Tatsumi Shimura was born in 1907, in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. His given name at birth was Sentaro Shimura.
The family moved to Yokohama in 1910. In 1921, Tatsumi Shimura began studying art with Yamakawa Saiho, a professional designer and pattern maker. In 1924, Shimura became an apprentice for Saiho’s son Yamakawa Shuho, who was an accomplished bijin-ga artist.
Tatsumi Shimura is best known for bijin-ga, a Japanese genre dedicated to the depiction of elegant and fashionable women.
He worked as an illustrator for Fujokai, a Japanese women’s magazine. After World War II, he became a full-time artist specializing in woodblock printmaking. He created his last woodblock in 1967. After 1967, he served as the director of the Union of Artists and Publications where he promoted Japanese visual artists, fine art, and Japanese magazine publishing.
The art of Tatsumi Shimura is or has been exhibited in museums, galleries, and with independent art dealers including but not necessarily limited to the following:
British Museum, London, England
Creative City Center, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Edokura Hanga Gallery, Chiba, Japan
Egenolf Gallery, Burbank, CA
Ezen Designs, London, England
Floating World Gallery, Chicago, IL
Fuji Arts, Ann Arbor, MI
Galerie by the Opera, Vienna, Austria
Gallery Soumei-do, Tokyo, Japan
Gengoro’s Store, Chiba, Japan
Hanga Harbor, Champaign, IL
Happy Crab Imports, Chicago, IL
Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Japan Made Store, Tokyo, Japan
Japan Tokyoboy, Tokyo, Japan
Japan Woodblock Prints Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
JP Antique House, Chatan, Japan
Moonlit Sea, Easthampton, MA
Nihon, Suzuka, Japan
Ohmi Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Reiwa Antiques, Nagano, Japan
Ronin Gallery, New York City, NY
Sakura Fine Art, Tallahassee, FL
Scholten Japanese Art, New York City, NY
Select Shop Yuki, Tokyo, Japan
Shiga Museum, Otsu-City, Shiga, Japan
Shin Hanga Gallery, Austin, TX
Torii Gallery, Durham, NC
Ukiyoe Gallery, Keizer, OR
Yamada Shoten, Tokyo, Japan
