Ikuo Hirayama
Ikuo Hirayama was a Japanese Nihonga painter and educator. Born in Setoda-chō, Hiroshima Prefecture, he was famous in Japan for Silk Road paintings of dreamy desert landscapes in Iran, Iraq, and China.
Biography
In 1952, he graduated from the Tokyo School of Art, or what is today's Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and became a disciple of Maeda Seison. Hirayama also served as President of his alma mater twice.He produced a series of paintings depicting the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. A hibakusha, he portrayed the A-bomb attack on Hiroshima. He was also active in the preservation of the cultural heritage of the world and is internationally appreciated for his efforts in this sphere. Hirayama was awarded the French Légion d'honneur Order in 1996 and Japan's Order of Cultural Merit in 1998 amongst others. He was the President of the Tokyo University of fine Arts and Music and President of the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO.
During his tenure as President of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Hirayama's commercial activities drew some criticism, and questions regarding the authorship of certain works were raised. He was a patron of historical institutions and gave £500,000 to the British Museum for the creation of The Hirayama Studio, a conservation studio specializing in Eastern pictorial art, which was opened in 1994 and named after him.
He had a studio in Kamakura, Kanagawa. He also established the Hirayama Trainee Curator in Silk Road Coins at the British Museum. There is a museum dedicated to the artist in Setoda which also has an English Web site at .
The Prix Hirayama is awarded by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres for distinguished contributions to scholarship on Asia.