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Exhibition Reviews: Introduction, Exhibitions Held on the 70th Anniversary of the End of World War II
Get PDFThis year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, and museums throughout Japan commemorated the occasion with exhibitions of the art of that era. Aware of the issue of how to consider Japanese art from a nexus of the war’s end in August 1945, I went to see many of these exhibitions. The following reviews are my thoughts from those viewings.
The sheer number of exhibitions held on this theme meant that it was impossible to see all of them. So I asked Sawada Keizô (Curator, Niigata Museum of Modern Art), who shares my interest in this topic, for his thoughts and suggestions.
The exhibitions that Sawada and I viewed are listed below in date order (information includes exhibition title, venue and exhibition period). We discuss some of the same exhibitions, but there were others that attracted the attention of only one of us.
(Tanaka Atsushi)
1940s – Rediscovery of 20th Century Japanese Art IV
Mie Prefectural Art Museum
July 11, 2015 – September 27, 2015
Japanese Painters under World War II: How did they Survive
War?
Nagoya City Art Museum
July 18, 2015 – September 23, 2015
Hiroshima Trilogy: 70th Anniversary of the Atomic
Bombing
Part 1 Life=Work
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art
July 18, 2015 – September 27, 2015
The 70th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: War and Peace
Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum (also shown at Nagasaki
Prefectural Art Museum)
July 25, 2015 – September 13, 2015
Restart of Japanese Painting in the Post-World War II Period
The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma
September 19, 2015 – November 3, 2015
Special Exhibit from the MOMAT Collection – Foujita
Tsuguharu: Complete Works from the Museum Collection
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
September 19, 2015 – December 13, 2015journal articl
Materials for Art Research: Letters by Fujishima Takeji Addressed to Kuroda Seiki and Kume Keiichirô: Facsimiles, Transcriptions and Explanatory Notes (III) – Focusing on Conditions in his Pre and Post Overseas Study Years
Get PDFContinuing on from Bijutsu Kenkyû No. 416, this issue introduces the 24 letters and postcards written by Fujishima Takeji to Kuroda Seiki and Kume Keiichirô, from the letter to Kuroda Seiki dated July 4, 1898 to the letter addressed to Kuroda dated December 1921.
From letter number 29 (July 4, 1898) to letter number 37 (November 24, 1905), we see how Fujishima strove to create works for entry in exhibitions. Letter number 34 shows his discouragement and anger at not being selected as a Ministry of Education overseas student for the following year. Given the lineup of Western-style painters at the Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko, Fujishima should have followed after Okada Saburô, Wada Eisaku and Asai Chû, in the handing out of overseas scholarships, but that year the Nihonga painter Shimomura Kanzan and decorative arts specialist Sakuraoka Sanshirô were chosen for that honor. The following year Shirahama Akira, a specialist in drawing education, was chosen. In Fujishima’s letter to Kuroda we can read his anger at school president Masaki Naohiko, and his despair.
On May 13, 1910, Fujishima returned from his overseas study and was appointed teacher at the Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko, and thus was made a high rank 7/class 1 civil servant. Upon this occasion Fujishima constructed a large separate painting studio near his home. The letters from this period indicate that he had a hard time raising the funds for building, and sold the works he had painted in Europe to the art school.
The Bunten exhibitions were inaugurated in 1907, while he was still overseas. Upon his return he was not named to the judging panel, and had to have his works judged alongside his pupils. However, the conservative stance of the judges meant that their works were not very well received. From this dissatisfaction, Fujishima, along with Ishii Hakutei, Yamashita Shintarô, Arishima Ikuma and others, petitioned the Ministry of Education to establish a second division in the Western painting section of the Bunten for the display of works in new styles. The Ministry rejected the request and so the requesters left the Bunten and set up their own independent exhibition, which they called the Nikaten, or second division exhibition.
In Fujishima’s letter to Kuroda dated August 2, 1914, he said that he had been recommended as a judge for the 8th Bunten, but had sent his refusal to Fukuhara Ryôjirô, Vice Minister of Education, and conversely that he also was cutting his connection with the Nikakai group. However, his letter to Kuroda the following day stated that that morning both Fukuhara and Masaki had visited him and persuaded him to change his mind, and thus he took up the role of judge. Hence while previously it had been thought that it was Kuroda’s persuasion that led to Fujishima remaining in the Bunten, finally it was not Kuroda who kept Fujishima in the Bunten, but rather these top Ministry officials.
However, in the midst of the setting up of the Nika group and exhibition, Fujishima was ordered away on an official trip to the Korean Peninsula. Fujishima sent a picture postcard of Moranbong (in present-day Pyongyang) from Korea and this is important evidence regarding his itinerary.
Examining the letters overall reveals that Fujishima frequently worried when he was creating paintings and thus we can understand why there were many instances where he could not complete a work. Further, even though after Okakura Tenshin left the school, Kuroda became the most influential person at the Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko, from what we gather from the people involved in Fujishima’s affairs, clearly it was actually the school’s president Masaki who wielded more power than Kuroda.journal articl
The Role and Status of Japanese “Nanga (南画)” Painters in Korean Modern Painting
Get PDF“Nanga（ 南画）” is a neologism, which had not been used in Korea before the 1910s. There might be various social and cultural causes behind the adoption of “Nanga” in Korean modern painting. Most of all, Japanese painters in Korea, who educated and introduced the Japanese premodern style “Shoga（書画）” and the conservative “Nanga” style through their own private school of painting, “Gajuku （画塾）” or “Nanga” groups, had crucial roles on influx of a new term and concept called “Nanga” and mixing Korean traditional painting styles and “Nanga”. In this respect, activities of Japanese painters in Korea during the modern times has a meaning and importance as restoring aspects of the cross-fertilization within the Korean-Japanese modern arts. However, despite such importances, the study on role and status of Japanese “Nanga” painters in Korea have received much negative attention until now, because of the lack of sources.
At this point, I’d like to give an attetion to the cases of “BokusekiNangakai（木石南画會）” and “ChôsenNangain（朝鮮南画院）” organized and ran by Kubota Ten’nan（久保田天南, 1872–1940?）,
formerly known as Kubota Yoshiyuki（久保田良行） in 1925. About him, not only are his birth and death dates unclear, the actual period of his stay in Korea is not known, and few details of his time in that country are known.
This study sought to clarify his personal history, painting style and awareness of “Nanga” through the use of documents and newspapers published in Japan and Korea during his time staying in Korea. Also, for analysis of Kubota Ten’nan and ChôsenNangain members’ works, the list of works and plates from the ChôsenNangain’s exhibition catalogue became a important primary resource. In this process, it could be possible to trace the his chronicle and activities as a painter during staying in Korea and his identity as a painter. I hope that these sources might be basic data researches for approaching the issues with regard to the role and status of Japanese painters in Korea and the influence of Japanese “Nanga” to Korean modern eastern painting during the modern times.journal articl
Research Note: Initial Research on Kurihara Gyokuyô
Get PDFDuring her own lifetime, the Nihonga (Japanesestyle painting) painter Kurihara Gyokuyô (1883-1922) was regarded as the best female painter in Tokyo, actively displaying her works at the Bunten (Ministry of Educationsponsored art exhibitions) and Teiten (Imperial Academy of Fine Arts exhibitions). Many of her works depicted young girls or women in plays. The painter Itô Shinsui named Gyokuyô as one of the painters who contributed to the formation of the so-called Bijinga genre. Gyokuyô was said to have had 80 to 100 pupils, and in 1920 formed the Nihonga study group, the Getsuyôkai, along with other female painters.
At present research on female painters has included study of individual painters, and advanced in terms of diverse approaches regarding gender, social systems and various systems. These studies have indicated that groups formed by female painters served to deepen the connections between painters. However, there has yet to be an in-depth understanding of the artists involved or the networks formed by these groups.
Gyokuyô was both a chief figure in the Getsuyôkai and at the same time had wide interactions and friendships with other female painters. This is a study of just Gyokuyô, and yet hopes to shed light on the activities of previously overlooked painters and to provide advances in a detailed understanding of the network of female painters of the time.
With this vantage point in mind, this article provides the following information on Gyokuyô’s life.
Gyokuyô was born on April 19, 1883 to parents who operated a sake brewery in Nagasaki prefecture. Her birth name was Aya. She liked drawing from an early age, and through influence from her mother, also composed tanka poetry.
In 1901 she entered the Sturges Seminary for Girls in Nagasaki, where she was baptized a Christian. She revealed painting talents while a student and with the support of her teachers, after graduation in 1906 she made her way to Tokyo where she entered the Joshi Bijutsu Gakko the following year. There she studied under Hashidate Shisen and was also trained by Terasaki Kôgyô at his private school.
In 1909 she graduated from the Joshi Bijutsu Gakko, began exhibiting works at the Bijutsu Kenseikai and Tatsumi Gakai, where she received some awards. In 1913 she had her work, A Wandering Minstrel, accepted by the 7th Bunten exhibition for the first time. This painting depicts the Niomon Gate in Asakusa in the background, with an impoverished young girl sitting at the base of the gate, with a shamisen on her knee. This work was her debut piece, and from then on she had numerous works accepted at government-sponsored exhibitions.
In 1914 she exhibited The Promise, composed of three young girls, into the Tokyo Taishô Exhibition. In that same year she entered a picture Child Friends, in the 8th Bunten exhibition, and A Subject of Gossip, with both being accepted for display, and Child Friends receiving an award.
She entered Otsuru and one other work in the 9th Bunten exhibition in 1915, Otsuru was accepted for display, but her work entered in 1916 were rejected. From then on she created fewer works on the theme of young girls.
In the spring of 1917 she traveled to Korea on a sketching trip. Apparent Happiness, Real Happiness, a work based on sketches made in Korea, was accepted for display in the 11th Bunten exhibition.
Her Christian Girl Asazuma with Cherry Blossoms depicting a Christian courtesan was accepted for display in the 12th Bunten exhibition held in 1918. Although Gyokuyô was a devout Christian, this was one of her rare works depicting a Christian theme.
In February 1919 her teacher Terasaki Kôgyô died, and after a time she transferred to the school of Matsuoka Eikyû. In April of that year she traveled to her hometown of Nagasaki with Ikeda Terukata, and in October entered works in the Teiten exhibition. These were based on sketches made in Nagasaki, but they were rejected. Indeed, not only Gyokuyô, but with the exception of one artist, all of the other female painters had their submitted works rejected. And this led them to consider forming a group for female Nihonga painters. And so in January 1920 Gyokuyô and six other women formed the Getsuyôkai, and held their first exhibition at Takashimaya in late June. In October, she entered two works in the 2nd Teiten exhibition, but both were rejected yet again.
In 1921 a new member joined the Getsuyôkai and they held their 2nd exhibition in June. In October of that year Gyokuyô had a work, the five-panel work The Legend of Kiyohime, accepted for display in the 3rd Teiten, the first time in three years. Critics commented on the yamato-e painting influence they perceived in The Legend of Kiyohime, and the following year the work was displayed at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
In March 1922 she entered Kuzunoha in the Tokyo Peace Exhibition, and in June, the third Getsuyôkai exhibition was held. Unfortunately she had by then fallen ill with rheumatism and heart disease. She died at the age of 40 on the 9th of September.
In the first half of the Taishô period female painters acted individually among the predominantly male painters of the day, but gradually female painters gathered together and acted as a group. Gyokuyô was a chief figure in the Getsuyôkai, and can be considered one of the painters who prompted this development from individual to group activity.
This article has focused solely on Gyokuyô, but in the future I hope to further deepen my consideration of the networks between female painters in the modern era and the influence relationships in their works.journal articl
Myanmar ni okeru bunka isan hogo ni kansuru kyoten koryu zigyo hokoku: 2013-2015 bunkacho itaku bunka isan kokusai kyoryoku kyoten koryu zigyo
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Research Note: A Consideration of Namban Lacquer Lecterns and Their Dating
Get PDFThis article considers so-called Namban lacquer works that were made in Kyoto mainly in the first half of the 17th century for export primarily to Europe. The article especially focuses on the dating of lecturns used to hold the Bible or other Christian texts, as it also touches on several historical issues raised in this dating process.
The author’s compilation indicates that there are 42 extant examples of Namban lacquer lecterns, today primarily in Europe. In addition, four lecterns can be confirmed that are known as Luso-Asian objects, surmised to have been wooden bases possibly made in India that were then decorated in China or elsewhere in East Asia. These closely resemble Namban works, and thus bear some close relationship to them. In all, there are 46 extant lecterns in Namban-type lacquer scattered around the globe today. In terms of their distribution, with the exception of nine works that have been brought back to Japan in recent years, 33 works can be confirmed in Portugal and Spain, and thus their status is an important factor in considering the state of affairs when they were exported during the Momoyama period, or first half of the 17th century.
Using some other Indo-Portuguese lecterns of the period as reference works, the author first considered the stand shapes and ornamented metal fittings of the 46 lecterns from a typological viewpoint. This examination revealed that there is a parallel sequence of formal changes noted in these two elements, so the author then examined how the maki-e and mother-of-pearl inlay decorative motifs changed. The findings of these various investigations then produced a phase-based dating for each of the lecterns.
These standards for determining the production stage of the different lecterns used the factors of stand shape and ornamental metal fittings, decorative motifs, along with other factors such as the shape of the IHS insignia, which was the standard central motif on each item, the plant motifs and geometric patterns used on the front and back surfaces, and surrounding edges of the lectern, and finally whether or not there was needle engraving used to remove gold powdered areas of the lacquer to reveal a leaf vein pattern, a technique used primarily on the back surface of the piece.
As a result of this study, the Namban lacquer works and Luso-Asian lecterns can be dated to three phases, namely: the first phase, which marked the appearance of Namban lacquer lecterns and displays unique aspects; the second phase, which is somewhat later, in which standard forms of Namban lacquer lecterns were established and their production in groups began; and the third phase, in which large numbers of works were created with geometric designs as a primary feature. This last phase encompasses the decline of lectern production.
Evidence underscoring the actual production dates of these lecterns is limited. Given the lack of new evidence, at present these lecterns can be thought to have been made between the 1580s through the first half of the 17th century, and we can surmise that a particularly large number of them were made in the second phase, centering around the year 1630. As a result, the Christian implements -- whose production had been thought to have been halted by the shogunate’s 1613 ban of Christianity in Japan -- in fact can be confirmed to have continued after that time in Kyoto, and thanks to the mediation of the Portuguese traders traveling between Japan and India, a reciprocal-influential relationship between Namban lacquer lecterns and Luso-Asian lecterns continued for several decades.
We can hope that soon there will be a broader examination of the dating of Namban lacquer works as a whole that moves beyond just lecterns to conduct a detailed dating examination of Namban coffers made in much larger numbers than lecterns and other types of Namban lacquer ware. Such studies will hopefully give us a detailed grasp of the history of Momoyama period as seen through the objects themselves.journal articl
Topics of the Tenth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Issues Raised through Discussions
Get PDFThe tenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was held from 30 November to 4 December, 2015 in Windhoek, Namibia. During the session, 23 elements of intangible cultural heritage were inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (Representative List). This year, there was no element nominated from Japan for inscription. The number of elements for discussion each year is limited to 50, and over-represented countries such as Japan could not have their nomination files evaluated even though they were submitted.
From this session, a single body named the Evaluation Body evaluated the nominations to the Urgent Safeguarding List and the Representative List, proposals to the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices, and requests for International Assistance greater than US$25,000 instead of the former Subsidiary Body and Consultative Body. Because the body is comprised of experts from the States Parties other than the Committee Members and accredited NGOs, credibility and transparency of the evaluation process of the files seemed to have improved from those of the former Subsidiary Body whose members were chosen from the Committee Members. The Evaluation Body reported that it could evaluate the files of all mechanisms with the same standard. The re-defined referral and not-to-inscribe options were also applied for the first time to the evaluation of nomination files to the Representative List. There was only one element recommended ‘not to be inscribed’ on the List; in contrast the number of the files recommended to be referred back to the States Parties was increased from 6 at the last session to 15.
As for the quality of the nomination files, the Evaluation Body pointed out that sometimes information was missing, incorrect, or misplaced. The body also suggested that the Secretariat provide a guideline for establishing inventories of intangible cultural heritage. There were opinions at the Committee that it is difficult to compile a manual on how to develop inventories since the cultural contexts of the States Parties vary. However, the author considers that there are some attributes essential for an inventory, such as the name of the element, place or communities to practice the element. On the other hand, classification that is understandable internationally should be developed, considering the characteristics of the elements practiced in the different context of each State Party. The author thinks that this kind of classification should be made by experts who are highly knowledgeable about intangible cultural heritage and that such exercise could be a good item of international support by Japanese experts.departmental bulletin pape
Effects of K2［CuCl4］･2H2O on Urushi Polymerization under Low Temperature and Humidity Conditions
Get PDFUrushi (Japanese lacquer) collected from lacquer trees (Toxicodendron vernicifluum) has been widely used as surface coating for centuries. Urushi is hardened by enzymatic polymerization with laccase which is included in raw urushi sap.In this reaction,tempera
ture and humidity are essential factors. Generally, urushi hardens under 20-30 ℃ and 70-80 %rh. So, it is difficult to keep the condition in the case of outdoor coating in winter.
In the present study, potassium tetrachlorocupurate (II) dehydrate (K2［CuCl4］･2H2O) was examined as an initiator to polymerize deactivated urushi.Urushi films with a catalyst (Cu-film) were prepared under 10-20 ℃ and 35-75 %rh conditions. Their surface appearances and chemical structures were examined by using a color meter, SEM, FT-IR and Py-GC/MS. In addition, a simplified copper elution test and a UV-C durability test were carried out.
It was found that urushi film to which 0.5 wt% Cu catalyst was added (Cu0.5-film)was cured on similar curing time as that of ordinary raw urushi film (Std.-film) which was catalyzed by laccase under 20℃ and 75%rh condition (20℃,75%).Moreover,even under a low temperature and humidity environment, the catalyst-added urushi samples were properly cured:Cu0.8-film under 15 ℃,55 %;Cu1.0-film under 10℃,55% and 20℃,35%.
Based on the FT-IR and Py-GC/MS analyses results, polymerization products of urushiol in Cu-films were approximately equivalent to those in Std.-film. To be more specific, it was suggested that crosslinking reaction of urushiol side chains had been
accelerated.According to UV-C durability test,polyurushiol segments tend to remain more on Cu-film than on Std.-film. However, since excess catalyst provided increase of elution of Cu-ion in water, the amount of addition should be limited to the minimum.journal articl
