DOI issue:
No. 367 (October 1923)
DOI article:[Studio-talk]
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21398#0252
TOKYO
natural objects, but spontaneous and most
effective. It is to be hoped that England
and our Empire—why not India more
especially i—will be better represented if
these exhibitions become a permanent
biennial feature ; the poster display given
this year was insufficient to be our only
share in this fine exhibition. 0 0 0
We reproduce two pieces of glasswork
by Simon Gate, one of the Swedish artists
who exhibited at Monza, and a view of a
room devoted to Sardinia. S. B.
TOKYO.—[In view of the calamity
which has overtaken the Japanese
nation, the following note, received from
our correspondent just before the news
came through, takes on a tragic interest.]
As noted in the September Studio, the
64th biennial exhibition of the Nihon
Bijutsu Kyokai (The Fine Art Associa-
tion of Nippon) was recently held at
its new exhibition building in Uyeno
Park. The Association is one of the oldest
of its kind in Nippon, having been or-
ganised some forty-five years ago for the
purpose of re-establishing the fine and
applied arts, then much in decline. It
arranged exhibitions in Paris as long ago
as 1883 and 1884, and later, in 1897, it
participated in the International Art Expo-
sition held at Venice, Italy. Not only
abroad, but at home, the Association has
been most energetic in encouraging artists
by frequently holding exhibitions of their
works. It has held exhibitions twice a
year: spring and autumn. While the
autumn exhibitions deal with sculpture
and ceramics, textiles and embroideries,
wood and metal work, lacquer and clois-
onne wares and other kindred applied
arts, the spring exhibitions are devoted
entirely to paintings. 000
Even the official annual salons held
under the auspices of the Department of
Education have had to give in to the over-
powering Western influences, and so the
Association has been fighting bravely to
maintain its position as the champion of
old art ideals of the Far East. Hence there
is a tendency to look upon it nowadays as
somewhat old-fashioned. Further, it is
charged, and not without reason, that the
Association is lagging behind time ; that it
is losing the prestige which it has so long
232
“THE MOON AND CHERRY
BLOSSOMS.” BY SHIBA KEISEN
enjoyed in the art world of Nippon.
Happily, its long-established foundation is
too solid to be shattered, and thanks to
the energetic few whose appreciation of
the traditional ideals is so profound and
whose vision makes them feel so keenly
the important function the Association has
to perform in the art of Nippon, an enthu-
siasm has been stirred within for a new
activity and a new life. As a result of that
enthusiasm a splendid new gallery of rein-
forced concrete was recently constructed
upon the old site in Uyeno Park, where
the last exhibition of paintings was held. 0
At the last exhibition of paintings a
commendable work was Hirose Toho’s
Towada Lake, painted on a pair of six-
panelled screens, with its masculine pine-
natural objects, but spontaneous and most
effective. It is to be hoped that England
and our Empire—why not India more
especially i—will be better represented if
these exhibitions become a permanent
biennial feature ; the poster display given
this year was insufficient to be our only
share in this fine exhibition. 0 0 0
We reproduce two pieces of glasswork
by Simon Gate, one of the Swedish artists
who exhibited at Monza, and a view of a
room devoted to Sardinia. S. B.
TOKYO.—[In view of the calamity
which has overtaken the Japanese
nation, the following note, received from
our correspondent just before the news
came through, takes on a tragic interest.]
As noted in the September Studio, the
64th biennial exhibition of the Nihon
Bijutsu Kyokai (The Fine Art Associa-
tion of Nippon) was recently held at
its new exhibition building in Uyeno
Park. The Association is one of the oldest
of its kind in Nippon, having been or-
ganised some forty-five years ago for the
purpose of re-establishing the fine and
applied arts, then much in decline. It
arranged exhibitions in Paris as long ago
as 1883 and 1884, and later, in 1897, it
participated in the International Art Expo-
sition held at Venice, Italy. Not only
abroad, but at home, the Association has
been most energetic in encouraging artists
by frequently holding exhibitions of their
works. It has held exhibitions twice a
year: spring and autumn. While the
autumn exhibitions deal with sculpture
and ceramics, textiles and embroideries,
wood and metal work, lacquer and clois-
onne wares and other kindred applied
arts, the spring exhibitions are devoted
entirely to paintings. 000
Even the official annual salons held
under the auspices of the Department of
Education have had to give in to the over-
powering Western influences, and so the
Association has been fighting bravely to
maintain its position as the champion of
old art ideals of the Far East. Hence there
is a tendency to look upon it nowadays as
somewhat old-fashioned. Further, it is
charged, and not without reason, that the
Association is lagging behind time ; that it
is losing the prestige which it has so long
232
“THE MOON AND CHERRY
BLOSSOMS.” BY SHIBA KEISEN
enjoyed in the art world of Nippon.
Happily, its long-established foundation is
too solid to be shattered, and thanks to
the energetic few whose appreciation of
the traditional ideals is so profound and
whose vision makes them feel so keenly
the important function the Association has
to perform in the art of Nippon, an enthu-
siasm has been stirred within for a new
activity and a new life. As a result of that
enthusiasm a splendid new gallery of rein-
forced concrete was recently constructed
upon the old site in Uyeno Park, where
the last exhibition of paintings was held. 0
At the last exhibition of paintings a
commendable work was Hirose Toho’s
Towada Lake, painted on a pair of six-
panelled screens, with its masculine pine-