Wasabro Itozono

1911 Born on August 4, the third son of a kimono merchant in Nakatsu-cho, Oita Prefecture.
1922 (age 11) Suffers from osteomyelitis and is hospitalized at Kyushu Imperial University Hospital, where he undergoes surgery.
1927 (Age 16) Moved to Tokyo, stayed at his brother's house, and attended the Kawabata Painting School.
1929 (age 18) Entered the Maeda Institute of Realistic Painting under the leadership of Kanji Maeda.
1930 (Age 19) Exhibited for the first time at the 8th Shunyo-kai and was selected.
In April, his teacher Kanji Maeda passed away.
1931 (age 20) Selected for the 1st Dokuritsu Bijutsu Kyokai Exhibition, and exhibited until the 9th.
1939 (age 28) Participated in the founding of the Art and Culture Association (Ichiro Fukuzawa, Saburo Aso, and others).
1941 (Age 30) As governmental censorship of thought became severe, Ichiro Fukuzawa, Shuzo Takiguchi, and others were arrested.
In December, the Pacific War begins.
1945 (Age 34) In March, Tokyo was hit by an air raid, and all of his works were destroyed by the fire, except for a few pieces in Nakatsu.
In August, the Pacific War ends.
1947 (age 36) Resigned from the Artistic Culture Association, and moved to the Japan Association of Liberal Artists (until around 1966).
1952 (age 41) Exhibited at the 1st Japan International Art Exhibition (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, sponsored by the Mainichi Newspapers).
1954 (age 43) Became an instructor at the Kitakyushu Free Painting Studio (Kokura).
1955 (age 44) “Wasaburo Itozono Solo Exhibition” was held in Oita City, sponsored by the Oita Godo Shimbun.
1957 (age 46) Awarded an honorable mention at the 4th Japan International Art Exhibition.
1958 (age 47) Nominated as a lecturer at Nihon University Department of Art.
1960(age 49) Held a four-person exhibition (Saburo Aso, Kaoru Yamaguchi, Kazu Wakita, and Wasaburo Itozono) at the Nihonbashi Gallery.
At the end of the year, he returned to Nakatsu for a year of recuperation.
1962 (age 51) Invited to exhibit his work at the “Vision of Contemporary Painting” exhibition (organized by the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo).
1964 (age 53) Resigned from the Japan Association of Independent Liberal Arts, and thereafter became an independent artist.
1966 (Age 55) Held the “Wasaburo Itozono Exhibition” at the Nagoya Gallery.
1968 (age 57) Exhibited “Black Water” and “Yellow Water” at the 8th Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan,
Received the Mr. K Prize at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.
Exhibited “Ayasugikai” (Nagoya Gallery) with four others including Noriyuki Ushijima (until the 21st exhibition).
1969 (Age 58) Exhibited “Black Water” and “Yellow Water” at the 12th Yasui Prize Exhibition.
1970 (Age 59) Held the Three Artists Exhibition (Aso, Nomiyama, Itozono) at Miyuki Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo.
1976 (Age 65) Published “The Works of Wasaburo Itozono”. The “Dohitsu-kai” was formed by his students at the art department of Nihon University.
He was a supporting exhibitor.
1978 (Age 67) “Wasaburo Itozono Exhibition” was held at Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art and Oita Prefectural Art Center,
Approximately 140 works from his early to recent years were exhibited.
1983 (age 72) Published “Wasaburo Itozono Art Collection.
1995 (age 84) Held the “Wasaburo Itozono and His Generation” exhibition at the Oita Prefectural Art Center.
1997 (at the age of 86) “Wasaburo Itozono Exhibition” was held at Suginami Kumin Gallery.
2001 Passed away on June 15, at the age of 89.