DOI Heft:
No. 41 (August, 1896)
DOI Artikel:An English artist in Japan
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17297#0179
An English Artist in Japan
With some difficulty he succeeded in getting him- been able to give us aview of Japan which is certainly
self appointed Professor of English Literature at individual and more definitely illustrative of its
the University of Kanazawa, a government post peculiar atmosphere than any which has been pre-
which carried with it certain privileges, and yet sented to us before. He by no means confined
did not tie him down to educational duties sum- himself to any one class of subject, but painted im-
ciently to diminish to any serious extent his oppor- partially whatever came most conveniently to his
tunities of painting. His teaching hours only hand. Landscapes, groups of buildings, colour
amounted to about fifteen in each week, so that effects produced by masses of flowering shrubs,
there remained to him ample time for carrying out small picturesque incidents in the lives of the
the real object of his visit to Japan ; and this small people, gorgeous festivals and theatrical perform-
tax upon his energies was quite compensated for ances, all have their place in the array of pictures
by the advantages he enjoyed as the possessor of a which he has brought back as evidence of his
house, to which he added a studio, and by the industry during the four years over which his pro-
chances which he had of mixing as one of them- fessorial duties extended. The wideness of his
selves with the native residents in the district. He range in the collection which he has gathered
certainly had got one thing that he greatly desired, together is most commendable, an excellent proof
a residence a considerable way apart from the tracks of the thoroughness of his observation and of the
of the globe-trotter, for Kanazawa stands on the careful manner in which he utilised his exceptional
coast at a distance of three days rickshaw journey chances.
from the nearest railway station. So situated he Another interesting outcome of his stay in Japan
was free to make a really exhaustive study of the is the evident modification in his technical methods
manners and customs of the country and to record which the influence of the native art effected. His
pictorially some aspects of it which are compara- European pre-conception as to the way in which a
tively little known. picture should be stated underwent a very per-
As a result of his opportunities Mr. Sturdee has ceptible change. From the purely realistic inclina-
CHERKY-BLOSSOMS, " FROM A PAINTING BY PERCY STURDEE
163
With some difficulty he succeeded in getting him- been able to give us aview of Japan which is certainly
self appointed Professor of English Literature at individual and more definitely illustrative of its
the University of Kanazawa, a government post peculiar atmosphere than any which has been pre-
which carried with it certain privileges, and yet sented to us before. He by no means confined
did not tie him down to educational duties sum- himself to any one class of subject, but painted im-
ciently to diminish to any serious extent his oppor- partially whatever came most conveniently to his
tunities of painting. His teaching hours only hand. Landscapes, groups of buildings, colour
amounted to about fifteen in each week, so that effects produced by masses of flowering shrubs,
there remained to him ample time for carrying out small picturesque incidents in the lives of the
the real object of his visit to Japan ; and this small people, gorgeous festivals and theatrical perform-
tax upon his energies was quite compensated for ances, all have their place in the array of pictures
by the advantages he enjoyed as the possessor of a which he has brought back as evidence of his
house, to which he added a studio, and by the industry during the four years over which his pro-
chances which he had of mixing as one of them- fessorial duties extended. The wideness of his
selves with the native residents in the district. He range in the collection which he has gathered
certainly had got one thing that he greatly desired, together is most commendable, an excellent proof
a residence a considerable way apart from the tracks of the thoroughness of his observation and of the
of the globe-trotter, for Kanazawa stands on the careful manner in which he utilised his exceptional
coast at a distance of three days rickshaw journey chances.
from the nearest railway station. So situated he Another interesting outcome of his stay in Japan
was free to make a really exhaustive study of the is the evident modification in his technical methods
manners and customs of the country and to record which the influence of the native art effected. His
pictorially some aspects of it which are compara- European pre-conception as to the way in which a
tively little known. picture should be stated underwent a very per-
As a result of his opportunities Mr. Sturdee has ceptible change. From the purely realistic inclina-
CHERKY-BLOSSOMS, " FROM A PAINTING BY PERCY STURDEE
163