Lot Essay
Haruyama Ikuo was born on June 15, 1930 in Hiroshima Prefecture. In 1947 he enrolled in the Tokyo Bijustsu Gako (Tokyo Art School) to study painting, from which he graduated in 1952. He then became the student of Seison Maeda.
Hirayama's interest in Buddhism provided a rich source of subject matter at this time. His paintings have been accorded numerous awards in Japan, and in 1963 he became a professor at Tokyo Geijutsu. His involvement with the art and culture of other countries is widespread and in 1966 he travelled to Turkey for four months with an archaeological group from the University. Several years later he began a study of Renaissance mural paintings. Other travels have taken him to China, the middle East and central Asia, all of which influenced his work, as seen in his 'Silk Road' exhibition paintings of 1976 and 1980.
Hirayama has been instrumental in bringing Western concepts to Japanese modern painting.
Hirayama's interest in Buddhism provided a rich source of subject matter at this time. His paintings have been accorded numerous awards in Japan, and in 1963 he became a professor at Tokyo Geijutsu. His involvement with the art and culture of other countries is widespread and in 1966 he travelled to Turkey for four months with an archaeological group from the University. Several years later he began a study of Renaissance mural paintings. Other travels have taken him to China, the middle East and central Asia, all of which influenced his work, as seen in his 'Silk Road' exhibition paintings of 1976 and 1980.
Hirayama has been instrumental in bringing Western concepts to Japanese modern painting.