Shimada Shiro was born in Toyama, but Yokohama was his final home. He made realistic paintings full of life, with stable compositions and gentle colors. From 1958, he became widely known for his illustrations accompanying Osaragi Jiro’s “Chiisai Sumi (A Small Corner)” series of essays, which appeared in the Kanagawa Shimbun newspaper for 14 years. The models for this painting are his eldest daughter and son. The soft light and shadows are designed to capture the reality of the figures’ presence in the room. The children’s resilient and healthy upbringing, even in the chaos of the postwar period, is shown without affectation. Shimada later developed an experimental style with more violent brushstrokes. In his later years, his eldest son’s wife became his muse, and he produced many refined female figures. (UCHIYAMA Junko)
Shimada Shiro was born in Toyama, but Yokohama was his final home. He made realistic paintings full of life, with stable compositions and gentle colors. From 1958, he became widely known for his illustrations accompanying Osaragi Jiro’s “Chiisai Sumi (A Small Corner)” series of essays, which appeared in the Kanagawa Shimbun newspaper for 14 years. The models for this painting are his eldest daughter and son. The soft light and shadows are designed to capture the reality of the figures’ presence in the room. The children’s resilient and healthy upbringing, even in the chaos of the postwar period, is shown without affectation. Shimada later developed an experimental style with more violent brushstrokes. In his later years, his eldest son’s wife became his muse, and he produced many refined female figures.
(UCHIYAMA Junko)