朝倉文夫

Fumio Asakura (1883–1964) brought Western sculptural tradition to Japan with a naturalist intensity that shaped modern Japanese sculpture. Born in rural Oita Prefecture, he came to Tokyo as a young man and studied at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, where he would later teach from 1921. His breakthrough came quickly: working with such focus and prolific output that he produced over twelve hundred animal sculptures as a student, he won consecutive prizes in the national Bunten exhibitions beginning in 1908.