Sanzo Wada

Japanese painter and costume designer (1883–1967)

Sanzo Wada (和田三造, Wada Sanzō, 3 March 1883 – 22 August 1967) was a Japanese painter and costume designer who won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for his work on the jidaigeki film Gate of Hell (1953).^[1] Wada reorganized the Japan Standard Color Association into the Japan Color Research Laboratory in 1945, and served as its president.

Personal life

Wada was born in Hyogo Prefecture, moving to Fukuoka with his family at age 13, and moved again to Tokyo at age 16 with the intention of becoming a painter.^[2]

Bibliography

Between 1933 and 1934, Sanzo Wada published 6-volumes of color studies (Haishoku Soukan), documenting over a thousand color combinations. The books were intended to capture traditional Japanese perceptions of color, which differed from Western approaches, and included a wide range of subtle shades and hues.

In 2011 Seigensha published A Dictionary of Color Combinations, a book based on Wada’s original 6-volume work, containing 348 color combinations. ^[3]

A Dictionary of Color Combinations (2011) ^[4]
A Dictionary of Color Combinations - Volume II (2020) ^[5]

References

^ "A Dictionary of Color Combinations". Kettle's Yard. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
^ "WADA SANZO | DICTIONARY OF COLOR COMBINATIONS". sanzo-wada.dmbk.io. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
^ "A Dictionary of Color Combinations". HexPot. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
^ "A Dictionary of Color Combinations". Kettle's Yard. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
^ "A Dictionary of Color Combinations - Volume II". Kettle's Yard. Retrieved 26 May 2021.

External links

Sanzo Wada at IMDb

Academy Award for Best Costume Design

1948–1956

1948 (Black and white): Roger K. Furse / (Color): Dorothy Jeakins and Barbara Karinska
1949 (bw): Edith Head and Gile Steele / (c): Marjorie Best, Leah Rhodes and William Travilla
1950 (bw): Edith Head, Charles LeMaire / (c): Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Elois Jenssen, Gile Steele, Gwen Wakeling
1951 (bw): Edith Head /(c): Orry-Kelly, Walter Plunkett, Irene Sharaff
1952 (bw): Helen Rose / (c): Marcel Vertès
1953 (bw): Edith Head / (c): Charles LeMaire, Emile Santiago
1954 (bw): Edith Head / (c): Sanzo Wada
1955 (bw): Helen Rose / (c): Charles LeMaire
1956 (bw): Jean Louis / (c): Irene Sharaff