Sep. 17, 1996 (b)

Nov. 12, 1996 (b)

Column Index - Nov. 12, 1996

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<<The Three Masters>> Location: Yamatane Art Museum Period: September 7-29, 1996 (1st part) October 1-27, 1996 (2nd part) Information: Yamatane Art Museum Tel.03-3669-7643 Yamatane Art Museum 30th anniversary Symposium "Were there Neo-classicist paintings in Japan?" held at October 5, 1996

<<The Three Masters>> Exhibition Noi SAWARAGI Neo-classicism in the paintings in Japan A symposium titled "Were there Neo-classicist paintings in Japan?" was held in Yamatane Art Museum to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The event, affiliated to the museum's current exhibition, "The Three Masters - Gyoshu, Kokei, Togyu", was held in order to discuss the following issues. The series of Japanese paintings (artists of the Japan Academy of Art, such as Kokei KOBAYASHI, Yukihiko YASUDA, Gyoshu HAYAMI, and Seison MAEDA, and the new Yamatoe [traditional Japanese water color painting] painters such as Eikyu MATSUOKA) strongly conscious of the classical art of Japan and China, produced at the end of the Taisho era to the early Showa era, are currently often called "neo-classicist". Can we evaluate and stipulate them equally with the neo-classicist paintings of the West which appeared in the 18th and 19th centuries? Based on this theme, in the symposium, Natsuko KUSANAGI, Tokiko SUZUKI, Toshiko TAMAMUSHI, Toshiyuki OKUMA and Isao HAYASHI presented each of their views from their special fields, which was followed by a panel discussion. The panel discussion concluded that the works by Japanese "neo-classicist" painters were an imitation of their Western counterparts and that they should be considered as "pseudo-classicism". There was also a strong opinion that we cannot find in the Japanese version, an equivalent "return to classicism" such as to those of ancient Greece and Rome which defined the Western neo-classicism, and there were also opinions that the achievements seen in the Western art history cannot necessarily be found in the Japanese paintings. "Classics" in Japan and in the West The overall arguments in the symposium had been reasonable, and I do not have a particular opposing opinion about them. However, I would like to add just one comment. When the "classics" is particularly emphasized, there is always a political or social motivation behind it, and Western neo-classicism was no exception. As it was presented in the discussion, the history of the emerging social class seeking justification in the distant Greek and Roman culture in order to deny the recent past of aristocracism, is a very important viewpoint. Moreover, it cannot be forgotten that the proliferation of media, such as the development of transportation and the invention of photography, contributed to the discovery of the "ancient". In other words, there is a strong possibility that the Greek and Roman culture were held onto as the "classics" to which the West could always return, amidst their changing environment. In the first place, whether the citizens themselves sought for the ancient, and called for the classics seems to be questionable. Considering the "classics" from that standpoint of suspicion, we may gain a new perspective towards the neo-classicism of Japan too. When considering the "classics" in Japan, we cannot forget Norinaga MOTOORI. Because of him, the "classics" in Japan was found as a philosophy, and not as mere literature. This establishment of philosophy led to the demise of Confucianism, which had been catering to the bureaucracy, and at the same time, this was connected to the restoration movement of imperial rule. Although we cannot simply compare the Meiji Restoration in Japan to the revolutions by the bourgeoisie in the West, if there was a revival movement of the "classics" in Japan having this "questionable" philosophy, we may be able to find a similarity between the West and Japan. Actually there had been a revival movement of the Yamatoe at the end of the Edo period, preceding the emergence of the new Yamatoe. Ideally, it would have been even more satisfactory if there was a discussion of how this revival movement was related to Kogaku (the study of Japanese tradition) or Kokugaku (the study of ancient Japanese thoughts and cultures) in Japan. [Noi SAWARAGI/Art Critic]

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Sep. 17, 1996 (b)

Nov. 12, 1996 (b)