Takamizawa Michinao
Japanese avant garde artist
Takamizawa Michinao also known as Michinao Takamizawa, also known as Tagawa Suihō (10 February 1899 – 12 December 1989), was an early twentieth century Japanese dadaist artist.
Work
Takamizawa worked in performance, collage, painting and screen printing. He would often collage three-dimensional objects onto two dimensional artworks, for example, Portrait of a Foreigner’s Mistress (1924), which incorporated strands of hair and firecracker packets. The collage was used as the cover of the September, 1924 issue of Mavo Magazine, which had actual firecracker packets attached. The text inside the magazine described the journal itself as explosive, stating "We are the basic preparation for the eternal revenge of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie, and we are pushy but frank destroyers." The magazine was censored after its release for potential public danger.
Mavo
He was a member of the Japanese avant garde collective, Mavo. In addition to his work with that group, he is known for throwing rocks through the glass ceiling of a building in Japan housing an exhibition of art by Nika-kai (The Second Society) to protest the conservative government Bunten (Ministry of Education Exhibition), and its associated art jury members. Michinao and the Mavo group of artists had been rejected for the exhibition by the jury.
Collections
His work is held in the collection of the Kyoto National Museum of Art permanent collection, and in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Takamizawa Michinao” as japanese avant garde artist. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as japanese avant garde artist. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q99398034. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1899, 1989 and 1924.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Takamizawa Michinao”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Takamizawa Michinao primary sources, Takamizawa Michinao archive and Takamizawa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Takamizawa Michinao”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Takamizawa Michinao” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.