Mitsumasa Anno, who is known as a painter of picture books and illustrations and has received high acclaim overseas such as receiving the "International Andersen Award", died of liver cirrhosis last month.
I was 94 years old.
Mr. Yasuno was born in Tsuwano Town, Shimane Prefecture in 1918, and after working on book binding while working as an art teacher at an elementary school in Tokyo, he was influenced by the paintings of the Dutch painter Escher in 1968. He made his debut as a picture book writer by announcing the picture book "Mysterious Nae".
We have released many works with a light color and a gentle atmosphere, such as original picture books that make full use of techniques such as so-called "trompe l'oeil", historical travelogues of Ryotaro Shiba, and illustrations of "going on the highway".
It has been highly evaluated overseas, and in 1984 it received the "International Andersen Award," also known as the "Nobel Prize for Picture Books."
In 2001, an art museum was built in Tsuwano Town, the hometown of Tsuwano Town, where Mr. Yasuno's works were collected, and it has been loved by people of all ages.
In 2012, he was selected as a Person of Cultural Merit.
Mr. Yasuno has continued to interact with his fans by visiting the museum on March 20, which is also the anniversary of the museum's opening on his birthday.
According to Fukuinkan Shoten, the publisher of his debut work, "Mysterious Nae," Mr. Yasuno plans to release a new picture book next month, and will continue to work until around the fall of last year to complete the new book. It means that it was.
Also, this time, he was preparing a special exhibition at the museum in Tsuwano Town, but according to the people concerned, he died of liver cirrhosis on the 24th of last month.
I was 94 years old.
Poet Shuntaro Tanikawa "Very rich personality"
Shuntaro Tanikawa, a poet who has a long-standing friendship with Mr. Yasuno and co-authored, said, "Mr. Yasuno's early paintings were avant-garde and different from anyone else. After that, many beautiful landscape paintings were made. I started to draw. There were rational and lyrical parts in my work, and I could tell at a glance that Mr. Yasuno had drawn it. Tsuwano, Shimane Prefecture I think that the fact that I was from the town and I liked nature also made the work more attractive. I want to tell you that I was happy to be able to work with Mr. Yasuno because of his very rich personality. I was talking.
Mitsumasa Anno, Director of the Museum "Personality and achievements for the next generation"
Mitsumasa Anno's birthplace, Iwao Nakajima, the 87-year-old director of the Anno Mitsumasa Museum of Art in Tsuwano Town, Shimane Prefecture, was the former mayor of Tsuwano and has had a long relationship with Mr. Anno since he launched the museum construction plan.
In the news, he revealed in his heart, "I felt that an era was over. I felt lonely and unspeakable."
On top of that, regarding Mr. Yasuno's personality, he said, "I'm a person who has nothing to say about it, and when I talked about the museum, I was so humble that I was reluctant to decorate my work." He was a person who made time for me even if I did it, and he treated me closely. "
And, "Now that Professor Yasuno has passed away, I think it is most important to protect his work and widely convey his personality and achievements to the next generation of children so that he and the community can be proud of him. I will. "