Biography

Zenzaburo Kojima ​(b. 1893, d. 1962) sought to formalize a “distinctively Japanese oil painting” throughout his career. During a 3-year period of study in France and Italy, Kojima immersed himself in movements like Fauvism and Venetian Renaissance painting, eventually choosing to explore the Western genres of landscape, still-life, and nude. At the same time, he aimed to retain an identifiably Japanese character in his work, drawing influence from ukiyo-e prints and adapting traditional Japanese subjects like seasonal change and natural simplicity. Kojima’s solo exhibitions include the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, traveling to The Annex Museum of the National Museum of Modern Art (1964); Fukuoka Art Museum (1993, 2012); The Shoto Museum of Art (1998); Fuchu Art Museum (2007). His works are included in the collections of the National Museum of Korea, Seoul; the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art; the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, Kanagawa; Mie Prefectural Art Museum; Busan Museum of Art; and Pola Museum of Art, Kanagawa among others.