Ryohei Koiso

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameRyohei•Koiso
Used nameRyohei•Koiso
Original name小磯•良平
Other namesRyohei Kishigami, 岸上良平
Born25 July 1903 in Kobe, Hyogo (JPN)
Died16 December 1988 in Kobe, Hyogo (JPN)
NOC Japan

Biography

Japanese painter Ryohei Koiso was one of the masters of Japanese western-style painting. He was born as the son of a merchant named Kishigami and in 1925 adopted the name Koiso. Educated at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, Koiso studied under the eminent teacher of his time, Fujishima Takeji, and graduated at the top of his class in 1927. In 1928 Koiso moved to Paris and travelled throughout Europe for two years to immerse himself in western art, winning a prize for a painting of a woman in a Salon d’Automne exhibition. He returned to Japan in 1930.

Koiso was fascinated with the culture of women and his portraits are finely realized interpretations of the modern female figure. During World War II he often received commissions for paintings depicting Japanese military scenes, such as the signing of the British surrender of Singapore, and Japanese infantrymen making their way through high grass fields in Malaysia. From 1953 until 1971 Koiso taught painting at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music. He died from pneumonia in a hospital in his hometown of Kobe. The two prints submitted in 1936 were lithographs.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1936 Summer Olympics Art Competitions JPN Ryohei Koiso
Painting, Graphic Arts, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Graphic Arts, Open (Olympic) AC