著者

関 千代

雑誌

美術研究 = The bijutsu kenkiu : the journal of art studies

巻号頁・発行日

no.195, pp.15-45, 1958-03-12

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Japanese painting has a unique field of subject matters not found in arts of other countries : bijin-ga ("beautiful-women-picture"), depiction of idealized types of feminine beauty which is not necessarily portrayal of real women. Bijin-ga in and after the "early modern" periods (mid-sixteenth to mid-ninteenth centuries) can be roughly classified into two groups; one along the line of Ukiyo-e which had developed chiefly in Edo, and the other of the Bijin-ga within the realm of traditional Japanese painting which had achieved progress through the centuries in Kyoto and its vicinity. The former, which influenced upon Impressionistic artists of the west, evolved distinctive unconventional styles. Utamaro, Harunobu and others are representative of this group. The latter, enhanced by artists of the Maruyama and Shijō Schools during the early modern periods, is characterized by noble grace derived from the elegant style of traditional art. The art of UEMURA Shōen (1875-1949) sprang out of the latter. She created her original type of bijin-ga in contemporary Japanese painting, and won high fame in the art world of the Meji (1868-1911), Taishō (1912-1925) and Shōwa (1926-) eras. Since little girlhood she liked painting. After graduating from a primary school she entered the Kyoto Prefectural School of Painting, which had only a very few girl students, but soon left it and became a pupil of SUZUKI Shōnen. Later on, she studied under KŌNO Bairei, an artist of the Maruyama-Shijo School, and subsequently after his death under TAKEUCHI Seihō, a pupil of Bairei. Her style, starting with the traditional Suzuki, Maruyama and Shijo Schools, was an accumulation of all styles of Japanese painting. Her works manifest the influence also at work of Ukiyo-e and illustrations in picture-books and story-books which were in vogue during the Edo Period. Her interest in the No play was also instrumental in establishing her distinctive art. The present writer divides the period of Shōen's activity into three epochs. The first covers from the time she entered the School of Painting to the beginning of the Governmental art exhibition known as Bun-ten (meaning Education Ministry Exhibition of Arts). This was a sort of a period of training for the artist, during which she at first worked in the rigid brushwork learned from the triditional art and later began to assimilate modern realistic representation. The second epoch, extending over the Taisho era, was the period in which her art achieved maturity in certain respects. Her paintings in this period, such as "Miyuki" and "Mai-jitaku", are notably rich in sweet delicacy. The third epoch was the period of perfection. "Sōshi-arai Komachi", "Yūgure" and other works in this period, especially those after 1935, reveal free, strong drawing and refined colouring: these characteristics as well as her symbolically simplified portrayal have succeeded in establishing a modern type of bijin-ga with an effect of nobleness and profoundness. Shōen was active throughout her life as an artist working for the Governmental exhibitions. In 1941, she was nominated a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (Teikoku Geijutsu-in); in 1944, a Court Artist; and in 1948, the year before her death, she was awarded with the Cultural Decoration, the highest of honours for Japanese artists. Two exhibitions of her paintings were held after her death, with an illustrated catalogue published each time.