Sekine Shoji

Place: Fukushima

Born: 1899

Death: 1919

Biography:

Shoji Sekine was a Japanese painter born in Fukushima, Japan in 1899. He was born into a poor craftsman’s family and taught himself painting while working at a printing company and doing odd jobs. He made his debut in the art world at the age of sixteen and was given only four years to work as an artist before dying of tuberculosis at the age of twenty years and two months. He was always short of painting supplies, and many of his works were lost to the earthquake and the firebombing of Tokyo during World War II. Despite his short career, Sekine is considered one of the most important painters of the early 20th century in Japan. His work is characterized by its emotional intensity and its exploration of the human condition. Sekine's most famous work is 'Boy', painted in 1919.