International studio (52.1914)

Reviews and Notices

“a fig orchard” (oil painting) by tsuji nagatoshi
(Seventh Mombusho Art Exhibition)


REVIEWS AND
NOTICES.
Art. By Clive Bell.
(London : Chatto and Win-
dus.) 55. net.—“ Imagine,”
says the author, “ a boat in
complete isolation, detach
it from man and his urgent
activities and fabulous his-
tory, what is it that remains,
what is that to which we
still react emotionally ? ”
We may well ask, in reply,
whether there would be
anything at all to which we
should react emotionally
were it conceivable that the
human mind could perform
the gymnastic feat that has

depicted with a fair degree of success the vital force,
the dramatic power of Nature, such as Nakagawa
Hachiro’s Before the Shower, in which one could
hear the gale bringing with it large drops of rain,
Yamamoto Morinosuke’s Approaching Storm, in
which the immensity of Nature and the invincible
force hehind the clouds and beyond the sea were
most vividly suggested; and Yoshida Hiroshi’s
Morning in Early Autumn. No less commendable

just been asked of it—and which surelymeans no less
than the attempt to imagine something while in the
very act of arresting the process by which imagina-
tion works. Th® author’s own definition for the
abstraction which was to survive this process is
“ significance of form.” He repeats the phrase
with monotony. But the “ form,” we take it, is to
be significant of nothing but itself. Abstracting
“ form ” from “ shape ”—with the associations which

were also such works by members of the Art
Committee as Gazing by Okada Saburosuke; Near
the Water by Nakazawa Hiromitsu ; Festival oj
Kamo Shrine by Kanokogi Takeshiro and A Fishing
Village in the Afternoon by Yoshida Hiroshi.
There was an admirable collection of sculpture.
Among the wood sculpture excellent workmanship
was shown in Return from the Peony Garden and
Gold Dust by Yonehara Unkai; Kwannon, Young
Mother, and At Leisure by Yamazaki Choun; A
Raised Finger and Fallen Leaves hy Hiragushi
Denchu, Tranquillity by Yoshida Hakuryo. There
was a certain charm of simplicity in At the Dusk by
Ishimoto Gyokai; a strange fascination in Butcher's
Knife and Fruits by Naito Shin. Lost in Reverie by
Kitamura Shikai was the only piece in marble, and
Precious Moments by Shinkai Takeshiro, a Portrait
Medallion by Hata Masakichi were good examples
in bronze. Among a number of plaster casts were
the following : A Woman Miner by Fujii Hirosuke ;
a nude female figure, Timidity, by Asakura Fumio ;
On the Way to Shinzan Shrine by Ikeda Yuhachi;
Contentment by Shinkai Taketaro, and Azami by
Ishikawa Kakuji. Harada Jiro.

the latter must involve—we are still to respond to
form. Mr. Bell has a seemingly logical method of
applying his system. The stumbling-block is at
the start. Frankly we find it impossible to fit his
fantastic theory in with the most elementary laws of
psychology. Criticising things in general the author
is surprisingly refreshing. Isolate his aphorisms and
many of them impress one as really profound.
Among other passages worth quoting we have selected
the following : “ A form is badly drawn when it
does not correspond with a part of an emotional
conception.” “ The hand of the artist must be
guided by the necessity of expressing something he
has felt not only intensely but definitely.” “ The
artist and the saint do what they have to do, not to
make a living, but in obedience to some mysterious
necessity.” “ In art any flood of spiritual exaltation
finds a channel ready to nurse and lead it; and
when art fails it is for lack of emotion, not for lack
of formal adaptability.”
Old Paste. By A. Beresford Ryley. (London:
Methuen and Co.) 425. net.—We have read with
great interest this scholarly account and history of
Old Paste and the descriptions which the author
gives of the many beautiful examples extant.

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