Harue Koga

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Illustrations and paintings by Harue Koga (1895–1933)

Harue Koga for Kodomo no Kuni

Bio from the Hiroshima Museum of Art: Born in Kurume City in Fukuoka Prefecture, Koga left junior high school to be a painter, and he moved to Tokyo in 1912. He attended the institute of the Taiheiyoga-kai, and also the institute of the Japan Watercolor Painting Society the following year. In 1915, Koga entered the priesthood and studied Buddhism at Taisho University, but at the same time he continued painting and became a member of the Japan Watercolor Painting Society in1916. In 1917, he won the prize at the fourth exhibition of Nika-kai, and the next year he decided to concentrate on painting, and withdrew from the university. Koga was also interested in oil painting, and exhibited his oil work at the ninth exhibition of Nika-kai in 1922. In the same year, he created “Action”, the avant-garde group, with Kigen Nakagawa and other young contemporaries. In 1930, Koga was talked into joining the 1930-kyokai and entered it, but withdrew at once. He died in Tokyo.
For a really depressing read (with cameos by Kawabata and syphilis) check out his wikipedia entry.

Links:

—There is a long out-of-print a book about the artist (I only have a library discard): Harue Koga: The Creative Process, A Show Built Around the Museum Collection.

—"Koga Harue: A Retrospective" by Edan Corkill

—PDF article from the Japanese Society for Aesthetics

—Harue Koga: The art of assimilating Western styles by C.B. Liddell

—2010 exhibit page (in Japanese)