Takahashi Shuka 高橋秋華

高橋秋華 Takahashi Shuka (1878-1952)
Japanese painter. Born in Okayama Prefecture. He first studied nanga under Ishii Kinryo and later under Yamamoto Shunkyo. He received a first-class gold medal at the Russo-Japanese War Victory Commemorative Exhibition and was selected four times for the Bunten Exhibition. The mural painting Nativity at the Meiji Jingu Seitoku Memorial Picture Gallery, completed in 1930, is a masterpiece that he produced and dedicated at the request of the Empress. The painting has a colourful style with a modern flavour added to the Maruyama School style of his teacher Shunkyo, and was strongly influenced by the flower-and-bird paintings of Okamoto Shuki, whom he admired resulting in a painting style that is elegant and prestigious. Died in 1952, aged 75.