坂本善三／Sakamoto Zenzo

坂本善三（1911〜1987）は、「グレーの画家」「東洋の寡黙」と称された日本の画家です。故郷の風土や自然が息づく坂本の絵は、日本独自の抽象画であるとして国際的にも高い評価を受けています。

坂本は熊本県阿蘇地域の山深い小国町に生まれました。小学生の頃、写生を通して自然の美しさに魅せられ、その後本格的に画家を志すようになりました。中学校を卒業すると同時に上京し、本郷絵画研究所や帝国美術学校（現・武蔵野美術大学）にて西洋画を学びます。独立美術協会が主催する独立展には、1931年の第1回展から出品を続け、1947年に独立賞を受賞してから2年後に、同会の会員となりました。終戦を迎えると、1946年に東京を引き揚げて熊本に戻り、以降、亡くなるまで同地で創作活動を展開しました。また、この頃から洋画壇の巨匠であり独立美術協会にも所属していた海老原喜之助（1904〜1970）に師事し、日本国際美術展や現代日本美術展などにも作品を発表していきました。

坂本の絵が具象から抽象へと移り変わっていったのは、ヨーロッパに滞在していた頃のことです。1957年に渡仏した彼は、パリを中心にヨーロッパ各地をめぐるなかで、石造りの建物に心惹かれ、その壁面をカンヴァスいっぱいに描き始めました。特に、白と灰色を基調としたパリの建造物は、「グレーの画家」と呼ばれた坂本の世界観を形成する、重要なモチーフとなりました。1987年に亡くなると、油彩画の大作を中心に、遺品を含めた70数点が生まれ故郷である小国町に寄贈され、1995年には同地に坂本善三美術館が開館しました。

Zenzo Sakamoto (1911-1987) was a Japanese artist hailed as the “Gray Painter” and the “Eastern Silent”. Sakamoto’s paintings, imbued with the atmosphere and nature of his hometown, have garnered international acclaim as a distinctive form of abstract art indigenous to Japan.

Sakamoto was born in the mountainous town of Oguni in the Aso region of Kumamoto Prefecture. During his elementary school years, he became captivated by the beauty of nature through sketching, and subsequently, he developed a serious aspiration to become a painter. Upon graduating from junior high school, he moved to Tokyo and studied Western painting at institutions such as the Hongo Painting Institute and the Imperial Art School (now Musashino Art University).

He participated in the Independent Exhibition, organized by the Independent Art Association, starting from the inaugural exhibition in 1931. Two years after receiving the Independent Prize in 1947, he became a member of the association. After the end of the war, in 1946, he returned to Kumamoto, withdrawing from Tokyo. From then on, until his passing, he expanded his creative activities in the same region. Around this time, he became a disciple of Kinosuke Ebihara (1904-1970), a master in the Western art world and a member of the Independent Art Association. He went on to present his works at events such as the Japan International Art Exhibition and the Contemporary Japanese Art Exhibition.

Sakamoto’s transition from representational to abstract art occurred during his time in Europe. Having arrived in France in 1957, he traveled across various parts of Europe, with Paris at the forefront. It was during these journeys that he became fascinated by stone structures, leading him to start painting their surfaces on canvases. Particularly, the stone buildings of Paris, characterized by white and gray tones, became crucial motifs shaping Sakamoto’s worldview, earning him the moniker “Gray Painter”. After his passing in 1987, over 70 works, predominantly large-scale oil paintings, including items from his estate, were donated to his hometown of Oguni. In 1995, the Sakamoto Zenzo Museum of art opened in Oguni, showcasing his artistic legacy.