Biography
Ogura was born in Ōtsu city, Shiga prefecture and graduated from the Nara Women's Normal School (the predecessor of Nara Women's University). She was employed as a school teacher, but her interest in art led her to study under noted Nihonga painter Yasuda Yukihiko in 1920.
In 1926, her painting Kyuri ("Cucumbers") was selected for an Inten Exhibition by the Japan Fine Arts Academy (Nihon Bijutsu-in) . Ogura became the first female member of the Japan Fine Arts Academy in 1932. She specialized in graceful family scenes, still life, and pictures of women. During the 1950s and 1960s, she painted many large portraits of friends and family members in the nude. Although Ogura never departed from the traditional framework of the Nihonga style, her figure paintings are often described by contemporary critics as "modern," both in style and content.
A very prolific artist, in 1976, she was selected to become a member of the Japan Art Academy (Nihon Geijitsu-in), and later become honorary chairperson of that organization. She was awarded the Order of Culture in 1980, and is one of only two women painters (the other being fellow Nihonga painter Uemura Shōen) to be so honored.
Her studio and home were located Kamakura, where she lived to the advanced age of 105.
Read more about this topic: Ogura Yuki
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