'Geisha in blue kimono' - antique Japanese painting, gouache and watercolor on paper, in the style of Shun Uemura's work, signed, Dimensions: 32x41 cm Frame dimensions: 45x35 cm. )* Japanese art - Uemura Shoen artist Uemura Shoen (1875–1949) was a pseudonym for an artist in the Japanese painting of Meiji, Taisho and the beginning of the Showa period. Her real name was Uemura Tsune. Shuan was best known for the genre she developed in Japanese art called her 'bijin-ga' which was mainly paintings of beautiful women, in the nihonga style, although she produced many works on historical and traditional themes. Shuan is considered a major innovator of the bijin-ga genre despite the fact that she still often used it to describe traditional beauty standards for women. Bijin-ga was criticized during the Taisho period for not reflecting the more modern status of women in Japan and preferring to paint women in a traditional style. During the birth of the bijin-ga genre in the Tokugawa, or Edo, period, women were considered lower-class citizens and the genre often reflected this projection on its female subjects. During the Taisho period, women took several steps to advance their status in the Japanese workforce, and specifically female art became more popular than the passing of elite leisure, paving the way for Shuan's success. Shuan received many awards and forms of recognition during her life in Japan, being the first recipient of the Order of Culture Award, and was also hired as the official artist of the Imperial Household, which previously employed only one other official woman in the position. In 1949, she died of cancer just one year after receiving the Order of Culture Award of Japan - from the agospedia) Period: 20th century