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Concept
Rokuzan Ogiwara
Summary
Rokuzan Ogiwara was a sculptor active in Meiji period Japan. His real name was Morie Ogiwara. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern western-style bronze sculpture in Japan.
Ogiwara was born in Azumino in Nagano Prefecture in the mountains of central Japan, as the fifth son of a local farmer. He was forced to drop out of school at an early age due to a heart condition. In 1894, he met Aizō Sōma and his wife Kokkō Sōma, the wealthy proprietors of the Nakamura-ya bakery in Tokyo and noted art patrons, and partly due to their influence, he became an active member of the temperance movement and a convert to Christianity.
The Sōmas recognized Ogiwara's artistic talent, and agreed to become his sponsors. He relocated to Tokyo in 1899, and also stayed at the Sōmas' summer villa in Kamakura, Kanagawa. Ogiwara traveled to New York City in the United States in 1901 to study oil painting under contemporary artists Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase at the New York School of Art and at the Art Students League. In 1903, he traveled to Paris, France, where he met with his patron, Sōma Aizo, who set him up in a garret apartment, and arranged for him to take further courses at the famed Académie Julian in painting. However, when Ogiwara viewing Auguste Rodin's just-completed The Thinker, he had a complete change of mind, and decided to devote his talents exclusively to bronze sculpture instead. He returned to the United States in 1904 to learn sculpting techniques from scratch, and returned again to the Académie Julian in France in 1906.
In France, he was able to meet Rodin in person and received instruction from him. He also met the famous Japanese sculptor Kōtarō Takamura in Paris, and acted as his tour guide for the major art museums in Paris. He visited the British Museum in London, admiring Egyptian sculptures there. Around this time Ogiwara also completed his first works of sculpture. In late 1907, he departed France for Japan, by way of Italy, Greece and Egypt, finally returning home to Japan in 1908.
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