Hishida Shunsō

Hishida Shunsō (born Sept. 21, 1874, Nagano prefecture, Japan—died Sept. 16, 1911, Tokyo) was a painter who, with his friend Yokoyama Taikan, contributed to the revitalization of traditional Japanese painting.

Hishida studied in Tokyo, first with a painter of the Kanō school (which emphasized the use of Chinese subject matter and technique) and then at the Tokyo Fine Arts School with Hashimoto Gahō. In 1898 he joined the Japan Fine Arts Academy, where he and Taikan gradually mastered the art of reconciling traditional Japanese line drawing with a Western Impressionistic style (pejoratively known as mōrōtai, or “vague,” “indistinct”). Among his best-known works are “Ochiba” (1909; “Fallen Leaves”) and “Kuroi neko” (1910; “A Black Cat”).