Ikuo Hirayama

Ikuo Hirayama (平山 郁夫, 15 June 1930 – 2 December 2009) was a Japanese Nihonga painter and educator. Born in Setoda-chō, Hiroshima Prefecture, he was famous in Japan for Silk Road paintings of dreamy desert landscapes in Iran, Iraq, and China.

Biography

In 1952, he graduated from the Tokyo School of Art, or what is today's Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (popularly known as "Geidai"), and became a disciple of Maeda Seison. Hirayama also served as President of his alma mater twice (1989–95 and 2001–05).

He produced a series of paintings depicting the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. A hibakusha, he portrayed the A-bomb attack on Hiroshima. He was also active in the preservation of the cultural heritage of the world (e.g., the Bamiyan Buddhas) and is internationally appreciated for his efforts in this sphere. Hirayama was awarded the French Légion d'honneur Order in 1996 and Japan's Order of Cultural Merit in 1998 amongst others. He was the President of the Tokyo University of fine Arts and Music and President of the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO.^[1]

He was sometimes criticized for his profit making activities at the time when he held a position of President of a national university. Some (would-be) connoisseurs even cast doubts upon the authenticity of his highly profitable artworks, claiming that his wife and others made them under his name. He was a patron of historical institutions and gave £500,000 to the British Museum for the creation of The Hirayama Studio, a conservation studio specializing in Eastern pictorial art,^[2] which was opened in 1994 and named after him. [1] He had a studio in Kamakura, Kanagawa. He also established the Hirayama Trainee Curator in Silk Road Coins at the British Museum. There is a museum dedicated to the artist in Setoda which also has an English Web site at [2].

The Prix Hirayama is awarded by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres for distinguished contributions to scholarship on Asia.

Collecting

Ikuo Hirayama actively collected material relating to the historical silk road. The Hirayama Ikuo Silk Road Museum includes Chinese and Gandhara sculpture, Sasanian and Central Asian silver ware, toilet trays and coins, in total at least 222 pieces. His collection is particularly notable for its collection of Gandharan art from Pakistan and Afghanistan.^[3] His collection of Central Asian coins was small, containing only 101 items, though these included one of the best preserved of Kanishka I's Buddha coins as well as other important examples. ^[4]

References

External links

• "Ikuo Hirayama sought solace on the road". C.B.Liddell. 2007-09-27.
• Obituary, in The Independent, 12 Dec 2009.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ikuo-hirayama-5512206.html

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Ramon Magsaysay Award recipients

Government Service (1958–2008)

Cambodia Ek Sonn Chan  China Yuan Longping  India C.D. Deshmukh J. M. Lyngdoh  Indonesia Raden Kodijat Ali Sadikin  Japan Morihiko Hiramatsu Hiroshi Kuroki Yukiharu Miki  Laos Keo Viphakone  Malaysia Mohamed Suffian Mohamed Hashim B. C. Shekhar  Pakistan Akhtar Hameed Khan Ibn Abdur Rehman  Philippines Jose Vasquez Aguilar Francisca Reyes-Aquino Hilario Davide Jr. Grace Padaca Jesse Robredo Jovito R. Salonga Miriam Defensor Santiago Haydee Yorac  Singapore Goh Keng Swee  Thailand Anand Panyarachun Chamlong Srimuang Jon Ungphakorn Phon Sangsingkeo Prawase Wasi Puey Ungpakorn  Taiwan Shih-chu Hsu Li Kwoh-ting Jiang Menglin

Public Service (1958–2008)

Burma Tee Tee Luce  Ceylon Mary H. Rutnam  China Gao Yaojie Jiang Yanyong Liang Congjie Wu Qing  India Baba Amte Banoo Jehangir Coyaji Manibhai Desai Jayaprakash Narayan V. Shanta  Indonesia H.B. Jassin Teten Masduki  Pakistan Ruth Pfau  Philippines Pedro Orata Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI)  South Korea Kim Sun-tae Park Won-soon  Spain based in  Philippines Joaquin Villalonga  Thailand Fua Hariphitak Mechai Viravaidya Nilawan Pintong Phra Parnchand Prateep Ungsongtham Hata Sirindhorn Sithiporn Kridakara Sophon Suphapong Therdchai Jivacate Thongbai Thongpao

Community Leadership (1958–2008)

Bangladesh Tahrunessa Abdullah Fazle Hasan Abed Muhammad Yunus Zafrullah Chowdhury Mohammed Yeasin Angela Gomes  Burma Cynthia Maung  India Mandakini Amte & Prakash Amte Mabelle Arole & Rajanikant Arole Pandurang Shastri Athavale Chandi Prasad Bhatt Ela Bhatt Vinoba Bhave Aruna Roy Shantha Sinha Rajendra Singh  Japan Fusaye Ichikawa  Laos Sombath Somphone  Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman    Nepal Mahabir Pun  Philippines Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation Antonio Meloto  Thailand Aree Valyasevi Krasae Chanawongse Prayong Ronnarong  Tibet 14th Dalai Lama

Journalism, Literature, and the Creative Communication Arts (1958–2008)

Bangladesh Matiur Rahman Abdullah Abu Sayeed  Burma Edward Michael Law-Yone  Ceylon or  Sri Lanka Wannakuwatta Amaradeva Tarzie Vittachi  India Mahasweta Devi Palagummi Sainath Amitabha Chowdhury  Indonesia Atmakusuma Astraatmadja Mochtar Lubis  Japan Akira Kurosawa Yasuji Hanamori Michiko Ishimure Akio Ishii    Nepal Bharat Koirala  Philippines Zacarias Sarian F. Sionil José Lino Brocka Radio Veritas James Reuter Bienvenido Lumbera Nick Joaquin Raul Locsin Eugenia Duran Apostol Sheila Coronel  Thailand Prayoon Chanyavongs  Great Britain based in  Philippines Robert McCulloch Dick

Peace and International Understanding (1958–2008)

China Tang Xiyang  India Mother Teresa Jockin Arputham Laxminarayan Ramdas  Indonesia Ahmad Syafi'i Maarif  Japan Ikuo Hirayama Tetsu Nakamura Saburo Okita Seiei Toyama    Nepal Sanduk Ruit  Pakistan Ibn Abdur Rehman  Philippines Operation Brotherhood Summer Institute of Linguistics William Masterson Harold Ray Watson International Institute of Rural Reconstruction Press Foundation of Asia Asian Institute of Management Corazon Aquino  South Korea Pomnyun Sunim  Thailand Asian Institute of Technology The Royal Project  United States based in  Thailand Genevieve Caulfield

Emergent Leadership (2001–)
Burma Ka Hsaw Wa  China Chen Guangcheng  Cambodia Oung Chanthol  India Sanjiv Chaturvedi Arvind Kejriwal Nileema Mishra Sandeep Pandey  Indonesia Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto Dita Indah Sari  Philippines Benjamin Abadiano  South Korea Yoon Hye-ran  Sri Lanka Ananda Galappatti  East Timor Aniceto Guterres Lopes  United States based in  Hong Kong Chung To

Uncategorized (2009–)

Bangladesh Syeda Rizwana Hasan A.H.M. Noman Khan  Cambodia Yang Saing Koma Koul Panha  China Fu Qiping Huo Daishan Ma Jun Pan Yue Yu Xiaogang  India Kulandei Francis Harish Hande Deep Joshi  Indonesia Hasanain Juaini Tri Mumpuni  Japan Tadatoshi Akiba  Philippines Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI) Christopher Bernido Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido Romulo Davide Antonio Oposa Jr.  Taiwan Chen Shu-chu  Thailand Krisana Kraisintu