| schema:description | "Born in Hyogo prefecture, Matsuoka studied painting with Hashimoto Gaho and Yamana Tsurayoshi, then studied Nihonga at the Tokyo Fine Arts School (now Tokyo University of the Arts). During the Taisho and early Showa eras he was a leader in the New Yamato-e movement, pioneering the development of a neoclassical style of modern Nihonga. This work is a masterful blend of freshness and graceful charm that depicts a contemporary female figure in a classically picturesque manner. Her languid posture and the blue of her kimono are especially striking. The partially visible dresser in the room with its perfume and cosmetic bottles, the roof wet from a recent rain, the scattered cherry-blossom petals and the red camellia flowers—all these elements of the woman's surroundings hint at a story of some sort, subtly stimulating the viewer's imagination....(more)" |
