著者

高田 修

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.257, pp.1-10, 1969-03-25

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As generally admitted, the reign of the imperial Gupta dynasty was a period of cultural efflorescence in Indian history, above all in the domain of art. It gave birth to the creation of a, new, highly refined style of sculpture, and deserves to be called the Indian Classic period. The sculptural activity seems to have attained the zenith during the fifth century by enhancing the aesthetic standard, and its tradition continued for a comparatively long duration, even after the fall of the Harsa's empire in the mid-seventh century : the Pallava and the Early Chālukya Schools being offshoots of the Gupta art in the South and the West India respectively. In this connection, the present writer, as an attempt of making a general stylistic survey of the early Brahmanic or Hindu sculpture, picking up four most noticeable sculptures of Visnu in particular in the ealier periods—the Gupta and the Early Mediaeval periods, gave brief descriptions and discussed on their stylistic positions in the history of Indian art. They are as follows: 1) The Varāha-avatāra (Boar Incarnation), relief in the Cave V, Udaya-giri, Bhopal, c. 401-2 A.D. The eariest datable sculpture of Viṣṇu, characterized by still un-refined but powerful execution which shows the early stylistic phase of the Gupta imperial art. 2) Standing Viṣṇu with four arms (mutilated at each elbow), from Mathurā, now in the National Museum, New Delhi, 5th century,-lent' to Japan for the opening exhibition of the Oriental Gallery, Tokyo National Museum, in 1968. It is a masterpiece of Viṣṇu statue, revealing the highest quality of workmanship and rivaling with the Buddhas from Mathurā and Sārnāth, it marks the culmination of artistic development of the Indian Classic period. 3) Viṣṇu on the Nāga Ananta (Anantaśāyin), relief in the Mahiśa Maṇḍapa, Mahābalipuram, mid-7th century. The Pallava School of sculpture is characterized with the round, smooth, skilful bodily modelling, and the dramatic, well-composed representation, and this panel in the maṇḍapa (cave) is conspicuous among others. 4) The Nṛsimha-avatāra (Man-lion Incarnation), relief in the Cave XV, Ellora, early 8th century. The excavation activities of the Hindu caves at Ellora, of which the zenith is marked by the magnificent Kailāsa rock-cut temple, possibly started at about the beginning of the eighth century. Those Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava reliefs in the Cave XV are excellent in workmanship among the Hindu sculpture at Ellora, as retaining the tradition of the late Gupta style, and should be placed in the earliest group of the caves.

著者

中野 照男

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.376, pp.33-38, 2002-03-29

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The Kannonkyôji located in Shibayama, Sambu gun, Chiba prefecture has handed down a Chinese painting with a scene of hungry ghosts. In the center of the composition, a hungry ghost sits in full lotus position on a boulder. There is a blue glass bowl on a rock to the right of this figure, and a bluish-green willow growing from a gold-colored water bottle placed inside the glass bowl. A white flag stands behind this arrangement. There is a circle above the ghost's head, and a seated image of Avalokitesvara is depicted within the circle. There is a red bench in front of the ghost with three bowls heaped with three kinds of food. Several starving ghosts attempt to grab the food from the bowls. Priests stand in the lower left of the composition, with a table in front of them holding gold-colored vase, incense burner, candlestick, and a seated figure of a Buddha. Arranged symmetrically with the priests are judges from hell and women who resemble those often seen in Ten Kings of Hell images. There is a rising cloud-like form to the right of the ghost and there are several human-shapes ascending to the heavens. Similar works can be found in the Shui Lu paintings (paintings of Buddhist and Taoist rituals), scroll number 139 from the Ming period preserved in the Bao Ning temple in Shanxi province. The sutra source for this image is either the Kubatsu enku gaki darani kyô translated in the Tang dynasty by Amoghavajra (705-774), or a different translation of the same sutra by the Tang dynasty Siksananda (625-710). These two sutras can be used to explain a considerable amount of the imagery appearing in this painting. And yet, they do not explain all of this work. For example, the imagery in the scene of the judge from hell seems to have been borrowed from a Ten Kings image. Similarly the issue of the Avalokiteśvara in a circle cannot be explained. It is well known that such hungry ghost paintings were created as one section of Shui Lu paintings (J: Suiriku-ga). The Shui Lu ritual services (J: Suiriku-e) are Buddhist ceremonies in which the gods of Buddhism and Taoism are summoned and offerings for the salvation of various ghosts are made, calling on the power of these many deities. The paintings of various deities related to Buddhism, various deities related to Taoism, salvation scenes, and demon-like figures are hung around the offering altar. However, the hungry ghost in Suiriku-ga is shown leading attendants, parading with his hands clasped in prayer. What then was the use of this image, with its demon placed facing directly forward, in large-scale, as if the central image of worship? This painting was very likely the central image of worship for a rite known as a Yugaenku. This is a Chinese Buddhist ritual that is extremely close in nature to the Japanese Segaki-e, or rite to save ghosts. In the Yugaenku rite, the hungry ghost is set up as an avatar of Avalokitesvara and is recognized as the savior of the masses. This is why an Avalokiteśvara image has been added to this painting. In Japan, the Suiriku-e name is almost never used, and in the case of paintings like this Suiriku-ga, or Yugaenku painting brought from China, the elements of these works which relate to those rites seem to have not been properly recognized, and these paintings were not necessarily used in rites in Japan.

著者

津田 徹英

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.404, pp.82-97, 2011-08-30

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This article reviews Kojima Michihiro's recent book about rakuchů rakugai zu. Kojima's book focuses on the earliest examples of this genre, four pairs of screens that were created in the sixteenth century. The article summarizes Kojima's main points, the organization of his book, and its methodology. It concludes that while the book's central argument, namely that the earliest rakuchů rakugai screens ("Kyoto screens") could only have been created for the political elite in late medieval Japan, is sound, the book's overall methodology and argument presented in the longest chapter in particular merit thorough interrogation. This chapter, covering over half of the book's length, deals with the earliest pair of screens, which are kept in the National Museum of Japanese History. The reviewer first takes issue with Kojima's methodology, which essentially follows that of other historians who have written about Kyoto screens. According to this approach, rakuchů rakugai zu are "visual documents" that should be "read," and should thus be understood as literal, unmediated depictions of the old capital at a certain point in time. While Kyoto screens depict an actual place and reflect to a certain degree the historical conditions that contributed to their creation, Kojima's approach offers little nuance or evidence of the impact of debates that developed in regard to this methodology. Thus "reading" the screens as documentary accounts of Kyoto in the 1500s, Kojima stacks hypothesis upon hypothesis, which lead him to conclude that, for example, the earliest extant example of the genre was created in 1525 in simultaneous commemoration of both the political ascent of Hosokawa Tanekuni (who died in the same year, we subsequently learn) and theshogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu's installment at a new palace. Following the same approach for the other three sixteenthcentury Kyoto screens, Kojima presents similar, if far briefer, interpretations based on identifications of figures and places one encounters in these other works. Kojima's attempts to discover "portraits" (shôzô) of historical figures in the early rakuchú rakugai zu are not totally without foundation, and reflect shifts in the study of Kyoto screens in recent years. We would expect the occupants of a building labeled "Konoe" on the screens, for example, to be members of this noble house. The reviewer notes that it is where Kojima's approach strays from the plausible, however, that weakens his arguments, and ultimately undermines his entire project. The reviewer also critiques Kojima's visual analysis, which, through only the most impressionistic of comparisons combined with circumstantial evidence based on the author's hypotheses, proffers that Kano Motonobu painted the earliest extant screens. Decades of formal analysis by art historians, including the reviewer, have arrived at different conclusions, none of which are seriously considered in Kojima's study. The review concludes that while Egakareta sengoku no Kyoto presents an uneven and often problematic analysis of Kyoto screens, it is welcomed as a study that focuses on the earliest examples of the genre, and that conveys to readers a wealth of information about historical developments and the material culture of the late medieval capital.Bibliography: Kojima Michihiro, Egakareta Sengoku no Kyoto, Tokyo:Yoshikawa Kôbunkan, 2009.

著者

佐藤 道信

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.340, pp.1-27, 1987-11-30

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Kangakai was an artists' club which aimed at the renovation of painting in traditional Japanese medium, founded at the initiative of Ernest F. FENOLLOSA in 1884. The activity of the club has been traced by art historians based on literary documents and its ideals have been studied on the ground of the analysis of the works by Hōgai KANŌ and other members. However, there was a limit in the past investigation since many of the works exhibited in their shows seem to have been sent out to the United States. The author, who recently had an opportunity to examine the relevant works in American museums such as Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Freer Gallery of Art and Philadelphia Museum of Art, found there some pieces which might have been contributed to their exhibitions. In the present paper, the author lists up the works of artists related to the Kangakai and reconstructs the personal histories of the members including those who have been almost forgotten. His study of the characteristics of their activity revealed some interesting facts, namely, that Japanese art in the Meiji Era was linked with the Japonisme in the contemporary West and that Ernest FENOLLOSA and the Kangakai, as well, could not be out of the current.

著者

秋山 光和

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.227, pp.1-18, 1964-03-09

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Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji) written by a court lady, Murasaki Shikibu, at the beginning of the eleventh century has been a source of imagination for literature, theatrical art and fine art through the ages. Especially in the field of painting, pictures which illustrated interesting scenes of the tale were called "genji-e" and have been a popular subject until this modern age. Among existing examples, the beautifully coloured picture scroll made in the early twelfth century (owned by the Reimeikai Foundation and Gotō Museum) is the oldest, and the next is the Hakubyō-e-iri Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji with Black and White Illustrations) introduced in this volume. For this medieval manuscript, we have at present the large part of the text of 'Ukifune', the 51 st of the 54 chapters (with 6 illustrations, 5 scenes) and a few detached pieces of the text of 'Kagerō', the next chapter, both being important chapters of the final portions of the story. 60 pages of the latter half of Ukifune retains its original bound book from and this is preserved in the Museum Yamato Bunka-kan. In this binding sheets of paper were pasted together for text and illustration pages. The reverse side of every painted page is blank. The size of the book measured to the purple cover is 23.7 by 18.9 cm. But because of the use of thread for rebinding in a later period, the text and illustration pages are now 18.6 cm. in width. On the other hand the copy preserved by the Reimeikai Foundation (Tokugawa Museum) were broken up and the separate pieces of paper were split into two sheets, that is to say, into a front and a back by a special technique applicable to Chinese and Japanese paper, and were laid out decoratively on a pair of gold-ground screens. It consists of 23 pieces of text of the first half on the chapter of Ukifune (of which three intervening parts are missing), 4 illustrations (3 scenes) from the same chapter and 7 text fragments from the chapter of Kagerō. The illustrations of 5 scenes we have in both the Reimeikai Foundation Text and Yamato Bunka-kan Text are given bellow. The maintheme of this portion of the story deals with the love struggle to win the hand of beautiful Ukifune after the death of Hikaru Genji, between the two court nobles, that is Genji's son, Kaoru, and his grandson, Niō-no-miya. (1) Niō-no-miya, who had anticipated that Kaoru had hidden Ukifune in a mansion along the side of the Uji River in the outskirt of Kyoto, calls on Ukifune guided by his subject, Tokikata, under the shield of night. The illustration depicts Tokikata and the horse, both waiting for their master who had sneaked into Ukifune's house. The stylized expression on the face of Tokikata and the accentuated strokes seen in the vivid rendering of the horse and groom make an interesting contrast, providing an important characteristic of the picture. (2) Illustration B and C, which are now separately pasted on the right and left screens, are thought to have formed originally one composition covering two pages. Inside the house of Ukifune on this wintry night, ladies-in-waiting are occupied in chit-chat as they sew, and the hostess reclines on her bed. The one who peeps in on this scene from the veranda in the lower right of the illustration is Niō-no-miya, who later crawls in by taking advantage of the pitch darkness and thereby reaches the bed by imitating the voice of Kaoru. In this illustration the traditional method of oblique bird's-eye view is adopted and the figures are proportionally large. It is a compositionally well constructed scene. (3) The whimsical Niō-no-miya on his return to his residence in Kyoto, tries to allay the dissutisfaction of Naka-no-kimi, his wife, by embracing her in the bedchamber. Though this illustration has been hardly damaged and the ink tones are now faint, by means of infra-red photography we are able to make the pattern clearer. (4) This is the scene of the day following Niō-no-miya's later visit to Uji, when he forced Ukifune to board a boat and took her to the house of his acquaintance on the other side of the river where they stayed overnight. Looking at the snow-covered mountains in the distance,SCIO. the deep hue beautiful in the evening glow, the two, each in his or her own heart, contemplate the composing of poems. The landscape viewed from the villa garden across the Uji River creates a perfect harmony with the silouhette of the spell-bound lovers near the veranda. The text explanation for this scene, which is the first part of the Yamato Bunka-kan Text, is inscribed in an decorative oblique arrangement of letters. (Pl. VIII-a) (5) Lovely Ukifune who has received a letter from Kaoru suspecting her change of heart, is bewildered by the attentions of the two suitors, and has difficulty in replying. This piece is done in clear-cut lines and the composition is hard and stiff. It is supposed that originally several other illustrations now missing were inserted in this Ukifune chapter. In reference to Genji Monogatari Ekotoba, a directory of the sixteenth century which contains suggestions for visualization of the scenes customarily selected from each chapter of the Genji Monogatari, one can reconstruct roughly the lost pictures. From the viewpoint of the history of painting, this black and white illustration is of the most excellent artististic quality. Some classi· cistic features seen is its methods of composition may have been taken from older works. However, the brush lines have a delicate accent at their starting point, and this creates a pleasing rhythm together with the movement of the lacquer-black hair of the ladies. Being different from the richness and elegance of the twelfth century Painting Scroll of the Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari Emaki), it has an intellectual and a more or less detached feeling which is often seen in court art of the end of the thirteenth century. The calligraphic styles of the text are characteristic of this period in which the tradition of the Heian Culture tended to become degenerate as time passed. The calligraphic styles of Ukifune and Kagerō, while being very much alike do show a difference, the latter being the work of another hand which is believed to copy the style of the former.

著者

坂本 満

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.262, pp.1-16, 1969-12-25

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In a Buddhist temple called Ryūkōin in Sano City, Tochigi, there is a woodden figure traditionally known as Kateki. It was recovered in the 1920's and was found to be a figure of Desiderius Erasmus Rotterdamus by the studies of Izuru Shimmura and Naojirō Murakami. The Ryūkōin had been the family temple of the Makino Clan, the lineage of the feudal lord of the area. And, in the voluminous book of pedigrees of various families Kansei Chōshū Shokafu, completed in 1812, it is written that Narisato Makino (died 1614), a feudal lord of the clan, brought back a figure of Kateki after joining the Bunroku War in Korea. This must correspond to the figure in the Ryūkōin. This is because no other image of Kateki is known, and also, it was not unusual for Western goods to be called Korean importations in Japan during the period in which Christianity was prohibited. On the other hand, the study of Murakami has clarified the fact that the statue was a figure of Erasmus of Rotterdam which had been originally placed at the stern of the Dutch ship De Liefde which drifted ashore on the east coast of Kyūshū on April 29, 1600. Shimmura further assumes that Narisato obtained it in his late years when he was one of the three heads of the infantry of the Shogunate stationed at Edo Castle. Kateki (Ch. Huo-ti) is a legendary innovator of ship building in China along with Kyōko (Ch. Huo-hu) and these two names are almost always referred to inseparably in Chinese dictionaries. But in Japan Kateki alone is mentioned: in several texts for nō dramas, as Shimmura has pointed out, only his name is seen, and under the influence of nō texts his name was cited in an Edo Period chantey for special occasions. Therefore, it is not strange that this figure of Erasmus, originally placed at the stern of a ship, was given the name of Kateki. De Liefde, which had formerly been called Erasmus, left Rotterdam for the Far East together with four other ships in 1598. Twenty-two months later only De Liefde reached its destination and thereby opened the commercial relationship between Holland and Japan which lasted a longtime. But only twenty-four of the crew were alive when it arrived in Japan and three of the survivors died the next day. The ship reached Japan after numerous hardships. During such difficult sailing, the crew members must have recalled the patron saint of sailors, Saint Erasmus, the same name as the figure at the stern. This saint was believed in by Italian, Spanish and Portugese sailors. The worship of the saint by sailors is not mentioned in the writings of the humanist of Rotterdam. But there is a fairly good possiblity that the habits of south European sailors had been introduced to northern countries, since Spain and Portugal monopolized long-distance navigation in the sixteenth century and it is known that in some cases south European sailors joined the crews of English or French ships. It is also said that a chapel of Saint Erasmus in Westminster Abbey was a religiously important shrine for sailors. Legenda Aurea, which contains the story of the life of Saint Erasmus in its supplement, had been severely criticised by Catholics and Protestants since the middle of the sixteenth century for its absurdity. The English navigator of De Liefde, Willian Adams (Japanese name: Anjin Miura), was a rationalist who did not believe in superstitions and miracles and in this respect he was just like Erasmus of Rotterdam and Ieyasu Tokugawa. But, generally speaking, sailors are not rationalists. The writer, in Part I of the present paper, proposes the possibility that the sailors who survived the difficult voyage with De Liefde attributed their good fortune to Saint Erasmus and so gave special meaning to the figure of Erasmus of Rottersdam at the stern. This interpretation by the sailors may have given further meaning as patron saint of sailors to the name of Kateki, in addition to his original significance as an innovator of ship building. In Part II of the paper, which will be published in No. 263 of this journal, the writer furher discusses the nature of the figure itself. After introducing portrait works of Erasmus of Rotterdam in Europe by quoting the studies by G. Marlier, E. Treu and J. Huiginga, the writer criticises the theory of E. Major and E. Treu that the figure in question was originally a statue made for welcoming the visit of Felipe II to Rotterdam and the theory of F. Kossman that the figure is its copy. E. Treu claims that the now damaged left hand of the figure of the Ryūkōin had held a quill pen, but traces in the carving show that it apparently held a thick book, a form ordinarily given to the portraits of Erasmus. From the right hand of the figure hangs a scroll but it seems to be too small to hold the written name of the ship as Treu says. Since it is strange to carry such similar things in both hands and this is not seen in painted portraits of Erasmus, the present writer presumes that the characteristics of the figure resulted from it being a direct orindirect imitation of the wooden statue that had been erected in Rotterdam in 1549 or the stone statue that had been rebuilt in 1557. The writer, at the end of the paper, introduces a rather free copy of the Ryūkōin figure of Erasmus made by a carpenter who lived near the temple, in October of 1905 and given to the temple by a believer. The figure was not then recognized as Erasmus. This copy has crystal eyes and holds a Buddhist sacred ball in its left hand. Its physical features, which include its proportions, are completely Japanese. This naive folk-art type of work has not attracted people's attention, but this is, so to speak, the only real Kateki figure now known and the figure of Erasmus who was "naturalized" in Japan.

著者

高田 修

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.219, pp.1-16, 1962-08-30

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Studies on Indian art history entail all kinds of difficulties owing to the obscurity of historical facts; lack of chronological evidences renders those art objects undatable and leads to diver gence of theories and opinions among scholars. This is true in the case of early Indian sculpture too. There are a number of male and femal statues that are generally attributed Mauryan. In fact, they present an appearance of archaic or ancient stylistic features, but a careful scrutiny makes such an attribution questionable, and the present writer has come to a conclusion that some of them should not be dated as early as the Maurya Period. This article is the first part of stylistic researches on the early ancient Indian statuary represented by Yakṣa-Yakṣi images, of which he had an opportunity to survey and take picture the large number of important works in 1958–59. After noting the general feature of YakṣaYakṣi image worship in ancient India, the author proceeds to examine in detail (1) the female deity excavated at Didarganj (Pl. I), (2) the standing Yakṣa from Parkham (Pl. II) together with the bust from Baroda, (3) the two standing Yakṣas unearthed at Patna. All these statues have been ascribed to the Maurya Period by most Indian art historians. It is generally admitted that the female deity, so-called chauri-bearer, from Didarganj, is comparable in style and technique to the art of Asoka pillars. The author, too, is of the same view, permitting a little difference ; and he questions the validity of B. Rowland's recent attempt to bring it closer in style and in time to the Yakṣīs of Sānchi toraṇas. It is true that the influences from ancient Iran and the West are undeniable in the official art of the Aśoka's reign, but we cannot fail to notice the process of Indianization of foreign elements already well advanced even in the Sārnāth capital, the masterpiece of the time. Compared with the latter, the female deity in question, of which plastic feeling and expression are Indian, reveals a more Indianized phase of the Mauryan official art. And it will be almost safe to look upon its style as the late Maurya. By the way, thisdeity or chauri-bearer is no other than a Yakṣī, demi-goddess in the indigenous worship, and on it we can see an idealized female figure modelled from a Mauryan court lady. As to the colossal Yakṣa from Parkham, which shows the archaic style and immature technique, the present writer is in agreement with others who appropriately attributed it to an earlier period, explaining as a product of the indigenous Indian art of the time, that had birth without any foreign influence. The archaism of the statue, however, should not lead us to too old a period, because it has an inscription of so-called Mauryan scripts, which tells us it was intended a Yakṣa Maṇibhadra. The early years of the second century B. C., either the late Maurya or the early Śunga, seems a reasonable date for this work. It is to be noted that the statue constitutes the sculptural source, from which we can trace the stylistic development of the Śunga art from Bhārhut, Sānchi II to Budhagayā, etc. The same is the case of Yakṣa from Baroda, which, though mutilated and much obliterated, has the identical characteristics in style and technique. Lastly, the two Yakṣa statues from Patna, which must have been chiseled in the same workshop, have been positively thought to date from the Maurya, and L. Bachhofer has gone so far as to regard it older than these examples just mentioned. But the particular oblique folds of the dhoti (loin cloth) and the advanced expression in the details of the body are different from the Didarganj Yakṣī in its fundamental plastic feeling, which was as noted above, a product of the amalgamation of the evolved official art and the primitive native one in the Maurya Period. Their volume, stiffness and other plastic features will rather bring them close to the Buddhas at Mathurā in early Kushān, which are exemplified by the standing Buddha from Sārnāth, dated 3 rd year of Kaniṣka's reign (mid-2 nd century). This observation seems useful in proving the abrupt appearance of the massive Indian type of early Baddha images, and the two Yakṣas will be given a due stylistic position as the forerunner of the Buddhist statuary at Mathurā. The inscription on the scarf of one of the Yaksa which cannot be older than the first century A. D. from the palaeographical ground, may be taken as a clue to the date of the statue. Contrary to these scholars who want to see on these two Yakṣas a Mauryan style and accordingly suppose the inscription to be a later addition, the present author underlines that it must have been incised simultaneously with the statue.

著者

富澤ケイ 愛理子

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.419, pp.27-72, 2016-06-01

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This article focuses on an album of Meiji-era Nihonga held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Although now separated into individual painting leaves, the album originally consisted of 96 Nihonga by seven known and little-known artists. This unique album assemblage was one of the thousands of Japanese artworks purchased by the American industrialist Charles Stewart Smith (1832-1909) from the Irish journalist and collector Francis Brinkley (1841-1912) when Smith was in Japan from 1892-1893. The album contained thirty-seven leaves by Kawanabe Kyôsai (1831-1889), twenty-one by Watanabe Seitei (1851- 1918), twelve by Kawabata Gyokushô (1842-1913), six by Hashimoto Gahô (1835-1908), sixteen by Seki Shûkô (1858-1915), three by Okada Baison (1864 -1913), and one by Ôide Tôkô (1841-1905). In terms of the production date of each image, inscriptions on the works indicate that the earliest was painted in 1887, and the latest work in 1892. Among the eighteen works by Kawanabe Kyôsai, there are images that have the same compositions as those found in the Preparatory Drawings of the album for the Englishmen (ca. 1887, Kawanabe Kyôsai Memorial Museum, Tokyo). From the notation “hyakumai gachô no uchi” on those preparatory drawings (found in the 100-leaf picture album), the array of production dates and the fact that the number of works by Kyôsai exceeds those of others in the album – occupying more than a third of the whole album – we can conclude that Brinkley had divided responsibility for the album leaf production among artists other than Kyôsai, and had prepared and sold this album to the Smiths prior to their return to America. Of the artists, today’s high regard for Hashimoto Gahô within the history of Japanese modern art, which began during his lifetime, remains intact, while Watanabe Seitei is relatively unknown by the general public. Today, there is an ongoing re-evaluation of Kawabata Gyokushô’s activities at the time and his works. In general, the three remaining artists, Seki Shûkô, Okada Baison, and Ôide Tôkô, are also little known today. But, at the time, these three artists had received honors at the various exhibitions that marked a painter’s official debut in the art circles of their day, while also displaying works at various world fairs, and participating in exhibitions and mutual critiquing sessions organized by Okakura Tenshin. Thus each artists was recognized, to some degree, at the time. Their lack of further achievements meant that they were gradually forgotten during the intervening decades. In terms of the background that led to the production of this album, we can consider the intermingling of the art exhibitions of the day, art education systems, the export of fine and decorative arts from Japan, such as ceramics, the art market in North America and its reception of Nihonga, and the presence of the painters, dealers and educators who were responsible for these various elements. Through the confirmation of the production process of this album and the related works and artistic activities by the involved modern Nihonga painters, and a reevaluation of all of these factors, we can shed light on these painters who have slipped between the cracks in the formation of the history of modern Japanese art, and reveal one aspect of how modern Japanese art collections were formed and received in North America at the time.

著者

久野 健

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.281, pp.1-15, 1972-10-01

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Among the sculptures of the Nara Period. inscribed examples are rare. The group of images of the Twelve Divine Generals (Twelve Escorts of Bhaisajyaguru) of the Shin-yakushiji includes one of these rare examples. The pedestal of one of the images, that of Aṇḍira, has a noteworthy inscription which suggests that the group of statues was made by a private workshop. The inscription on the pedestal states that it was made for the donor's parents and ancestors. The author considers this group of image to be unique and valuable material, as most of the Nara Period statues are productions of public workshops. Granted that this presumption that the group is by a private workshop is right, the skill of the artists in the private workshops is certainly not inferior to that of the artists in the public workshops engaged in production for government temples. The author points out that the structure of these clay figures is quite different from that of the Nara Period clay figures, which are supposed to have been made by public workshops, such as the Four Lokapālas of the Kaidan-in in the Tōdaiji and the Vajrapāni of the Sangatsudō in the Tōdaiji. Such works have a void space inside their torsos to reduce the weight of the upper half of the figures, and the vegetable coils used as an aid for applying clay to the details of the arms are much more intricate in these examples than in the Divine Generals. On the other hand, the torsos of the Divine Generals are not hollow and they have only nominal use of underclay vegetable coils for their arms. The author discusses in the present paper the supposed process of production of the Twelve Divine Generals of the Shin-yakushiji, based on the X-ray photographs of one of the figures, Catura. The production of this figure was perhaps started with the central wooden post which forms the main core of the head and the body. Then other wooden sticks which compose the core of the legs are attached to it. Two horizontal and two vertical wooden members are further added to the body part. Additionally, two more horizontal members are used to support the shoulders. A wooden core for the left arm is attached to this framework and another short wooden core for the left hand is jointed to it with clamps and nails. Further, the wooden cores for the fingers have short metal wires, perhaps copper wire, stuck into their tips. The flaring sleeve end along the upper arm is provided with metal wires and metal plates stuck into the wooden core. The wooden core of the forearm has vegetable coils roughly wound around the core. They are all aids for applying clay. The upper part of the right arm has a wooden core also attached to the above mentioned framework and the forearm has a separate wooden core. The structure of the right hand is the same as the left one. The flaring sleeve end of the right arm is provided with metal plates as subsidiary cores. The forearm has vegetable coils wound around the core in the same way as the left forearm. The rough shape of the statue was formed by applying clay mixed with temper to this skeleton. Then the details were formed by coating layers of clay over it and the final finish was done with finer clay, according to the author's analysis. In order to avoid monotony, the artist or the artists of this group of statues paid attention to changes of movement in each figure and in the form and treatment of details such as their hair and countenence. And their intention is well achieved. Generally speaking, their condition of preservation is good. Though the surface colours are very much flaked off, even many of the fragile fingers keep their original form. Some of the figures have later repairs at some places where the original clay has been lost. But the figures of Kumbhīra, Śaṇḍira and Mihira, for instance, even retain their original coloured patterns. An old document concerning the history of the temple states that these figures of Twelve Divine Generals were not originally statues belonging to this temple, but were moved from the Iwabuchidera. There is not much likelihood that the Shin-yakushiji which was an eighth century official temple, dedicated by Empress Kōmyō in the nineteenth year of Tempyō Era (747), had such privately dedicated statues from the beginning. Therefore, these statues were probably brought from the Iwabuchidera to this temple some time later, as the document states. The present paper is accompanied by a short report by ISHIKAWA, Rikuo, "X-ray Investigation of Catura Image of the Shin-yakushiji."

著者

関口 正之

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.321, pp.15-24, 1982-09-30

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Part I and Part II of this paper appear in Nos. 317 and 319 of the Bijutsu Kenkyu. In the present part the subjects of Scrolls 6, 7 and 8 are described. Scroll 6 is the scene of Suppression of Demons. At the center of the picture is the troop of the Demon King attacking Śākyamuni. The heads of the arrows shot toward Śākyamuni are trasformed into lotus flowers. The three daughters of the Demon King are depicted at the lower left of the picture ; the daughters transformed into old women by Śākyamuni are at the middle of the bottom; and Pṛthivi who has appeared to prove the righteousness of Śākyamuni is at the lower right. The depiction of Pșthivī whose upper half of the body is emerging from the earth like this is rare. Furthermore, the figure of Śākyamuni meditating for seven days after the demon-suppression is added at the right hand side of the picture in a small size. Scroll 7 is the scene of King Bimbisāra's Conversion to Śākyamuni's Teaching after hearing his sermon. In the upper part of the picture is depicted the audience in front of Śākyamuni, including the king and his ministers, and elephant carriages and attendants waiting the return of the king are in the lower half. Behind Śākyamuni is Gṛdhrakūta Mountain with its eagle-headed peak, suggesting that Śākyamuni is preaching. Also, the wheels of law painted between Śākyamuni and the kings symbolize his preaching. Scroll 8 is a visualization of three stories concerning the Nirvāṇa. The entire left half of the picture plane is devoted to a minute depiction of the Nirvāṇa scene which embodies details like Mahāmāyā with her attendants and the old women near Sākyamuni's feet. The lower right of the picture plane is the cremation of Śākyamuni. Here, as MahāKāśyapa, who could not come to see Śākyamuni upon his deathbed, worships the coffin placed on firewood, feet of Śākyamuni appear from the coffin. The upper right is the scene of distribution of Śākyamuni's relics in which a brāhmaṇa Droṇa divides the relics.

著者

白畑 よし

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.193, pp.35-51, 1957-11-07

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The decoration of the Sanjūrokunin Kashū in the Honganji Collectioh has been widely known as one of the most ornate of the kind, executed with the utmost employment of all varieties of materials and techniques available at the time of its making (about 1110-1118). This fact has heretofore been simply explained as illustrative of the aesthetic taste in the Heian Period, but according to the present author's opinion they are designed in conformity with the classifications of subject matters of the poems in the Kokin Waka Rokujō (Kokin Anthology in Six Volumes). The Kokin Waka Rokujō was compiled at the time when the Kokin Waka-shū was edited; it classifies the poems therein, after the model of the Chinese Hakushi Rokujō (in Chinese; Pai Shih Liu T'ieh, poems by Pai Lo-t'ien in six volumes), into five hundred odd groups by their subject matters. The major subject groups in the Kokin Waka Rokujō are the four seasons, which constitute the most conspicuous aspects of nature, and love, which is the most vehement of human sensations. The five sections richest in descriptive elements among the decorative patterns in the San jūrokunin Kashū, Honganji version, can be interpreted to represent these five major subjects: the cherry-blossoms (spring) for the Yoshinobu-shū (collected poems by Yoshinobu), the boat and reeds (summer) for the Shigeyuki-shū, the reeds and waves (autumn) for the Nobuaki-shū, the sparrows and bamboos (winter) for the Motozane-shū, and the child embracing a cat (love) for the Yoshinobu-shū. The scenes of the four seasons are drawn under poems and prose writings which refer in some way or other to the objects or sights involved; the pictures themselves also convey the atmospheres of respective seasons. The picture of a child with a cat can be reasonably associated with Kashiwagi, the hero of one of the love romances told in the famous Tales of Genji. Drawings connected with poetry in the Heian Period, termed uta-e ("poem-pictures") or ashide-e ("reed-manner pictures", drawings with characters or letters from the text of poems concealed scattered among them), mostly contain some literary puzzles to be solved on the part of the observer. The underdrawings in the San jūrokunin Kashū under discussion are examples of the sort. It is to be noted that they comprise two different kinds: one reflecting the manner of the Chinese Sung painting, and the other in the pure Japanese style which has something in common with the paintings illustrating the Tales of Genji traditionally attributed to FUJIWARA Takayoshi. Many of the decorations in the subject work, either drawn with the brush or presented by scattered sand- or thread -like strips of gold and silver leaf, represent realistically or symbolically the sub-divisions of the seasonal subject matters in the Kokin Waka Rokujō, such as rain, wind, snow, haze, and storm, as well as such sights of nature as the river, sea, water-stream, mountain, rice-field, grassy plain, flowers, butterflies, insects, etc. These seasonal aspects of nature are beautifully conventionalized to create a rhythmical variety, and the texts of the poems in kana are inscribed over them in flowing cursive script to match the rhythms of the decoration. The feelings of the four seasons here appear to convey the atmosphere of the old capital Kyoto, where they are enhanced by its beautiful sceneries.

著者

辻 惟雄

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.225, pp.31-39, 1963-10-30

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Much is left unknown about the life and career of IWASA Matabei (1578—1650), the artist famous for the popular belief that he was the originator of Ukiyo-e. Information about his life at Fukui, more especially, where he spent more than twenty years, is almost entirely absent. In this respect the document discussed here, preserved at the Hōunji in Fukui Prefecture, is very inspiring. This manuscript is a duplicate of a written statement presented in 1633 from the Hōun-ji to MATSUDAIRA Tadamasa, ruler of the Fukui Fief, describing a dispute between the Hōun-ji and the Senshū-ji, a temple at Ishinden in Mie Prefecture with which it competed for position as the head temple of the Takata School of Shingon Buddhism. The sentence at the end proves that this statement was hand-written by Matabei on behalf of the temple authorities. Comparison of the calligraphic style of this manuscript with that of other existing examples of Matabei's calligraphy ―― the inscriptions on his portraits of Hitomaro and Tsurayuki, and a letter written by him in his late years, both being in the collection of the Atami Art Museum ―― reveals many distinctive characteristics in common between them. Another evidence of his calligraphic style is the Kaikoku Michi no Ki, an itinerary in Matabei's own handwriting describing his travel in 1639 from Fukui to Edo (Tokyo). Unfortunately this itinerary is now somewhere in America and its present location is unknown (according to one theory, it was formerly in the collection of Mr. Charles J. Morse), but comparison between a small photogravure reproduction of a part of it and the manuscript under discussion shows obvious identity of calligraphic style. These materials establish with fair accuracy that the newly discovered manuscript is by Matabei's hand. Though its contents do not have direct connection with Matabei's biography, this manuscript is a material evidence proving that he was staying at Fukui in about 1633 and that he had certain relation with the Fukui Fief. It is valuable as one of the few authentic specimens of his calligraphy, and is an interesting source of information proving that he was esteemed by local people not only as a mere artist but as an intelligent man from the metropolis, Kyoto.

著者

秋山 光和

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.335, pp.1-14, 1986-03-31

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This painting on silk (plates I~V) is presently mounted as a kakemono measuring 81.9cm inheight and 40.0cm in width. The scene uses a bird's eye view and oblique composition to depict a country mountain retreat in the snow. Despite the simplicity of the buildings and the mountainous area which is shown outside the wall to lower right, this painting had been mistakenly attributed since the 19th century to be a scene in the Kyoto Imperial Palace. It is probably for the above reasons that it was considered more appropriate to give this painting the general title of Nobleman's Mansion when it became classified as an Important Cultural Property in 1959. When last fall I was given the opportunity to more carefully examine this work rarely shown to the public, I noticed several points which immediately connected its subject matter to the famous 83rd chapter of the "Tales of Ise". The "Tales of Ise", a collection of brief lyrical episodes built around one or more poems, was compiled over the 10th century and has since held high acclaim throughout Japanese cultural history as one of the country's most important pieces of classical literature. Its various famous scenes have been illustrated in painting since the Heian period. The 83rd chapter describes the following story: the great poet and hero of the "Tales of Ise", Ariwara-noNarihira and Prince Koretaka of the imperial line shared a close bond of friendship thanks to their common love of poetry. Yet, this prince, extremely disappointed at having lost the chance to acceed to the throne, suddenly took the tonsure and cloistered himself in an isolated mountain retreat at the foot of Mt. Hiei in the northern part of Kyoto at Ono. The following New Year, Narihira travelled across mountain paths in snow to pay a sad visit to this solitary Prince. The poem which Narihira composed after returning from his visit was so touching that it became one of the most loved of all in this literary work.* If one looks carefully at the details of this painting, one can easily identify the three figures who have just passed through the gate in the upper left-hand corner. From their dress and posture one can see that they are Narihira and his two attendant companions. The principal building inside the inner wall is done in shinden style and is apparently that of the hermitage of Prince Koretaka from its modest but refined construction and the fragile fence (tatejitomi) enclosing it from the outside world. The delicate expression produced by very fine lines and the harmonious colors accentuated by touches of white snow impart a sense of poetic melancholy to the entire scene. Based on style and technique, this refined painting must have been produced, in my opinion, by a high-ranking court painter in the second-half of the 13th century. Furthermore, I feel that this oblong composition probably originally was one panel of a silk screen which would have been three shaku high sanjaku byōbu). It is possible that this screen was made up of six panels, each representing one of six well-known chapters from the "Tales of Ise". These six scenes would have been laid out according to the four seasons, beginning with a spring scene on the right and ending with this winter scene, the only one surviving today, which would have been on the far left. Thus, this work which has received very little attention until today may nevertheless have a very important and unique position in Japanese art history of the Kamakura period as one of the earliest illustrations on silk from the "Tales of Ise". * Narihira's poem is translated as follows by Helen Craig McCullough: When for an instant I forget, / How like a dream it seems....../ Never could I have imagined / That I would plod through snowdrifts / To see my Lord.

著者

久野 健

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.304, pp.29-30, 1977-03-31

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The image of Buddha-at-Birth, introduced here, was excavated at the Kuze Temple Site at Kuze, Jōyō City, near Kyoto. Jōyō City, abundant in ancient temple and in dwelling sites. is now under development as a satellite town of Kyoto and Osaka. Since February 1975, the Board of Education has excavated many of these archaeological sites, among which was the Kuze Temple Site which contained earth podiums of the Golden Hall and the Pagoda. This temple seems to have had a Hokkeji type layout of buildings. On the north side of the South Great Gate site of the temple, this image was unearthed on March 31, 1975. It is almost perfect except that its right arm which points to heaven is about to break near the elbow. A long tenon behind the head suggests that it originally had a halo, though it is now missing. Most of the images of Buddha-at-Birth from the seventh and eighth centuries are in bad condition having suffered from fire. This one, however, has no trace of having been burned and has the bright colour of gilding. This image measures 11.5 cm from the tip of the right hand pointing to heaven to the bottom of the stem of the lotus pedestal, and 7 cm from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet. As is usual with such small images, the entire image is cast in one mould, perhaps in the lost-wax technique. Thick gilding is done not only over the Buddha himself, but also over the lotus pedestal and its stem. In this paper, the author discusses the art his torical significance of the image in relation to the other Buddha-at-Birth images from the seventh and eighth centuries. Generally speaking, those of the Asuka, Hakuhō and Nara Periods gradually changed from slender proportions to more rounded proportions. The skirts of earlier ones are generally short and expose both legs; the skirts of later figures gradually became longer until they reached the ankles. At the same time, drapery-folds changed from symmetrical to more irregular and complicated forms. The image of Buddha-at-Birth excavated at the Kuze Temple Site has a comparatively long, fully modelled head with a healthy countenance and a well-built body. The skirt it wears is long and reaches the ankles. These characteristics indicate that perhaps this image is not of the Hakuhō Period but of the next Nara Period. This presumption meets with the date of the roof tiles from this temple site.

著者

田中 淳

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.393, pp.61-78, 2008-01-28

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This review considers three recent retrospective exhibitions that featured the arts of three painters whose oeuvres span the early Shốwa era from the Second Sino-Japanese War through World War II through the contemporary age.1. Kojima Zenzaburô, Tsuruoka Masao, Ai-Mitsu This section presents a review of three retrospective exhibitions and their catalogues seen by the author in June and July 2007. "Pastoral Splendor-KOJIMA Zenzaburo 1893-1962," Fuchû Art Museum, Tokyo "TSURUOKA Masao A Centenary Retrospective," Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura "AI-MITSU," National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo These exhibitions allowed visitors to consider how each of these painters experienced the war time years as a "simple soldier," particularly as seen in a work exhibited in the Tsuruoka exhibition, Turned Head (1950, bronze).2. The Novelist Hino Ashihei as the same kind of "soldier" Hino Ashihei (1907-1959) was born in 1907, the same year as Tsuruoka (1907-1979) and Ai-Mitsu (1907-1946). The three men were all drafted in the same year and the novelist Hino was sent to the Chinese continent as a "simple soldier." During his time in the military Hino was awarded the Akutagawa Prize and then transferred to the army press corps where he wrote and published his work whose title can be translated as Wheat and Soldiers. This record of his time in the military quickly became a best seller in Japan. However, the text published at the time was censored by the military and many sections were removed. After the war, the author restored it to its original form, including the final section about the execution of prisoners. Reading Hino's work provides an opportunity for consideration from a different vantage point of how an artist experienced war as a "simple soldier."3. Lost Lives, Lost Works I found out something I did not know at the Ai-Mitsu exhibition. This was the existence of a doctor named Kurokawa Setsuji who supported artists such as Ai-Mitsu in Ai-Mitsu's hometown of Hiroshima. Kurokawa ran a clinic and collected art as an art aficionado. Part of his collection was evacuated from the city just a week before the bomb was dropped and remains extant today. Kurokawa himself, and his clinic, were at ground zero in Hiroshima and Kurokawa lost his life when the bomb was dropped. On the other hand, I did know that the younger brother of Kawakami Ryôka (1887-1921) lived in Hiroshima and preserved the works created by his late brother. Just as Ryôka's works were being assembled for evacuation, they were lost to the bomb. How, indeed, should we consider these quirks of fate, both human fate and the fate of art works. This review thus includes critiques of the retrospective exhibitions of three painters, while also considering the effects of war on artists and their works.

著者

中川 千咲

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.235, pp.8-18, 1965-03-31

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Handicraft designs of the Momoyama Period are gorgeous and fresh and mark an epoch in the history of Japanese handwork. The Kōdaiji has a household shrine with makie (lacquer painted and decorated in gold) dated 1596 and furniture with makie which was used by TOYOTOMI, Hideyoshi (1536—1598, a war lord) which exemplify the handicrafts of that period. Lacquer wares of the same style and technique are, in general, called "Kōdaiji makie." In this paper the author discusses the characteristics of the design of an ink-slab box of this style in relation to the makie wares in the Kōdaiji. In the Kōdaiji, there is a letter box with the same kind of decoration as this ink-slab box. Both of them have diagonally divided picture planes; a section on the ink-slab box has a design of pine trees imitating the Kano School painting of that time, and one on the letter box has the same kind of bamboo design. Both show a traditional taste. In another section of the former, stemmed chrysanthemums and other flowers are patternistically rendered and in another section of the latter, autumn grasses are represented in a naturalistic way but with the same kind of patternistic flowers and leaves. The style and the technique of both are quite similar. And, further, the design of autumn grasses of the letter box has characteristics in common with that of the household shrine, which is stylistically close to the paintings of the Kano School of the day. These facts suggest that the design of the chrysanthemum of the ink-slab box has some relation to contemporary painting. The method of decoration using diagonal divisions is said to have been borrowed from the design pattern of costumes. But since it has earlier example in makie works of the Muromachi Period, the author considers that those now in question are a development of them. In other words, the design of this inkslab box combines two kinds of design principles. One is a pattern borrowed from the then prosperous Kano School of painting and is traditional in compositional method and technique. The other also is based on the Kano School of painting but is stylistically newer and bolder. It is said that KANO, Mitsunobu (1561—1608), a famous painter of the Kano School, may have some connection with the makie designs of the Kōdaiji. Although there may be that kind of possibility, no one has clarified it. The household shrine was made by Chōan, the seventh master of the Kōami Family (1569–1610), and others; and other pieces of furniture are also said to have been made by the same people. This inkslab box also must have the same origin. However, judging from the rigidity of the expression, it may date from a little later. The platform on which the household shrine is placed also has makie design and an inscription. The inscription suggests that it was made by a group led by a younger brother of Chōan. On the other hand a priest's chair is decorated with several patterns of different quality from the others. As Chōgen (died in 1607), a younger brother of Chōan, created a unique design, there is a probability that he had some relation to it.

著者

中川 千咲

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.235, pp.8-18, 1965-03-31

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Handicraft designs of the Momoyama Period are gorgeous and fresh and mark an epoch in the history of Japanese handwork. The Kōdaiji has a household shrine with makie (lacquer painted and decorated in gold) dated 1596 and furniture with makie which was used by TOYOTOMI, Hideyoshi (1536—1598, a war lord) which exemplify the handicrafts of that period. Lacquer wares of the same style and technique are, in general, called “Kōdaiji makie.” In this paper the author discusses the characteristics of the design of an ink-slab box of this style in relation to the makie wares in the Kōdaiji. In the Kōdaiji, there is a letter box with the same kind of decoration as this ink-slab box. Both of them have diagonally divided picture planes; a section on the ink-slab box has a design of pine trees imitating the Kano School painting of that time, and one on the letter box has the same kind of bamboo design. Both show a traditional taste. In another section of the former, stemmed chrysanthemums and other flowers are patternistically rendered and in another section of the latter, autumn grasses are represented in a naturalistic way but with the same kind of patternistic flowers and leaves. The style and the technique of both are quite similar. And, further, the design of autumn grasses of the letter box has characteristics in common with that of the household shrine, which is stylistically close to the paintings of the Kano School of the day. These facts suggest that the design of the chrysanthemum of the ink-slab box has some relation to contemporary painting. The method of decoration using diagonal divisions is said to have been borrowed from the design pattern of costumes. But since it has earlier example in makie works of the Muromachi Period, the author considers that those now in question are a development of them. In other words, the design of this inkslab box combines two kinds of design principles. One is a pattern borrowed from the then prosperous Kano School of painting and is traditional in compositional method and technique. The other also is based on the Kano School of painting but is stylistically newer and bolder. It is said that KANO, Mitsunobu (1561—1608), a famous painter of the Kano School, may have some connection with the makie designs of the Kōdaiji. Although there may be that kind of possibility, no one has clarified it. The household shrine was made by Chōan, the seventh master of the Kōami Family (1569–1610), and others; and other pieces of furniture are also said to have been made by the same people. This inkslab box also must have the same origin. However, judging from the rigidity of the expression, it may date from a little later. The platform on which the household shrine is placed also has makie design and an inscription. The inscription suggests that it was made by a group led by a younger brother of Chōan. On the other hand a priest's chair is decorated with several patterns of different quality from the others. As Chōgen (died in 1607), a younger brother of Chōan, created a unique design, there is a probability that he had some relation to it.

著者

綿田 稔

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.405, pp.25-46, 2012-01-13

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Sesshû Tâyô (1420-1502/06?) was a Zen monk who painted during the latter half of the 15th century, during Japan's Muromachi period. Labeled a painting master and a painting great in Japan today, our previous understanding of Sesshû has been little more than a tentative analysis, framed in the limited image of the modern “artist.” This is true to the extent that there are no records today that give us a definitive answer about how Sesshû or his paintings were understood by his contemporaries. In order to create a more realistic evaluation of this painter, we must first examine the known facts behind his rale. As such, in this case, all we have are Sesshû's actual remaining works. Indeed, the extant works are nothing more than a fragment of his full output. The oeuvre does not tell us about Sesshû the artist or Sesshû the man. Indeed our understanding of Sesshû himself is but a rough sketch, given that the information remaining about him is quite fragmentary. Imagining a whole from these few and disparate parts can provide some feedback on that fragmentary understanding. This then enriches the overall image, and in turn, enriches our understanding. In this process we can become aware of fragments that had not been previously acknowledged. Different viewpoints are linked at unexpected places and gradually that which is grasped of the entirety grows. In this process it is necessary to reposition, redefine individual facts, whether his paintings or even Sesshû himself. This article is such a study, and there is the impression that at last certain of the fragments are linked up. Then, advancing from the process of individual proof, I would like to advance to the stage of gathering up the fragments while considering the entire image. This article attempts to position Sesshû as one of the countless kanga-shi (Chinese-like style painters, or painters who were of military class background who painted in a Chinese-like style), who existed across the history of Japan. This process will reconsider the Handscroll of Landscape of the Four Seasons (also known simply as the Long Landscape Scroll, dated to the 12th month of 1486, Mohri Museum), from the vantage point of a kanga-shi painter. In fact, historical documents exist that suggest that around the spring of 1487 Sesshû painted landscapes in the style of Xia Gui on the shôji sliding door panels for Ôuchi Masahiro (1446–1495). This evidence of Sesshü's actual role as a kanga-shi painter can also clarify the meaning of the Long Landscape Scroll, a work painted immediately before the Ôuchi work and one consisting of landscapes in the Xia Gui style. Undoubtedly, around the time when Sesshû was painting the Long Landscape Sscroll, he would have had a variety of information regarding the paintings of the Chinese Southern Song painter Xia Gui that he would have received from the Ôuchi family that commissioned the shôji works. This would have added to the knowledge Sesshû already had of Xia Gui style, and would have lead to the creation of the Long Landscape Scroll, which acted as a gahon (pictorial model) of Xia Gui's landscape style, a tool for his painting studio. Rather than just Sesshû's own self-determination, it would be closer to the truth to say that Ôuchi Masahiro ordered Sesshû to make such gahon, expecting it would be a tool for use by the next generation. In addition to the Long Landscape Scroll, there are several other extant works that could be considered pictorial models for Sesshû. And indeed, the majority of extant Sesshû works fall into this gahon category, and Sesshû is not unique in this regard. These materials can be considered the best tool for us today to reconsider Sesshû in his true historical perspective as a kanga-shi painter, the system in which he worked and the pictures he produced within those conditions.

著者

松島 健

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.341, pp.36-43, 1988-02-29

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The pagoda of the Ishiyamadere, Shiga, is well known as a monument from the beginning of the Kamakura Period, but the Mahāvairocana statue, the main image in it, had not fully attracted the attention of scholars. By the examination of the author's team, the inscription including Kaikei's religious name "Annamidabutsu" was found inside its head and it became clear that the sculpture is a work made by Kaikei no later than the second year of Shōgen Era (1208). The inscription does not refer to the background of production, but a cited name which seems to read "Nun Kakunin" is perhaps one of the donors. It reminds one of a woman called the nun of Kamegayatsu, mentioned in Ishiyamdera Engi (Origin and Histrory of the Ishiyamadera) as a wet nurse of MINAMOTO no Yoritomo, the first shogun of Kamakura Shogunate. For, according to this literature, Chikayoshi NAKAHARA, a subject of the Shogunate, won a battle by the protection of Vaišravana of the Ishiyamadera and founded the Shōnan-in section of the temple around the Kenkyū Era (1190-1199) and furthermore he and his wife, "the nun of Kamegayatsu", constructed the pagoda, putting the hair of Yoritomo in the hollow of the Mahāvairocana, its main image. The fact that the platform in the pagoda bears a dated inscription of the fifth year of Kenkyū Era (1194) coincides with the description in Ishiyama dera Engi and the author considers that it could well be the case that Chikayoshi NAKAHARA and his wife were actually involved in the construction of the pagoda and the donation of its main image. It is likely that Chikayoshi NAKAHARA became acquainted with Priest Chōgen who reconstructed the Tōdaiji perhaps through his partial patronage of the producition of a new image of Ākāśagarbha in the Tōdaiji's Great Buddha Hall. He ascended Mt. Koya to invite Chōgen, who had receded to Mt. Kōya as a hermit, by the order of Yoritomo and succeeded in it. "Namuamidabutsu..." seen in the inscription may be a pseudonym of Priest Chōgen. The author imagines that Chōgen, asked by Chikayoshi, took charge of the ritual essential to the preparation or the dedicaiton of the image. The author also theorizes that Kaikei, the sculptor, too, might have been recommended by Chōgen. An inscription of the time of repairs probably in Keian Era (1648-1652) is inside the image and the over-lacquer gilding, the fine cut-leaf patterns and the base of the mandorla seem to be from the time of repairs.

著者

猪川 和子

雑誌

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

巻号頁・発行日

no.272, pp.1-9, 1971-03-20

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According to the Shōsōin Documents, an Avalokiteśvara supposed to be the original main image of the Ishiyamadera was a painted clay image measuring three times the human size made in the period from November of the fifth year of Tempyō-hōji Era (761) to August of the sixth year of the same era (762) in the Nara Period. The names of two sculptors who made it and a person who painted it are known. From the middle Heian Period on, many people have recorded the peoples' strong belief toward this Avalokiteśvara. The main hall of the temple was lost by fire in the second year of Jōryaku Era (1078). And, as for the image of Avalokiteśvara, Fusō-ryakki says that it was destroyed by the fire and Hyakurenshō says, "the holy face was not damaged." After the fire, the temple was reconstructed and, according to Ichidai-yōki, it was dedicated in the first year of Eichō Era (1096). But nothing is mentioned about the image in this record. The literary works concerning the history of the temple, Ishiyama Nendaiki and Ishiyama-yōki, quote some records said to be of the Kamakura Period which mention that the main image was made newly. But both of the literary works were edited by Priest Sonken of the temple in the Edo Period and they are not necessarily reliable materials. Besides, there are some copied versions of the text of the Scroll Painting of the History of the Ishiyamadera which have introductory words adde d in the Edo Period stating that the present wooden main image was made by Priest Eison of the Saidaiji in Kōan Era (1278-1288). And this, too, is by no means reliable as the text of the oldest versions of the scroll painting which are in the Ishiysmadera and Kyoto National Museum do not refer to it. When we observe the present main image itself from stylistic point of view, we find that the present multi-blocked wooden image, the Avalokiteśvala known as Cintāmaṇicakra, shows characteristics of the Late Heian Period sculpture of Jōchō style both in facial expression and the form of the body and that it could not be a style around Kōan Era (1278-1288). The author considers that the main image was newly made just after the fire. She thinks that the document concerning the annual donation of rice which suggests the deep belief of the wife of the chief advisor to the emperor, FUJIWARA no Yorimichi, (990–1072) and the record of Edo Period which tells that the present image was made around the century from 990 A.D. to 1090 A.D. could be te supports for her supposition. This Cintāmaṇicakra with only two arms and half-crossed legs retains iconographical traits already seen in the Nara Period. It is, therefore, an interesting work from iconographical viewpoint as well.