Morikazu Kumagai

Morikazu Kumagai 1880-1977
Born in Tsukechi, Gifu, the seventh child of Magorokuro Kumagai, the first mayor of Gifu City.
In 1900, he entered the Tokyo Fine Arts School, where he was taught by Seiki Kuroda and Takeji Fujishima.
Kumagai began to form his so-called “Kumagai-style” works when he was in his 60s.
In this method, from a number of sketches of an object, leaving only the minimum number of lines, and then the sketch is traced and copied onto a support board.
The method of drawing by transfer, which he had been experimenting with since around 1935, was followed by the transfer method using tracing paper and carbon paper around 1945, creating a more precise and meticulous conception of the work, thus completing Kumagai’s art.
Therefore, there is not anything created or added in the process of production, but a group of works that depict faithfully copied objects with a minimum of lines and colors.