Japanese artist Uemura Shōen is certainly what we would consider a woman ahead of her time. Born as Uemura Tsune, in Kyoto, and later adopting the pseudonym “Shōen,” she was raised by a single mother (as her father died months before she was born). Regardless of her family’s situation, or the social norms of the time, Shōen and her art were always supported by her mother. As her mother would run the family tea shop, Shōen would draw in the corner. Her mother was someone she was always very close with.
From a young age, Shōen had been interested in Bijin-ga art. Bijin-ga refers to beautiful women depicted in Japanese art. She was enrolled in a painting school at the age of 12, became a pupil of Nihonga artist Suzuki Shonen (1848-1918), was exhibiting her work by the age of 15, and was receiving commissions from private patrons.
Perhaps it was her all-female household, the influence of a strong woman in her life, and living in a society that primarily rejected female artists, that focused Shōen’s art on the Bijin-ga motif. Because of this, however, she received heavy criticism. Many believed that this particular subject matter did not truly reflect modern Japanese women and their true importance to society. People felt it too shallow, and too accepting of the belief that Japanese women were lower class citizens. Shōen did not interpret it this way. She was a known fighter for women’s rights. She herself struggled for recognition, and she succeeded. Her work can also been see to represent brave and unbroken women. Every colour and pattern choice, every painting with negative space, and every chosen posture of the subject, aimed to make women the focal point.
“Never once did I paint a work with the expectation that it would be a fine work as long as the woman depicted was beautiful. My earnest hope is that all my works are like fragrant jewels, always with a sense of fresh purity, never with even an iota of the vulgar.”
Whatever way you view her work, it’s undeniable that she helped pave the way for other female artists. As for her personal life, Uemura Shōen had many greats loves in her life, and had children. She raised them, like her own mother, as a single parent and never revealed the names of their fathers.
Uemura Shōen died of cancer in 1949, one year after becoming the first woman to be awarded the Order of Culture, an award given to those with contributions to Japan’s culture.
Above: ‘Tedious Hours,’ and ‘Snowy Day,’ by Uemura Shōen (1875-1949).
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