Aōdō Denzen (亜欧堂 田善, c. 1748 – June 25, 1822) was a Japanese painter and copperplate engraver. A leading figure in Japanese painting during the late Edo period, he is credited with introducing Western painting to Japan.

Aōdō Denzen
亜欧堂 田善
Portrait of Aōdō by Endō Denichi [ja]
Born
Zenkichi Nagata
(永田 善吉, Nagata Zenkichi)

c. 1748
DiedJune 25, 1822(1822-06-25) (aged 73–74)
Other namesAeudoo Denzento[1]
Occupation(s)Painter, copperplate engraver
RelativesEiji Tsuburaya (descendant)

Biography

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Early life

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Aōdō was born Zenkichi Nagata (永田 善吉, Nagata Zenkichi) in 1748 in Sukagawa, Mutsu Province (now Fukushima Prefecture), Japan.[2] He was the second son of Sōshirō Nagata, a wealthy farm implement dealer.[3] Upon the death of his father, he helped his older brother, Jokichi, who was a dyer, for a long time. Jokichi had a penchant for painting, and while working in the family business, Zenkichi learned painting from him.

Painting career

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In his painting career, Aōdō employed Western-style painting techniques such as perspective and shading to achieve Western-style copperplate engraving.[2] Adding Edo customs to Shiba Kokan's Western-style landscape paintings, he discovered new landscapes and perfected Western-style landscape copperplate engravings.[2]

Legacy

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Sadaki Ota's Aōdō Denzen Collection, owned by the Sukagawa museum, was declared an important culturally significant in 1986.[2] In 2001, Eiji Tsuburaya biographers cited Aōdō as an ancestor of Tsuburaya, claiming Tsuburaya inherited Aōdō's dexterity.[4][5]

References

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  1. ^ Shogakukan 2007, p. 8.
  2. ^ a b c d "須賀川人物伝 亜欧堂田善". Sukagawa City (in Japanese). Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  3. ^ Ueda et al. 2009, p. 3.
  4. ^ Matsuda 2001, pp. 10–12.
  5. ^ Takeuchi & Yamamoto 2001, p. 324.

Bibliography

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  • Matsuda, Takehisa, ed. (August 10, 2001). 円谷英二特撮世界 [Eiji Tsuburaya's World of Tokusatsu] (in Japanese). Keibunsha. ISBN 4-7669-3848-8.
  • 江戸時代人物控1000 [Edo period person's copy 1000] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. 2007. ISBN 978-4-09-626607-6.
  • Takeuchi, Hiroshi; Yamamoto, Shingo, eds. (2001). 円谷英二の映像世界 [Eiji Tsuburaya's Visual World] (in Japanese) (2nd ed.). Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha. ISBN 4-40839474-2.
  • Ueda, Masaaki; Tsuda, Hideo; Nagahara, Keiji; Fujii, Matsuichi; Fujiwara, Akira (2009). コンサイス日本人名辞典 [Concise Japanese Dictionary] (in Japanese) (5th ed.). Sanseidō. ISBN 978-4385158013.
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