Yamamoto Hosui and Fuji Masazo, as well as art dealer Tadamasa Hayashi, and they convinced him to pursue painting – which had previously only been a hobby – full time.

Kuroda spent a decade in France learning how to paint in the Western academic-style, before returning to Japan in 1893.

He brought with him a painting called “Morning Toilette”, which went on to become the first nude painting to be publicly exhibited in Japan. It was sadly destroyed during the Second World War.

Kuroda started a Western painting school called Tenshin Dojo and established plein-airism – the practice of painting outdoors.

In 1986, he founded the Hakuba-kai – also known as the White Horse Society – a group of Japanese practitioners of yoga and painting. He was also invited to teach the Western Painting Department at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts.

Kuroda’s Western painting style was quite shocking to Japanese audiences but also became very popular, particularly among younger people, who were keen to be taught by him.

He refined his style and teaching over the years, mixing in more Japanese sensibilities.

In 1910 he was appointed a court painter at the Imperial Court. He also served as the President of the Imperial Art Academy and was made a viscount in 1917 after the death of his uncle.

Then, in 1920, Kuroda was elected to join Japan’s house of peers, or Kizoku-in, the new aristocratic social class during the Meiji Era.

His later years were spent more in politics until his death on 15 July 1924, at the age of 57.

What is his legacy?
Kuroda was given the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government immediately after his death.

His work and teaching inspired the next generation of Western-style painters in Japan, and his influence is still seen worldwide today.

The “academic impressionism” style that Kuroda put forward achieved a long-lasting predominance within Japanese art society, and formed the foundation of Western-style art training in Japan for decades.

Perhaps Kuroda’s greatest contribution to Japanese culture, however, was the broader acceptance of Western-style painting he managed to instil in the Japanese public.

Kuroda’s most famous works include “Lakeside” (1897), “Maiko” (1893), “Woman Holding a Mandolin” (1891) and “The Fields” (1907).

“Maiko” and “Lakeside” have both been turned into commemorative stamps in Japan.

His works can be found in countless museums and galleries such as the Artizon Museum in Tokyo and the Kuroda Memorial Hall within the Tokyo National Museum.

Kuroda Seiki: Who is the painter that Google Doodle is celebrating today?

Google Doodle is celebrating Japanese artist Seiki Kuroda today whose paintings have left an inspiring impression on the art world.

The Doodle comes on the 156th birthday of Kuroda, who was born in 1866 in Kagoshima, Japan. Kuroda was one of the most influential artists and is known as the father of Western-style paintings in Japan.

Kuroda was adopted by his paternal uncle -a viscount - who had chosen him as an heir, and Kuroda moved onto his estate in Tokyo.

At age 18, Kuroda traveled to Paris to study law and was planning to stay there for a decade. Although he had enjoyed painting growing up - he only ever considered it a holiday. Then in 1886 Kuroda attended a party for Japanese nationals in Paris where he met the painters Yamamoto Hōsui and Fuji Masazō and art dealer Tadamasa Hayashi who urged him to take up painting.

The party was a changing point for him and he went on to spend a decade learning how to paint in the Western academic-style, honing his craft during a period of self-discovery.

Kuroda returned to Japan in 1893 and brought new ideas and freshness to the Western-style art scene throughout Japan.

He created a Western painting school called Tenshin Dojo and established pleinairism which is specifically for painting outdoors and capturing nature.

In 1986, he founded the Habuka-kai, widely known as the White Horse Society. The society was for a group of Japanese practitioners of yoga and painting.

The artists was also invited to teach the Western Painting Department at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts.

Towards the end of his life, Kuroda was chosen as a teishitsu gigei-in, or Imperial Household Artist, to create works for the Tokyo Imperial Palace.

Kuroda served as the president of the Imperial Art Academy and was titled a viscount in 1917. Then, in 1920, the painter was elected to join Japan’s House of Peers in the new aristocratic social class.

Throughout his lifetme, Kuroda inspired the next generation of Western-style, impressionist and pleinairist artists to carry on his legacy in Japan.

His works can be found in several museums and galleries including the Artizon Museum in Tokyo and the Kuroda Memorial Hall within the Tokyo National Museum. Two of his more well-known works, Maiko (1893) and Lakeside (1897), have also been selected as commemorative postage stamps in Japan.

The Google Doodle only reaches the UK and Japan today.

Who Is The Mathematician Stefan Banach That Google Doodle Is Celebrating?

Google Doodle is celebrating a Polish mathematician Stefan Banach today to mark the day influential academic became a professor.

Banach was born in Kraków, Poland in 1892 - then part of then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He never knew his mother, and his father sent him to be raised by family in the city.

He was deemed unfit for military service during World War 1 due to his poor eyesight, so he instead taught in local schools.

After publishing mathematical papers he worked on in his spare time, Banach received a job at Lvov Technical University. He was a mostly self-taught mathematician and professor.

Hugo Steinhaus, a distinguished mathematician, met and befriended a young Banach after overhearing them discussing new mathematic concepts. Steinhaus and Banach went on to become good friends and collaborate on groundbreaking work.

Steinhaus, an early founder of game and probability theory, referred to Banach as his “greatest scientific discovery.”

Alongside help from Steinhaus’ connections, Banach founded modern functional analysis, an entirely new branch of mathematics. Many concepts are named after him including Banach spaces, Banach algebra and the Banach-Steinhaus theorem.

Banach's work on modern functional analysis allowed him to become a professor at Lvov Technical University - in present day Lviv, Ukraine - a hundred years ago in 1922.

Throughout the twentieth century, he made major contributions to the theory of topological vector spaces, measure theory, integration, the theory of sets, orthogonal series and functional analysis, which is still studied and used today.

After the takeover of the city by Nazi Germany in World War 2, all universities were closed. Banach, his son and colleagues all employed as lice-feeder for Rudolf Weigl's typhus research. A louse-feeder was a human sources of blood for lice infected with typhus, which were then used to research possible vaccines against the disease.

The Red Army freed the city in 1944 and Banach returned to re-establish the university after the war.

However, The Soviet Union was removing Poles from the area, so Banach began planning his return to his home country.

He was soon after diagnosed with lung cancer and was allowed to stay in Lviv. He died in August 1945, aged 53.

The Google Doodle in his honour is seen in the UK, Sweden, Iceland, Germany, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.

Who Is The Comedian Lydia Sum That Google Doodle Is Celebrating?

Google Doodle's is today celebrating one of Hong Kong's favourite comedian's Lydia Tin Ha Sum on her 77th birthday.

Sum was a beloved artist in Hong Kong easily spotted with her trademark glasses and bouffant hairstyle. Her fans affectionately call her “Fei Fei” which means “Fat Fat” in Cantonese and also nicknamed her “Happy Fruit”.

Who was Lydia Tin Ha Sum?
Sum was a Shanghai-born actress who began her career as a teen working on the largest production company in Hong Kong at the time, Shaw Brothers Studio. She made her film debut at the age of 15 in a Mandarin comedy 'When the Peach Blossoms Bloom'.

Soon after she landed her breakout job as the emcee of 'Enjoy Yourself Tonight', a popular variety show.

Sum then went onto star in a popular Cantonese film 'The House of 72 Tenants' where her role as a working-class woman stole the limelight. The film overtook blockbuster films released at the time and topped Hong Kong's box office in 1973.

Afterwards she played a similar role in a four-part blockbuster comedy called 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World' which followed a disadvantaged family trying to find wealth. The film became a classic and continues to encourage conversation on social inequality to this day.

The Google Doodle of the performers is an illustration of a film reel portraying her incredible comedic and acting talents loved by those in Honk Kong and beyond.

Sum also starred in Singapore's English-language sitcom,“Living with Lydia,” which won her Best Comedy Performance at the Asian Television Awards in 2003.

Throughout her life, she gained credits in over 150 movies and series.

Her personal life:
In her personal life, Sum married actor and singer Adam Cheng in a ceremony in Canada and had a daughter who she named Joyce Cheng Yan-Yee. Sum and Cheng divorced eight months after Joyce was born.

Sum had struggled with several health problems including diabetes and liver cancer which led doctors to remove a third of the organ. In February 2008, the mother-of-one was admitted to intensive care where her health deteriorated quickly. Her family eventually withdrew Sum's life support and she died on February 19.

The comedian's body was brought to British Columbia, Canada where her mother had recently died to be buried at Burnaby's Forest Lawn Memorial Park on February 27. Video footage of the funeral was played at a memorial event at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

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