BackNo.73
JANUARY 1938
This summary is compiled by Mr. TAKASHI KATSUKI.
SCREEN PAINTING OF MATSUSHIMA BY SOTATSU
PROF. YUKIO YASHIRO
This pair of six-fold screen paintings by Sotatsu of the seventeenth century is not only one of his unquestioned works, which are very rare, but also his masterpieces representing the celebrated seascape of Matsushima-the pine-clad islets. These screens are now treasured in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, bought by the late Mr. Charles Freer and brought over to America in 1906.
As for the artist's signature and seal found on the right-hand corner of one screen (Pl. III & Cut p. 2) the present writer admits them to be genuine; the seal is particularly interesting because it is identified with that which is used on the screen paintings of the Bugaku Dances in the Daigoji Temple, also authentic screen paintings by the same artist. One thing which is unusual is that the artist's seal appears only on one of the present screens (Pl. III) instead of on both as was customarily done. The reason is unknown but it may be attributed to the independent and progressive nature of the artist who did not like to be bound by mere traditional rules.
The tossing waves, the subject of the picture, gave the artist an ideal chance to compose a rhythmic and moving composition to which his genius was most suited. The wave-crests are painted effectively in white and the waves are in gold and silver alternately in contrast to the deep green pine trees and brownish rocks although the silver has darkened in the course of time.
The influence of Sotatsu was widely felt among artists both contemporary and later and Korin in particular was an ardent follower. Korin's two-fold screens of the "Wind God and Thunder God" are faithful copies of Sotatsu's screens of the same subject owned by Kenninji Temple, Kyoto. Also in an illustrated catalogue called the "Hundred Pictures of Korin" compiled by Hoitsu it is related that Korin copied works by Sotatsu.
Furthermore, there was in Baron Iwasaki's collection a pair of six-fold screens, which was destroyed by the great earthquake of 1923, attributed to Korin who copied it with literal faithfulness from the present Matsushima screens. To determine whether the former screens were actually painted by Korin is extremely difficult as they are lost, but regarding the signature and seal in the photographs of the lost screens the writer hesitates to accept them as genuine Korin. All the same, the existence of such a faithful copy of Sotatsu's Matsushima by a painter in the near circle of Korin, indicates that Sotatsu was very much studied by the Korin School.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, on the other hand, also owns a well-known six-fold screen of Matsushima with a remarkable seal by Korin (Pl. VI), which was bought by the late Mr. Earnest Fenollosa in this country in 1880. Upon careful examination of this screen at the same museum with the collaboration of its curator, Mr. Tomita, and others, the present writer was enabled to discover that the screen was subject to much repair and that its aesthetic effect was greatly damaged. As the condition of the Boston screen is such, it is really very difficult to say anything definite about the genuine nature of the Boston screen. But the present writer is not prepared to accept it as an authentic Korin. Moreover, the signature and seal on the screen challenge some scepticism. Another reason for doubt as regards the Boston screen is the fact that there actually was another screen painting of exactly the same Matsushima by Korin in former times which is reproduced in the "Hundred Pictures of Korin" by Hoitsu (Cut on p. 7). The only differences between this picture and the Boston screen is that the signatures are entirely different, which fact nonetheless proves that they are different works. Now in Japanese art for an artist to paint the same composition more than once is very unusual, and the existence of another screen with a picture gives the writer an additional reason for hesitating to accept the Boston Korin as entirely genuine.
Putting aside the difficult question of the authenticity of the Boston screen it is evident that its grand composition of islands and the angry sea was conceived by Korin himself and also that the idea was taken by him from Sotatsu. It is not only extremely interesting from the aesthetic view point to compare the screens of the same subject, one at Washington and the other in Boston, but also airt-historically very instructive, considering that the genius of Korin grew up under the congenial and propitious influence of Sotatsu.
TAIGA'S JOURNAL OF THE TRIP TO THE THREE MOUNTAINS
BY TEIZO SUGANUMA
The present paper is an introduction to Taiga's Journal of the Trip to the Three Mountains which is entirely reprinted in the present number of the Bijutsu Kenkyu from the original manuscripts. According to the old documents Taiga (1723-1776), a famous painter of the Bunjinga School in Kyoto, started on a journey to climb the three sacred mountains-Hakusan, Tateyama and Fujisan-with his friends Kan Tenju (Dainen) alld Ko Fuyo in the tenth year of Horeki (1760) when he was at the age of thirty-seven; the Journal of this trip was mentioned in a certain record of the late Tokugawa Period.
In the eighth year of Showa (1933) a memorial exhibition of the paintings by Taiga was held at the Kyoto Museum and among them was an eight-fold screen (Pls. VII & VIII) which drew the keen interest of scholars because the screen was identified with the diary and sketches aforementioned.
In the estimation of the present writer the manuscripts are thought to have originally been in the form of booklets and although the names of the writers of the records cannot be identified the sketches were possibly all done by Taiga himself.
The significance of the manuscripts is neither in the point of their artistic merits nor in the identification of the writers but they should be looked upon as a collective work commemorating their journey. In the journal, however, the account of the trip and the differences in the natures of the travelers are revealed interestingly and the vividness of the sketches as they were done en route is impressive.
Their journey may roughly be traced in the manuscripts which are now mounted in order on a screen but the mounting is considered to have been made after the third year of Keio (1867), according to the postscripts. Furthermore, the different seals which appear on the manuscripts tell us the names of the owners especially after the declining years of the Tokugawa shogunate regime.
As the record on the trip to Mt. Fuji and others are not included here whether the present manuscripts are complete or not is open to question.
EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF KUSUNOKI MASASHIGE
BY TOSHIO SUGA
The present equestrian statue of Kusunoki Masashige, a famous royalist who fell in action in the third year of Kemmu (1336), is one which stands in the precincts of the Imperial palace in Tokyo (Pl. IX a Cut on p. 29). The statue was presented by the Sumitomo family to the Imperial Household in commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the opening of the copper mine in Ehime Prefecture in which the same family has been engaged from the beginning. This proposal was first announced on the festive occasion of the anniversary in the twenty-third year of Meiji (1890).
The public was invited to respond to the competition for prizes for the design of the statue and Shusui Okakura was the winner who was a student of the Imperial School of Art, Tokyo. His original drawing is reproduced on page thirty which is based on a historical event as related in the Taihei-ki and the warrior is depicted going to war at the age of thirty-eight.
Having been instructed by the Sumitomo family the preparatory studies for the actual work were divided among the faculty members of the art school of which Kakuzo Okakura was president. However, the most embarrassing problems were the facial expression and armour of the warrior. Koun Takamura who was in charge of the former preferred an ingenius expression and the latter was carefully studied by Chitora Kawasaki (Cuts on pp. 31, 33). Teiko Goto was assigned to study the horse which was represented by a thoroughbred of Japanese origin (Cut on p.37).
For the actual work the artists consisting of the faculty members were officially appointed by the same art school the next year (1891) including Koun Takamura for making the face of the tigure, Kisai Yamada and Komei Ishikawa for the armour, and Teiko Goto for the horse. Thus as a joint work the wooden prototype of the statue (Cut on p.38) was completed two years later in March of the twenty-sixth year of Meiji (1893) and was subsequently submitted to the inspection of Emperor Meiji.
The estimated cost for making the wooden statue except the wood which was given by the Sumitomo family and gratuity paid to the artists was about four thousand yen all together, according to the old records.
Next, the casting of the statue was started in the art school by Sessei Okazaki as chief technician and Takijiro Sugiura as an assistant, both of the same art school, but they encountered technical difficulties due to the elaborate outfits of the figure and horse.
Hoping to solve these problems Sessei asked the art school for leave to visit during the summer vacation in 1893 at his own expense the World's Columbian Exposition which was being held at the time in Chicago. To his astonishment all bronze statues which he came across in America seemed to have been cast as a single work but he later discovered that a big statue of George Washington which was placed on view in the Exposition was originally cast in parts and built up into a whole. Sessei also visited a foundry in Chicago and learned much.
Returning to Japan on October thirty-first of the same year Seseei set about the casting of the present statue and it was finally finished in Septemher in the twenty-ninth year of Meiji (1896) after overcoming the technical failures. The casting was estimated at the cost of about sixty-five hundred yen not including the cost of the material of about seven tons copper offered by the Sumitomo family and money paid the artists.
Thus the statue was moved from the art school to the present place and placed in May in the thirty-third year of Meiji (1900) on its stone pedestal which was erected at the expense of the Imperial Household. The statue was formally received by the Imperial Household in May of the same year after ten years had been spent on its creation.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES
Pl. I (Color) & II Aryacalanatha with Two Boy Attendants.
Color on silk. Mounted as kakemono.
Height: 128.8 cm.; width: 59.8 cm.
Collection of Marquis Saburo lnoue, Tokyo.
Contrary to the usual static representation in the present well-known picture depicted are the Aryacalanatha with two boy attendants posed in dynamic action. This picture, according to the tradition, was painted by Nagataka and a religious service was held before the painting when the western coast of the Japanese empire was invaded by the fleet of Yuan China. No matter how true the tradition is the extraordinary representation of the deity is most appropriate.
Unfortunately, the main figure is badly worn and much repaired except the hair, eyes, legs and part of the garments; from these latter the central figure is imagined to have originally been painted in bluish color. These remaining original parts as well as the belongings of the attendants and others are drawn very carefully in gold. But the flames painted in red with touches of white on the edges remain in the original state. The attendant on the right which is Kinkara, painted in red, and the other on the left which is Cetaka in light yellow are respectively emphasized with shading in red, and gold is employed in the design of their garments.
In the estimation of the present exponent the original color scheme of this picture must have been a rather simple and subdued one. Thus avoiding the heavy coloring of the usual religious painting the light coloring and refined linear drawing bring forth perfect harmony in the present picture. This should be remembered as a technical characteristic of the work.
Pl. III & IV Matsushima, by Sotatsu (Japanese, d. 1643).
Color on paper. Mounted as a pair of six-told screens.
Height: 166 cm.; width: 369.9 cm.
The Freer Gallery of Art, Washington.
(See the article by Prof. Yukio Yashiro)
Pl. V, X & XI Landscape, by Taiga (Japanese, 1723-1776).
Color on paper. Mounted as a pair of six-fold screens.
Helght: 139.5 cm.; width: 57.8 cm.
Formerly in the collection of Mr. Minoru Otsuka, Tokyo.
This is a unique example of landscape of this kind representing four seasons in twelve months on twelve sections which are mounted as a pair of six-fold screens. Not only is each consecutive section an independent work but both screens are so depicted as to be looked upon as one picture. As seen in Plates X & XI each section bears a verse consisting of four characters written by the artist and seals (Cut on p.42, reproduced in actual size) except the last section to which the signature is added besides. The variety of scenery and technique shown in the present screens is most fascinating. Drawn in a facile style with slight touches of color the true nature of the landscape is introduced by Taiga characteristically in his own way.
The screens are accompanied by letters (Cut on p.42) and a receipt, from which latter the date of the present picture is surmised to be the sixth year of Meiwa (1769), when he was forty-six; the seals used on the present screens are frequently found on his works executed around the Meiwa era, and a mature skilfulness is also revealed here.
Pl. VI Matsushima, by Korin (Japanese, 1658-1716).
Color on paper. Mounted as a six-fold screen.
The Museum of Fine arts, Boston.
(See the article by Prof. Yukio Yashiro)
Pl. VII & VIII Journal of the Trip to the Three Mountains, by Taiga (Japanese, 1723-1776), and two others.
Sketches and manuscripts on paper now mounted as an eight-fold screen.
Height: 90.5 cm.; width: 34 cm.
Collection of Mr. Shingo Tsuda, Hyogo.
(See the article by Teizo Suganuma)
Pl. IX The Equestrian Statue of Kusunoki Masashige.
Bronze.
Height: 400 cm., including the figure and horse.
Height: 439.4 cm., including also the pedestal.
The Imperial Household.
(See the article by Toshio Suga)