Studio: international art (52.1911)

The Present Condition of Art in Japan

HE PRESENT CONDITION OF
ART IN JAPAN.' BY PROF. JIRO
HIRADA.

The Fourth Exhibition of Fine Art held last fall
in Uyeno Park, Tokyo, under the auspices of the
Department of Education of the Japanese Govern-
ment, was considered so successful that the collection
almost in its entirety was taken to Kyoto and dis-
played in the Exhibition Building in Okazaki Park.
This annual exhibition of art has come to assume
great importance in the Japanese world of art. It
contains the noteworthy works of art from all parts
of the Empire, and the criticisms of the works
shown there afford a general survey of the artistic
product of the entire country, while materials are
provided by which some opinion may be formed
of the future of Japanese art. Such being the case,
the writer has ventured to give below a rtsumioi the
criticisms and opinions of our prominent men in

"THE VILLAGE NURSE" BY MRS. SYDNEY BRISTOWE
(See preceding article)

296

art on the subjects displayed at the last exhibition
in the hope that the reader may obtain a fair
glimpse of the real condition of art in Japan at the
present day. While there are invariably some
differences in views on the minor points, the con-
sensus of opinion on the whole will be found in the
following paragraphs.

There were in the section of Japanese painting
some screens of enormous size, such as those by
Kikuchi Hobun and Ikegami ShQho, and rolls of
great length, one of which, by Terazaki Kogyo, was
nearly fifty feet long. There seems to be a spirit
of competition in painting large works in apparent
forgetfulness of the obvious truth that a masterpiece
need not necessarily be large.

As was the case in the previous year, the
exhibition presented an aspect of rivalry between
the artists of Kyoto on the one hand and those
of Tokyo on the other, there being few pictures
from outside these two cities. In contrast to a
great number of animal subjects chosen by the
Kyoto artists in the previous year there were more
landscapes, while figures and landscapes were the
favourite themes for the artists of Tokyo. The
almost total disappearance of the Buddhist
paintings (the one reproduced on p. 301 being the
sole example) and the marked increase in paint-
ings of a decorative nature excited considerable
comment.

The pictures embraced a wide variety of subjects
representing various schools of thought, with new
ideas predominating. Some were more or less
idealistic, others descriptive and realistic. It was
pleasing to find in them the expression of the
individual taste and ideals of the artists. Of
course, there were not lacking examples of work
in which the artists had sacrificed individuality for
the sake of fashion and with an eye to winning the
favours of the public.

However, it must be acknowledged that the
works revealed certain strong tendencies now
existing among the artists. Among them were
found followers of the conservative, the progres-
sive, and the decorative styles. The followers
of the first style endeavour to incorporate in their
work not only the method of treatment but the
principle of design and general composition prac-
tised by the artists of the Ashikaga period down to
the Tokugawa regime. Judging from their works
at the last exhibition, to this class belong such
artists as Imao Keinen, Araki Jippo, Kosaka
Shiden, Tachika Chikuson, and Hashimoto Seki-
setsu, examples of whose work are to be seen
in our illustrations, as well as Kikuchi Hobun,