Investigation of materials on former members of the Institute in Kyoto and Kosei
The Institute is currently engaged in the work of tracing the history of the Institute since the founding of its predecessor, The Institute of Art Research, in 1930, with the publication of “75 Years of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo” in fiscal year 2009 in view.
In July, investigations were held at the homes of the families of the late Umezu Jiro (1906-1988), a former member of the Institute who specialized in the research of picture scrolls in Japan, and of the late Ogyu Chikaharu (1884-1944), another former member who was in charge of the management of Kuroda Memorial Hall. Although some materials on Umezu have already been donated to the Institute and made available to the public, new materials were found during this investigation to supplement them. Previously, the Institute had had only limited information about Ogyu, including the facts that his wife Sumi was the sister of Kuroda Seiki, the Western-style painter who willed that the establishment of the Institute and that he studied Western-style painting at The Tokyo Art School. However, during this investigation several dozens of his Western-style paintings (though small in format), some photographs (including one of a portrait of Kuroda’s sister) and other valuable materials that reveal the artistic style of Ogyu, who studied the plein-arist style of paintings of Kuroda and other artists, and his acquaintances were found. Since Ogyu’s family was related to the Sakai family (lord of the feudal Tsuruoka clan), he painted a portrait of Sakai Tadaatsu (15th lord of the clan) and his wife in the Meiji period. It was found that this portrait is now in the collection of the Sakai family. These findings will be incorporated into the profiles of former members of the Institute to be included in “75 Years of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo.” Investigations like these are expected to serve as basic materials for the history of the achievements of researchers of cultural properties, about which not much has been investigated until now.