Tadao Ogura


Tadao Ogura is a Japanese art critic, known primarily for his work in the fields of printmaking and Western-style painting. Active from the 1960s through the 1970s, he published numerous critiques that significantly influenced the postwar Japanese art scene. He was born in Takahashi City, Okayama Prefecture. His father was Gyoka Ogura, a painter.

Biography

Tadao Ogura was born in 1929 in Takahashi City, Okayama Prefecture, as the son of the painter Gyoka Ogura. In 1941, he entered the former Takahashi Junior High School, where he was a classmate and friend of Shigeru Onishi, who later became known as an artist. Excelling academically, Ogura graduated early and entered the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in April 1945, shortly before the end of World War II. After the war, he went on to study at the University of Tokyo, where he graduated in 1952 with a degree in aesthetics and art history from the Faculty of Letters.
After graduating from university, Ogura began working at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. In December 1962, he contributed an article titled "Printmaking as Contemporary Painting – The 3rd Tokyo International Print Biennale" to the art journal Bijutsu Techo No. 213, in which he analyzed works exhibited at the Biennale and discussed the positioning of printmaking within the realm of contemporary painting. In November 1971, he contributed another article to Sansai No. 280 titled "Western-style Painting and Printmaking," offering a detailed discussion on trends and characteristics of Western-style painting and printmaking in postwar Japan.
Recognized for his contributions to art criticism, Ogura was appointed Director of the National Museum of Art, Osaka in 1981 at the age of 52, and later became Director of the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto in 1986. In 1988, during his tenure at the Kyoto museum, Ogura participated in a roundtable discussion featured in the exhibition catalog for sculptor Yoshikuni Iida's retrospective held at the Mie Prefectural Art Museum. Joined by art critics Tetsuro Kagesato and Sadao Kato, the conversation delved deeply into Iida's works and artistic philosophy.
In addition to his work as a critic, Ogura also served as a jury member for several major art awards. From February 1991 to February 1992, he was a selection committee member for the 41st and 42nd Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Art Encouragement Prizes, including the newcomers' category.
From 1995 to 1999, he served as Director of the Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and from 1998 to 2002, he held the position of Director at the Ohara Museum of Art. In 1999, at the age of 70, Ogura was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.

Selected publications

  • Milestones in Japanese Western-style Painting, Kyoto Shimbun Publishing, 1992.

Co-authored and edited book