Oguiss – Takanori Ogisu
Prof. Francesco Carelli
Takanori Ogisu (1901 – 1986), styled as Takanori Oguiss, was a Japanese figurative painter who lived and worked most of his life in France. He is known by his cityscape paintings. Ogisu was part of a group of Japanese painters who went to study in France, such as Foujita, Inokuma, and Sadami Yokote, in 1927. Ogisu settled in the district of Montparnasse, and frequented the painters of La Ruche, being particularly impressed by the paintings of Maurice Utrillo.
He established himself definitively in 1948 in France, as a Japanese Expressionist known as “the Parisien born in Japan” painting in bright colours the old picturesque districts, the old shops, haberdashery, paper mills, wine and liquor stores, wood, coal, and flower markets, capturing the alcoves and street corners of the French capital, often choosing to forget the inclusion of human figures.
In 1951, he wrote and illustrated Nouvelles de Paris, published by Mainichi. He also travelled to Amsterdam, Ghent, Antwerp and Venice, composing colourful works with unusual framing.