Japanese Literary Awards

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Gyoji Nomiyama

のみやま ぎょうじ

Nomiyama Gyoji

Aliases: 野見山 暁治 / 野見山曉治
Pen Names: Gyoji Nomiyama (old orthography)（Old character form used in official documents and award registers）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1920-12-17 （Honami Village, Kaho District, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan (now Iizuka City)）
Died
2023-06-22 （Jonan Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan） age 102
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Honami Village, Kaho District, Fukuoka (now Iizuka City), Japan → Paris, France → Tokyo (mainly Nerima Ward), Japan

Career

Occupations
Western-style painter, Painter, Art educator, Essayist
Active Years
1946-2023
Affiliations
Tokyo University of the Arts (Professor Emeritus), Gyoji Nomiyama Foundation, Salon d'Automne (member)
Memberships
Salon d'Automne
Influenced By
Hiroatsu Takada, Yuzo Saeki, Avant-garde and Abstract Expressionist painters of Paris

Education

Tokyo School of Fine Arts (pre-war; now Tokyo University of the Arts)
Faculty of Fine Arts / Department of Western Painting
Period: 1939-1943
Year of Graduation: 1943
Country: Japan
Kaho Middle School (now Fukuoka Prefectural Kaho High School)
Year of Graduation: 1938
Country: Japan
Graduated from a prewar middle school

Awards

Fukuoka Prefectural Governor's Prize
1946
Organization: 2nd Seibu Art Exhibition
Result: 受賞
Yasui Prize
1958
Organization: Yasui Prize Selection Committee
Result: 受賞
Japan Essayist Club Award
1978
Work: Four Hundred-Character Sketches
Organization: Japan Essayist Club
Result: 受賞
Arts Encouragement Prize (Minister of Education Award)
1992
Organization: Arts Encouragement Selection Committee / Ministry of Education
Result: 受賞
Fukuoka Prefecture Cultural Award
1994
Organization: Fukuoka Prefecture
Result: 受賞
Mainichi Art Award
1996
Organization: The Mainichi Newspapers Co.
Result: 受賞
Person of Cultural Merit
2000
Organization: Government of Japan (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
Result: 選出
Order of Culture
2014
Organization: Government of Japan (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)
Result: 受章
Honorary Citizen (Nerima Ward)
2017
Organization: Nerima Ward
Result: 選定

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Four Hundred-Character Sketches

1978 Essays

A collection of short essays and sketches in which the painter reflects on daily life and the creative process.

Art-makingDaily lifeMemory

A Single Line

1990 Autobiography

An autobiographical account recounting his life, art practice, and experiences during and after the war.

MemoirWar and artistic practiceCreation

Atelier Diary

2007 Essay/Diary

A series compiling short pieces on studio practice and daily life, originally serialized in the art magazine 'Bijutsu no Mado'.

Studio routineObservationLate-career production

Love and Death at the Edge of Paris

1961 Memoir/Travel writing

An essayistic work recounting experiences and encounters during his time in Paris.

Paris experienceEncountersSources of artistic inspiration

Bibliography

  • Love and Death at the Edge of Paris (1961)
  • Gyoji Nomiyama's Landscape Sketches (1978; rev. ed. 1995)
  • Four Hundred-Character Sketches (1978)
  • Let's Paint (1979)
  • Paris: Curie Hospital (1979)
  • Receding Scenery (1982)
  • Painter's Ramblings Notebook (1984)
  • A Single Line (1990)
  • Shapes of the Sky: Gyoji Nomiyama Art Notes (1994)
  • Unsigned Landscapes (1997)
  • Island (children's picture book, 1999)
  • Shifting Forms (2003)
  • Left Behind Artbooks: Visiting War-Deceased Art Students (2004)
  • Always Today (2005)
  • Kemukujara (children's picture book, 2007)
  • Sunspots in a Foreign Land (2011)
  • The Eternal Young Lady: People in My Memory (2014)
  • Everybody Forgot: People in My Memory (2018)
  • Gyoji Nomiyama: Words to Leave Behind — How Far Can People Go? (2018)
  • Atelier Diary (series, 2007–2023)

Adaptations

  • NHK Documentary '100 Years of the Atelier: Painter Gyoji Nomiyama' (2020)
  • Stained glass public art 'Someday We'll Meet' at Meiji-Jingumae Station, Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line (2008)
  • Stained glass public art 'Everybody's Friends' at Aoyama-itchome Station, Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (2020)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Concise, candid essayistic proseObservation-based narrationReflective records of artistic practice
Recurring Motifs
SkyLandscapeMemoryRemembrance of war-deceased art students

Health

  • Pulmonary infiltration
    1938（青年期）
    Caused hospitalization and affected studies and wartime service
  • Heart failure
    2023（死因）
    Died on 22 June 2023 (aged 102)

Legacy

A leading figure in postwar Western-style painting in Japan and a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts who mentored many artists. He worked to collect and preserve works by students who died in the war, contributing to the establishment of the Mugonkan (Silent Museum). Also known for stained-glass public artworks in Tokyo Metro stations. He was recognized as a Person of Cultural Merit and received the Order of Culture.

Museums

  • Mugonkan (Silent Museum) Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, Japan (related/partner) Opened in 1997
  • Iizuka City General Gymnasium (Public Art 'Tomorrow's Sky') Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan Opened in 2023

Archives

  • Gyoji Nomiyama Foundation
  • Tokyo University of the Arts (related archives)
  • Mugonkan (involved with the War-Deceased Art Students collection)

In Popular Culture

  • NHK Documentary '100 Years of the Atelier: Painter Gyoji Nomiyama' (2020)
  • Stained-glass works installed in Tokyo Metro stations (Meiji-Jingumae 'Someday We'll Meet', Aoyama-itchome 'Everybody's Friends')

Quotes

  • I want to paint a wide and deep sense of the universe.
    Source: Sankei News (interview) (2020)

Trivia

  • Continued creating art after turning 100 years old.
  • Married twice in his life; both spouses predeceased him.
  • Lived in Paris for roughly 12 years from the 1950s to the 1960s.
  • Created stained-glass public artworks installed in Tokyo Metro stations.
  • Posthumously awarded Junior Third Rank (ju-sanmi) in 2023.