Shima Seien (1892-1970) was an Nihon-ga painter. Nihon-ga is a Japanese style of painting that uses mineral pigments and ink.
She studied under Kitano Tsunetomi and Noda Kyuho and painted mainly bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women). Seien was one of the few female artists in Japan pursuing art as a profession during her lifetime.
She was recognized as a talented artist at the age of 19 when she was accepted into the Bunten Exhibition, a prestigious Japanese exhibition for painters. Seien received awards from the 6th, 7th, and 9th Bunten exhibition for her artwork. She faced lots of discrimination in her industry due to the sexist views that men had of women at the time.
In 1918, she painted “Untitled” which displayed a woman with a bruise on her face. Seien said this was symbolic of the abuse many women routinely deal with by men.
Sofia Glantz • Mar 1, 2024 at 9:33 pm
YES!! Im so excited for this series 🙂