![IRIYAMA HEITARO (B. 1904)
A TEBAKO [OCCASIONAL BOX]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2000/CKS/2000_CKS_06385_0096_000(020510).jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Hakuo is the art name of Iriyama Heitaro, who was born in 1904 in
Shirane City, Niigata Prefecture, and was still active in 1976. After
receiving instruction in the local techniques of takenuri
[lacquering on bamboo] and kawarinuri [exotic or eccentric
lacquering] in Niigata City, he went to Tokyo where he continued his
studies, graduating from Tokyo Art School in 1933. In 1934 he travelled to Korea where he took part in research on the lacquer finds at the
Lolang [Rakuro] tombs.
Thereafter Iriyama specialised in kanshitsu ['dry lacquer'] and
sosaku shitugei ['creative lacquer craft', a term analogous to
sosaku hanga ('creative print')], participating in the Bunten and
Nitten, but in 1951 he declared himself independent of all organised
groups and absorbed himself in lacquer painting and lacquer prints. From 1955 he started to hold annual one-man exhibitions at Mitsukoshi
Department Store, principally of lacquer paintings executed with a
bamboo spatula instead of the traditional brush. In 1960 he held one-man exhibitions in Switzerland and West Germany and he was also active in the United States.1
1 Nihon Shikko Kyokai [Japan Lacquer Association] ed., Gendai
Nihon shikko soran [A dictionary of modern Japanese lacquer] (Tokyo, 1976), p. 179
Shirane City, Niigata Prefecture, and was still active in 1976. After
receiving instruction in the local techniques of takenuri
[lacquering on bamboo] and kawarinuri [exotic or eccentric
lacquering] in Niigata City, he went to Tokyo where he continued his
studies, graduating from Tokyo Art School in 1933. In 1934 he travelled to Korea where he took part in research on the lacquer finds at the
Lolang [Rakuro] tombs.
Thereafter Iriyama specialised in kanshitsu ['dry lacquer'] and
sosaku shitugei ['creative lacquer craft', a term analogous to
sosaku hanga ('creative print')], participating in the Bunten and
Nitten, but in 1951 he declared himself independent of all organised
groups and absorbed himself in lacquer painting and lacquer prints. From 1955 he started to hold annual one-man exhibitions at Mitsukoshi
Department Store, principally of lacquer paintings executed with a
bamboo spatula instead of the traditional brush. In 1960 he held one-man exhibitions in Switzerland and West Germany and he was also active in the United States.
1 Nihon Shikko Kyokai [Japan Lacquer Association] ed., Gendai
Nihon shikko soran [A dictionary of modern Japanese lacquer] (Tokyo, 1976), p. 179