of his father, Kuroda inherited the kazoku peerage title of viscount, and in 1920, was elected to a seat in the House of Peers, the upper house of the Diet of Japan. In 1922, Kuroda was made head of the Imperial Fine Arts Academy. In 1923, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur; this followed numerous other honors from the French government in the years before. Kuroda died at home in Azabu Kōgai-chō on July 15, 1924; immediately upon his death the Japanese government conferred upon him the Order of the Rising Sun. Legacy Few artists have influenced Japanese art as much as Kuroda. As a painter, he was among the first to introduce Western-style paintings to a broad Japanese audience. As a teacher, he taught many young artists the lessons that he himself had learned in Paris; among his students were painters like Wada Eisaku, who were to become among the preeminent Japanese painters of their generation. Many students also followed Kuroda in choosing to study in Paris, leading to a greater awareness of broader trends in Western art on the part of many Japanese artists in the twentieth century; a number of these, such as Asai Chū, even went as far as going to Grez-sur-Loing for inspiration. In particular, the "Academic Impressionism" style that Kuroda promoted, as exemplified in iconic paintings such as Lakeside (1897) and Lilies (1909), achieved a long-lasting predominance within Japanese art society, forming the bedrock of modern, Western-style art training and practice in Japan for many decades to come. Perhaps Kuroda's greatest contribution to Japanese culture, however, was the broader acceptance of Western-style painting he fostered on the part of the Japanese public. Despite their initial reluctance, he was able to convince them to accept the validity of Western-style art theories and practices. This, coupled with the honors bestowed upon him later in his life, bespeak a broader understanding by the Japanese people, and by their government, as to the importance of yōga in their culture. Philately Two of Kuroda's works have been selected as the subject of a commemorative postage stamps by the Japanese government: 1967: Lakeside, (1897), for the 1967 Philatelic Week 1980: Maiko (1893), for the Modern Art Series References Citations Bibliography External links Kuroda Memorial Hall: containing biography, analysis of works, images of portions of the collection National Diet Library photo and bio 1866 births 1924 deaths