Month: April 2023

National Museum of Western Art

From the late 19th century to the 20th century, painters from around the world visited the Brittany region in northwestern France to work on their works. The exhibition “Brittany, the land of admiration – A foreign land seen by Monet, Gauguin, Seiki Kuroda, etc.” will be held at the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno, Tokyo. It’s inside.
The exhibition will be held from Saturday, March 18, 2023 to Sunday, June 11, 2023.

Since I participated in the press preview, I will report on the state of the venue.

*The content of the article is as of the interview date (March 17, 2023). Please check the official website for the latest information.

What is “Brittany”, the inner country of France that artists around the world admired?

The varied and majestic nature, ancient megalithic remains, medieval and early-modern Christian monuments, and the simple and religious lifestyle of the people who speak the Celtic language of Breton. The Brittany region, which is located in the northwest of France and has a peninsula protruding into the Atlantic Ocean, was independent as the Kingdom of Brittany until the 16th century.

A “foreign country” within France that has preserved its unique landscape and culture even after being annexed by France. With the advent of Romanticism in the 19th century, many artists seeking new themes set their sights on Brittany.

In this exhibition, “Brittany, the Land of Admiration – Seen by Monet, Gauguin, Seiki Kuroda, and Others”, we focus on the period from the late 19th century to the early 20th century that fascinated painters, including paintings, drawings, prints, About 160 items such as posters will be exhibited. We are exploring what each painter sought and found in this foreign land. The works on display were collected from more than 30 collections in Japan and two overseas museums.

Chapter 1 “Brittany Found: A Journey to a Foreign Country”

The exhibition consists of four chapters.

Chapter 1, “Brittany Discovered: A Journey to a Foreign Country,” explores what images of Brittany have been popularized by Romantic painters since they “discovered” Brittany in the early 19th century. It introduces works born out of the trend of “picturesque tours” (travels to find picturesque landscapes in rural areas), including the watercolor paintings of British landscape painter William Turner.

While the idealization and stylization of the exotic image of Brittany, represented by female figures wearing koif (headdress) and wearing ethnic costumes, were overflowing with posters for the masses, Eugène Boudin and Claude Monet From the works of the traveling Impressionist generation, we can see that they faced the unvarnished nature of Brittany with a sincere attitude.

Of particular note are Monet’s Cave of Paul-Domois (1886) and Beryl of the Storm (1886).

In the fall of 1886, Monet spent two and a half months on Berrill Island, known for its wild scenery off the southern coast of the Brittany Peninsula. This is two of them.

It depicts a symmetrical landscape of calm sea and stormy sea. Grotto of Paul-Domois has a gentle touch and is relatively rhythmic, but in Beryl the Storm, the brush is applied wildly, as if one’s own physical senses were possessed in a storm. It’s as if Monet’s experience is engraved in the painting, such as being there.

From the 1890s, Monet began presenting a series of paintings in an attempt to capture moments in the ever-changing light and atmosphere on canvas. It is thought that it may have been an opportunity to deepen the

Chapter 2 “Sensitivity nurtured by the climate: Gauguin, the Pont-Aven school and the spirit of the land”

Chapter 2, “Sensitivity Nurtured by the Climate: Gauguin, the School of Pont-Aven, and the Spirit of the Land,” exhibits the works of Paul Gauguin and other painters who stayed in the small village of Pont-Aven in the southwest of Brittany.

Gauguin repeatedly stayed in Brittany from 1886 to 1894 to escape the hardships of life in Paris. It seems that he deepened his thoughts on the “wild things, primitive things” he wanted.

There are 12 works by Gauguin (10 paintings and 2 prints), which are one of the highlights of this exhibition. From Bois d’Amour’s Watermill Bathers (1886), which is arranged chronologically and retains the Impressionist style of Camille Pissarro, he uses simplified forms and colors to depict the real world and inner images. I was able to trace the transition of his style, such as Brittany Girls Standing by the Sea (1889), which shows the maturity of the synthesisist style integrated above.

“Brittany Girls Standing on the Seashore” depicts two girls holding hands and staring at the painter. The “wild and primitive things” that Gauguin himself was trying to find in this land are reflected in the figures of peasant children who endure labor and poverty, such as their strong, big legs and simple clothes. It is represented symbolically in a hypothetical form.

Chapter 3 “Taking Roots in the Land: Painters Who Continued to Stare at Brittany”

In Chapter 3, “Putting Roots in the Land: Painters Who Continued to Observe Brittany,” Brittany became a tourist destination and a resort area from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Pay attention to the painter who made it his hometown.

Inspired by ukiyo-e woodblock prints, Henri Riviere, who was a driving force behind fin-de-siècle Japonisme, taught himself to produce multicolored woodblock prints. Did Rivière project an image of another “foreign country”, Japan, into the idyllic scene of Brittany? It is interesting that he translated Brittany into Japanese and drew it as if it were in Japan.

A comprehensive series of 40 woodblock prints, Landscapes of Brittany , produced between 1890 and 1894, is not only eye-catching with its delicate color gradation, but also has a composition reminiscent of Hokusai. It felt familiar somehow.

Maurice Denis, who founded the Nabis school, was a painter who focused on the promotion of religious art, and because he was a devout Christian, he is said to have resonated with the spiritual climate of Brittany, which was deeply rooted in faith. In the exhibition, works such as Young Mother (1919), which depict a family living in Brittany in accordance with Christian iconographic traditions, caught my attention.

Also, from the image of paradise on earth where reality and fiction overlap, such as Bathing (1920), which projected the sea of ancient Greece on the coast of Brittany, the influence of classicism, which he fell in love with after his repeated trips to Italy after 1895. You can feel

In contrast to Denis’s bright and blissful scenery, the next exhibition presents a heavy use of black by the band noir (black group), a group that depicts the nature and customs of Brittany in the lineage of realism. Color works follow.

Among them, Charles Cottet’s 3.5-meter-wide large work Lamentation, Victim of the Sea (1908-09) was a masterpiece. A representative work of Kotte, who has worked on many works on the theme of the tragedy of the sea and people who endure the harshness of nature. At the wharf of the Isle of Sainte in Brittany, where maritime accidents have never ceased, the islanders’ mourning for a drowned fisherman is depicted superimposed on the traditional painting of the mourning of Christ.

Another of Cotte’s works that left an impression on me was The Flame of St. John (c.1900), which depicts a scene of prayers offered to the dead. The expression of light and shade, reminiscent of baroque paintings, is beautiful, and the expressions of the people illuminated by the bonfire have a solemn yet slightly chilling atmosphere.

Chapter 4 “From Japan to Brittany via Paris: The Eyes of Japanese Artists”

In the final section, Chapter 4, “From Japan to Brittany via Paris: The Perspectives of Artists from Japan,” he studied abroad in Paris, an advanced city of art, from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century (from the late Meiji period to the Taisho period). , and focused on Japanese painters who also traveled to Brittany, a “foreign country within a foreign country”.

Seiki Kuroda, a leading figure in the modern Western-style painting world in Japan, was one of the first Japanese painters to visit Brittany.In 1891, he traveled to Brea Island with Keiichiro Kume before becoming a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. Kuroda’s Girl from Brecha (1891) is depicted with her hair down, which is unusual for a Brittany girl. The bright and dark contrasts in Rembrandt-style interiors and vivid color contrasts are eye-catching.

Kanae Yamamoto, who contributed to the popularization of creative prints, was one of the people who visited Brittany. “Bretonne” (1920), well-known as an image of a Japanese painter’s research in Brittany, is a woodblock print completed after returning to Japan based on sketches during his stay. The screen composition that emphasizes the horizon with a simple background that matches the sketch, and the calm blue and black color tone create the tranquil atmosphere of the iconic Brittany woman.

Related materials such as guidebooks and trunks were also exhibited at the venue, and it was a fun point that I felt like traveling to Brittany through those materials and works.

Various artists from both the West and the East are working on one big theme, Brittany, but what they saw in this foreign land and what kind of approach they took were completely different. A painter who stared at the beauty of the scenery of Brittany and envisioned paradise, and a painter who sublimated the harsh realities of poverty and maritime accidents into his works. It was an ambitious exhibition that once again shed light on the individuality of each artist.

The event will be held until June 11, 2023 (Sun).

Overview of “Brittany, the Land of Admiration: A Country Seen by Monet, Gauguin, Seiki Kuroda, and Others”

 

Article provided by: kokosil Ueno

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The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts

The “Purchased Exhibition -Geidai Collection Exhibition 2023-“, which introduces carefully selected excellent works purchased by Tokyo University of the Arts from among the graduation and completion works, is being held at the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts from March 31, 2023. . (Exhibition period is until May 7)

*All works introduced here are owned by Tokyo University of the Arts.

Tokyo University of the Arts (hereafter referred to as Geidai) has been collecting a wide variety of art works and materials since its predecessor Tokyo Fine Arts School opened in 1889 (Meiji 22). As an opportunity to widely display the vast collection, the university art museum holds the “Geidai Collection Exhibition” every year with a theme.

The 2023 “Geidai Collection Exhibition” began in 1953 after the war. Purchasing system”.

It seems that there was a tradition of purchasing graduation works from Tokyo Fine Arts School and collecting them to use as educational materials, and currently the number of “student works” in the collection of Tokyo University of the Arts exceeds 10,000.

This exhibition, “Kaijoten” , collects about 100 of these works, an unprecedented number, and looks back on the history of the University of the Arts and the birthplace of modern and contemporary art history in Japan. This is a unique exhibition that connects Japanese paintings by major stars in the Meiji era to mixed media installations by up-and-coming artists in the Reiwa era.

The exhibition consists of two parts.

Part 1, “Student Works of Masters,” focuses on graduation works from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts from the Meiji period to the early Showa period. Selected artists who have played leading roles in various fields of the art world after graduating, will exhibit their graduation work, which can be called their debut work, as well as “self-portraits” that were customarily worked on at the same time as their graduation work. I’m here.

As soon as we entered the venue, we were immediately greeted by Taikan Yokoyama, a first-year student of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, with his Muradō Kanen-o (1893) and Kanzan Shimomura’s Cherry Blossom Viewing at Kumano Gozen (1894). Hazan Itaya’s “Genroku Bijin” (1984) welcomes us with an impressive line-up.

Hazan Itaya achieved great success as a pottery artist, but it wasn’t until his mid-20s that he started working on pottery in earnest. While in school, he learned sculptural techniques from Koun Takamura, who advocated realism in modern sculpture. The kosode floral arabesque pattern is expressed in relief, which is similar to Hayama’s later pottery works. In a sense, it can be said to be one of the origins of the potter Hayama.

What caught my attention was Widow and Orphan (1895) by Shunso Hishida , a genius painter who produced many masterpieces but died at the young age of 36. The expression of a woman who lost her husband in battle is full of tragedy, giving us a premonition of the fate that awaits us in the future.

When the Tokyo School of Fine Arts was established, it seems that historical paintings with historical events and the stories that depict them as the theme were positioned as issues in exploring new Japanese paintings. This work is said to have been drawn based on the military chronicle Taiheiki, but the fact that the theme was chosen to depict the tragedy of those caught up in the war, rather than the heroic picture scrolls of war, dates back to the Sino-Japanese War. The production background at that time was not irrelevant.

In fact, this work was severely criticized by a professor for being a “monster picture”, but it was purchased by Tenshin Okakura, who was the principal of the school. This episode provides a glimpse into the educational policy and philosophy of Tokyo Fine Arts School, which emphasizes what meaning is in painting that work now, and what meaning should be given to it.

The custom of “taking a self-portrait at school upon graduation” was born under the guidance of Seiki Kuroda, who was a professor at the Western painting department established in 1896. I was able to confirm the learning achievements of masters such as Tetsugoro Yorozu, Shigeru Aoki, and Tsuguharu Fujita, whose graduation projects were unexpectedly unsuccessful, and whose talents blossomed after graduation.

When I think that this tradition of excavating the past, which is almost unparalleled in the world, has now formed a large collection that is extremely useful for comprehending the history of modern and contemporary Japanese art, Kuroda I can’t help but feel the magnitude of Seiki’s achievements.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Tokyo University of the Arts’ purchase system.

In Part 2, “Purchased works selected by each department” , all 12 departments with a purchase system (Japanese painting, oil painting, sculpture, crafts, design, architecture, advanced art expression, art education, cultural property conservation studies, global art practice, A total of 52 purchased works are introduced along with their selection intentions. It highlights the tendency of the works that each department has recognized as particularly excellent.

Looking at the exhibits in each department, the “Japanese painting major” picks up works that particularly express the atmosphere and characteristics of that era, while the “sculpture department” selects female artists selected for purchase works from the era. was taking the drastic selection method of selecting five people in order of the oldest. The selection and commentary of the works are done by the professors of each department from their own perspective, so it’s interesting to see their individuality.

The exhibition of the newest major at Tokyo University of the Arts, the Global Art Practice Major (GAP), which was established in 2016, was particularly interesting. GAP, which explores cross-disciplinary contemporary art practices that transcend existing cultural frameworks, attracts students from around the world with different languages, cultures, and gender backgrounds. There are also students from fields other than the arts.

From the works purchased by GAP, I was able to sense the diversification of research areas and methods of expression at Tokyo University of the Arts in recent years. For example, Sixte Parc Kakinda’s “Intimate Moments/Monologue” (2019) is an installation work of drawings and video.

Confronting the historical fact that uranium mined in a mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the artist has roots, was brought to the United States and used in the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he conducted careful research on the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. . It is finished as a work that encourages consideration of the social and economic reasons surrounding the mining of mineral resources and the impact of their use on mankind and nature.

In his comments, the artist expressed his disappointment that, although he considered himself to be a bridge connecting Japan and Congo, his drawing performance in Hiroshima went unnoticed by the Japanese people, saying, “I was an invisible bridge.” rice field. The fact that this work exists as a result of GAP’s education and that it has been purchased seems to have a great significance in that it is an awareness of the racially closed nature of the Japanese people.

Of the works exhibited in Part 2, the one that left the strongest impression on me was Tomomi Maruyama’s One Thousand and One Nights (1992) from the Kogei Department.

In the “Crafts Department,” which consists of seven fields: engraving, hammering, casting, lacquer art, pottery, dyeing, and material modeling (wood and glass), students learn advanced traditional techniques through materials and acquire the ability to further develop them. is intended to be attached.

“Thousand and One Nights” is a work that uses excellent metal hammering techniques to depict the wind that blows through mountains and forests as a god of wind and expresses the human body as a motif. I was fascinated by the dynamism of the body, which seemed to be swimming in the water, and the sense of presence that had a story behind it. According to research, the artist Tomomi Maruyama is currently a professor of metal hammering at the Department of Crafts at Tokyo University of the Arts. I am producing.

According to the commentary, this work seems to have been highly evaluated for the fact that it “expanded the possibilities of expression as a metal work by fusing metal hammering techniques and welding.” As an artist and an educator, he continues to expand the possibilities of expression in his metal-forged works.

The hands-on installation of Tomomi Oka, 1-8-19 Yanagi-cho, Okayama City (2017), a member of the Intermedia Art Department, was also memorable.

Established in 1999, the Intermedia Art Department pursues creative expression using a variety of methods that transcend the framework of specific media. While aiming for activities that respond to changing information and environments, we are exploring the possibilities of art in society.

Tomomi Oka, who was recognized as the top graduate of the Intermedia Art Department, is an up-and-coming artist who uses video and spatial design to create installation works with themes such as personal memories and obsolete customs. 《1-8-19 Yanagi-cho, Okayama City》 is a room-type installation with the theme of my late grandmother’s house, which actually exists in Okayama, and the memories associated with it.

In a dark room filled with objects such as real furniture and small items, the image of the artist’s memory of his grandmother is layered between virtual and real images by combining video projections, reflections, lighting, and several acrylic plates. is launching. There existed a time-axis space that was neither past nor present. The video is about 7 minutes long, but it gives you the satisfaction of watching a movie. The eerily flickering lights and the eerily floating picture of my grandmother have a bit of a Japanese-style horror feel to them, and if you stare at it, you’ll feel as if your consciousness has been sucked into another world.

It is a work that you should definitely see when you visit this exhibition.

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At the venue, there are wonderful works of various eras and various methods of expression, but when you think about it, the fact that most of the artists were in their 20s at the time they were created is pretty amazing. It feels like
Some may have been called masters later on, while others may have left creation after graduating. Nevertheless, it is clear that all the works are a culmination and a mass of passion that the students who were nothing at that time poured everything they learned at the top art university.

There must be many works that do not know how many years it will be before the next time they come out. We hope that you will take this rare opportunity to look back on the history of education at Tokyo University of the Arts and feel the power of works that have not lost their brilliance over the years.

 

“Purchased Exhibition -Geidai Collection Exhibition 2023-” Overview

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