Study for Talk on Ancient Romance: Composition
II, 1896
| The
idea of Talk on Ancient Romance was conceived during
a trip to Kyoto in the autumn of 1893, immediately after Kuroda's
return from France. While walking around Kiyomizu Temple, Kuroda
stopped at Seikan Temple, which was located at the foot of Emperor
Takakura's mausoleum, and listened to a monk telling a tale of tragic
love. This gave him a wondrous inspiration as if drifting away from
reality. Two years later, following the incident regarding Morning
Toilette, a painting of a nude, Kuroda acquainted the minister
of education, SAIONJI Kinmochi. Through Saionji, Kuroda received
a commission from the Sumitomo family and began working on Talk
on Ancient Romance from the following year. As the charcoal
drawings in our collection indicate, he made detailed sketches of
the body as a whole, in detail, and in the nude. He then executed
studies in oil before starting the final version. It was two years
later in 1898 that he finally completed this project. As the final
version was burnt in a fire, the only clue to the overall image
of the original painting is this Compositional Study II.
Judging from the elaborate process in completing this painting and
the number of studies executed, it was one of the most representative
works among those produced at the climax of his career. |
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