International studio (53.1914)

Studio- Taid


TOKYO.—Recently the Imperial School
of Art, Tokyo, the premier institution of
the kind in Japan, celebrated, with
appropriate ceremonies and with an
exhibition of its treasures, the twenty-fifth anniver-
sary of its foundation. A brief history of the school
may prove of value to those interested in the
progress of art and art education in Japan.
It was in July 1885 that a committee was
appointed by the Department of Education to
investigate matters concerning the teaching of
drawing in schools. As a result, a bureau for drawing
was established in November of the following year.
This bureau was the pioneer of the Imperial School
of Art, Tokyo, which came into existence by
Imperial order on October 4, 1889, and came to
occupy the present splendid position in Uyeno
Park which was formerly used by the Educational
Museum. The Art School was opened on February 1,
1890, under the directorship of Baron Hamao.
'bhe curriculum then consisted of painting, lacquer
work, wood carving and metal chasing, there being
two different courses, one taking two and the other
three years to complete. There was also a normal
course. In October 1891 Mr. Kakuzo Okakura,
whose death was referred to in The Studio a few
months ago (see March No., p. 166), became the
director. In November 1893 a four-year course
was instituted, in addition to a preliminary course
lasting one year, and metal casting was added to
the curriculum.

“STREET MARKET, CALLE A. FIGUEROA, MADRID”
FROM A CHALK DRAWING BY J. P. TILLAC
books are full of reminiscence of the places he has
visited both in the Old World and in the New.
In Spain, where he has spent a considerable time,
he has amassed a large collection of drawings,
■chiefly of street scenes in cities where Castilian or
Basque types are found, such as Madrid, Toledo,
and Bilbao. A shrewd observer, he has a keen
■eye for the characteristics of the people he portrays
as may be seen particularly in his studies of the
Basque type of humanity whose anthropological
status has puzzled the learned. Mons. Tillac studied
at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under MM.
Gerome, Cormon and Waltner, and at the Salon
■of the Artistes Franpais in 1905 he was awarded a
mention honorable. Since then he has spent
most of his time in travelling. In his drawings
such as those reproduced, he uses a little colour
by way of rehaussement.

In May 1895 the instruction in painting and
carving was divided into three forms or styles,
based upon the three distinct periods in the history
of our art. In the following year the repousse
process was introduced into the course of instruction
in metal work, and a course in design and another
in the European style of painting were added. In
March 1899 Mr. Okakura was succeeded by Mr.
Hideo Takamine, and the method of teaching
devised by his predecessor was altered. Clay
modelling, which was bound to affect our sculpture
to a considerable degree, was introduced into
the casting department, and came to be adopted
for the first time in making sketches for wood
sculpture in the following year. In January 1900
Mr. Kanae Kubota became the director, only to be
superseded in the following year by Mr. Naohiko
Masaki, under whose able directorship the school
still continues to train young artists. Four years
later, that is to say in 1905, the school adopttd the
five-year course.

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