Toshi Shimizu

Born in Kō town, Shimotsuga District (now part of Tochigi City), Tochigi Prefecture. Shimizu failed the entrance exam for the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and moved to the United States alone in 1907. He engaged in physical labor in Seattle and its vicinity for a while. In 1912, he entered the art school led by Dutch painter Fokko Tadama. In 1917, he moved to New York, working in design while receiving instruction from artists like John Sloan at the Art Students League. He also formed friendships with Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Eitaro Ishigaki. In 1919, he returned to Japan for marriage but went back to New York the following year. In 1921, he was invited to The 34th Annual Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture and exhibited the Yokohama Night. However, despite winning an award, it was later revoked because of his being an alien. Shimizu organized Ga Cho Kai with his fellow Japanese artists in New York, exhibiting the Yokohama Night at the Exhibition of Paintings and Sculptures by the Japanese Artists Society of New York City in 1922. He then moved to Paris in 1924 and exhibited at several exhibitions including the Salon d’Automne. Coming back to Japan in 1927, he settled in Tokyo joining the establishment of the Dokuritsu Bijutsu Kyokai (Independent Art Association). From 1932 onwards, he served as a war artist in China and Southeast Asia. He died in December 1945, shortly after the end of World War II.