著者

桑原 規子

出版者

美学会

雑誌

美學 (ISSN:05200962)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.54, no.3, pp.29-42, 2003-12-31

---

Onchi Koshiro(1891-1955), one of the earliest pioneers of abstract paintings in Japan, executed a series of woodblock prints entitled the Lyric on Musical Composition in the 1930s. This series, which was created under the inspiration of contemporary Japanese and European music, is worthy of note as exceptional abstract work in the first half of 1930s, a period that is called "the blank era of abstract paintings. " In this paper, I examine why Onchi made these abstract prints on musical compositions in such an era. It is clear that this series was created through his friendship with Japanese musicians, such as Moroi Saburo, Yamada Kosaku and Ishikawa Giichi, and that his abstract expression was under the influence of new artistic trends in Europe, such as Kandinsky's abstract paintings and Musicalists movement in France that were introduced into Japan in those days. But what is especially important is that Onchi had specific aims for executing this series. One was to expand the boundaries of art by synthesizing art and music, and another aim was to break through the dominance of realistic art in Japan by highlighting the significance of abstract art itself. In the first half of 1930s, there were few Japanese artists like Onchi who created abstract art and declared its importance. In this respect, he must be quite remarkable in the history of prewar abstract art in Japan.