Studio: international art (52.1911)

Art School Notes

most interesting works, sinuous in design and
subtle in tonal quality. Mr. William M. Chase,
in his Japanese Book, succeeded in the most
spontaneous manner in rendering the diffused
light of an interior, and Mr. Walter MacEwen,
in Interieur Hollandais, was equally successful
in the lighting of his subject, drawn from the
private life of the Dutch bourgeoisie. E. C.

TOKYO. — Mr. Komatsubara, the
Minister of the Department of Edu-
cation of the Imperial Japanese
Government, emphasised two points
when instructing the jurors preparatory to the
examination of paintings and carvings sub-
mitted to them for the fourth Exhibition of
Fine Art, held in Tokyo under the auspices
of the Department of Education, and recently
brought to a close. One point was that each
juror should be fair and impartial in passing
judgment upon the works of art, and not be
prejudiced in favour of any particular school
to which he might belong. The other was
that the jurors should not admit to the exhi-
bition anything that might be conducive to
lowering forms of thought, thus avoiding any-
thing which might tend to harm public morals.

It is exceedingly interesting to note that out
of 447 Japanese paintings submitted only 81
were admitted, while out of 489 oil paintings
as many as 137 met with approval. This
marked superiority in the number of western
paintings to the Japanese paintings is signifi-
cant. The exhibition, which also contained
33 pieces of sculpture chosen out of 49, was,
on the whole, considered to be quite successful,
as many works of high standard showed marked
improvement over those displayed at previous
exhibitions. Improvement was especially no-
ticeable in the oil paintings. They showed
the result of hard and faithful work in what
may be termed a new departure in Japanese
art. Critics generally seem to have been satis-
fied with what oil painters have accomplished,
and hope for their future seems much brighter
than it has been.

As to the future of Japanese painting, the
exhibition suggests a few remarks. The
exhibits showed that the Japanese painters of
the present day are now in a transitional period.
They seem to be in darkness, unable .to feel
their way. Some seem to feel that a catas-
trophe is near at hand, while others are more
162

sanguine as to the future. In fact, the critics
seem to differ so widely as to the prospects
of the painters that it is hard for the general
public to know the exact position that Japanese
paintings now take in respect to the future.
However, it seems to be the general feeling
among Japanese artists that it is incumbent
upon them to take what is best in Western
methods and to harmonise it with the best in
their own ideal and then evolve something new,
thus giving new life to Japanese painting. The
result would possess the best qualities of true
Japanese work, and yet would be far from
being called a Western picture. Such seems
to be the goal towards which the more pro-
gressive artists of to-day are striving, as judged
by their work displayed at the exhibition.

Not only are the artists themselves bewil-
dered, but so are those who are in a position
to assist them. They seem to be unable to
get away from their custom of looking upon
Japanese paintings as curios, placing value
upon them because they are old, and unable
to see any value in things that are new al-
though they may possess qualities worthy of
notice. There are a great many art lovers in
Japan, as well as in other countries, who are
unable to admire a piece of art for its own
merit, but only because of the old and well-
known names attached to it. As long as these
persons hold influential positions in the world
of art it will be exceedingly difficult for young
Japanese aspirants to continue to strive for
something new and something higher. More
progressive artists claim that as Japanese paint-
ing was in the first instance imported from
China, it is perfectly in order for them to get
whatever is best from European methods of
painting and incorporate it with their own.

Nan-Kyoku.

ART SCHOOL NOTES.

LONDON.—Mr. W. R. Colton, A.R.A.,
must have damped the spirits of some
j of the ambitious students who sat
before him, when, in his opening
address at the Royal Academy, he declared
that at the present time not a single artist
in Britain was making his living by producing
ideal sculpture. But Mr. Colton was not
without hopes of better things, and thought
that at the present time of strife and con-
tention, of fresh ideas and efforts to gain new