BackNo.94
OCTOBER 1939
STUDY ON THE TECHNIQUE OF SHITOGA
By KISAKU TANAKA
According to the records, various singular techniques have been devised in Chinese paintings: The author mentioning roughly several kinds will take up here especially the technique of shitoga and give the results of his study.
Shitoga is a technique of using fingers instead of brushes to paint and draw. The initiator of this peculiar technique is said to be Chang Tsao or Wei-yen in T'ang, and since then not a few painters have tried though there is no special document to record their names. However, it was since Kao Ch,i-p'ei in Ch'ing Dynasty that the technique of shitoga has been recognized at its artistic value.
Kao Ch'i-p'ei was born in a good family in Liaoyang and became later a police inspector. His tzu was Wei-chih and he used "Ch'ieh-yuan" or "Nan-ts'un" as his hao or brush names. At eight years of age he began his study of painting, and ever after earnestly copied many fanmous paintings whenever he got the chance to do so. Meanwhile he mastered the technique of shitoga and became famous. In his later years he was called to the palace and served at court for a while as a court-painter. He died in 1734 at something over seventy years of age. Kao-ping, his relative, wrote a book entitled "Study on Shitoga" and tells what he saw and studied about the technique of shitoga, inserting here and there some interesting episodes concerning this famous painter, his greatuncle. With his own interpretation the author wishes to introduce the subject of this technique.
According to "Study on Shitoga" by Kao-ping, the idea of shitoga came to Kao Ch'i-p'ei's mind in his dream, when he fervently wished to copy a painting and, having no brush, he thought out the technique of using his fingers instead of brushes. As if to prove this event he carved a sentence afterward meaning "I got a new technique of painting in a dream and the dream comes out of my heart." Whether this was true or not, the remarkable point is that he exerted himself to express what cannot be done by ordinary brushwork and at last mastered the technique of shitoga.
Krao Ch'i-p'ei put ink on the bulb of his fingers, usually the thum, the ring finger, and the little one in large paintings and the utter two in small paintings. In picturing moss, hanging clouds, flowing streams and so forth these three fingers are used altogether. In drawing thin lines ink is kept inside the nails and such nails are used just like pens turned over. In order to produce a good work in shitoga the painter must keep his nails not too sharp nor too round. If they have once become round, it takes'a considerable time to make them sharp again.
By this technique of shitoga Kao Ch'i-p'ei painted landscapes, figures, flowers and birds, and many other things: especially he devised a new style in drawing a plum in black ink. Most of his paintings are on silk but there are a few on paper, which is not alumed but ordinary paper, using specially thick (not watery) ink and colours.
According to Kao-ping's record, Kao Ch'i-p'ei left many works. The painting reproduced on page 7 seems to be one of his mediocre works which are not so highly valued, and the landscape on Pl. III may be safely said to be one of his masterpieces. The date of the production of this masterpiece seems to be during the K'anghsi and the Yungcheng eras (1662-1735). Mang Hu-li who wrote the inscription on this painting was a knight of Manchuria and was also known as a portrait painter, using "Cho-jan" as his hao.
As for Kao Ch'i-p'ei's colouring, he first brushed over with light ink and then by degrees added darker. For instance, he did not make perspective by depth of colours or ink but by frequency of strokes. And his strokes, though they seem to be confused and roughly done, are in reality very emooth and give a special atmosphere to the whole picture which cannot be expressed by ordinary brushwork.
Changing the subject, the author wishes to discuss now the shitoga paintings in Japan. It is well known that the famous painter Taiga excelled in this technique. In Nankai's literary manuscripts it is written that the writer, Nankai was so much impressed by Taiga's shitoga painting that he presented him a poem admiring his work. This was when Taiga was twentyeight years old. However, Taiga was not the first man who mastered the technique in Japan, nor was Kurokawa Kigyoku who is proclaimed by some scholars to be so. According to a record, Ryu Rikyo seems to have been a forerunner to the formerly mentioned two, but we could not conclude that he was the initiator. Judging from the style of painting, Ho Hyakusen must have tried shitoga before Taiga and, as a contemporary with Taiga, Buson seems to have also tried, and later Kosetsu and Buncho achieved some shitoga paintings. Tough there is such a masterpiece of shitoga as the screen of Manpukuji Temple by Taiga, the shitoga paintings in Japan are, as a whole, very simple technically and not worthy of notice from an artistic peint of view. However, the author realizes the interesting situation among the painters of the Bunjinga school who studied such an un-Japaneselike technique as to soil one's fhigers and use, as it were, a kind of trick not orthodox in the art of painting. Namely, like Kao Ch'i-p'ei who devised a new technique of shitoga, wishing to out-shine his predecessors which, he found, could not be done by ordinary brushwork, the Bunjinga painters in the early stage exerted themselves in seeking a new technique to free themsehves from the orthodoxy of the Kano school which forced them to hollow tradition slavishly, and at last they mastered the new technique of shitoga which was thus first developed in China.
ANTONIO FONTANESI AND HIS WORKS IN JAPAN
BY KENJIRO KUMAMOTO
At this time the author gives the results of his study of the famous Italian painter, Antonio Fontanesi, who came to Japan at the beginning of the Meiji period with two other Italian artists, Vincenzo Ragusa and Giovanni Vincenzo Cappelletti, and who left great work in development of the newly introduced Westem Art. Antonio Fontonesi was also well-known in Italy. Concerning his life and works in Italy before he came to Japan I only mention the books which the writer of this article consulted:--
Marziano Bernardi; Antonio Fontanesi, i maestri della pittura italiana dell, Ottocento, Milano, 1933
Marziano Bernardi: Antonio Fontanesi. Torino, 1933
U. Thieme u. F. Becker; Allegemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler
Carlo Carra; Antonio Fontaunesi, Roma, 1922
Emanuele Celansa; A. Fontanesi, il pittore ed il poeta nella vita e nelle opere. Torino, L'anno MCMXI
Marco Calderini; Antonio Fontanesi, il pittore paesista, Torino, Paravia 1901
L. C. Bellea; Antonio Fontanesi alla R. Accademia Albertina, Torino, Bocca
After the Restoration in 1868 the Government established new organizatione everywhere. In the third year of Meiji (1870) the Engineering Department was organized and in the next year in 1871 the Government established the Engineering School attached to this Department, employing foreigler-specialists as teachers. At that time Conte Allesandro Fe was the Italian Minister to Japan and he, emphasizinig the excellency of Italian art, advised Hirofumi lto, Minister of the Engineering Department at the time, to employ Italian artists in order to guide wisely the spread of Western art in Japan: This was following the precedent of employing Frenchmen in the army and in legislation, and Englishmen in the navy and in engineering. Meanwhile, the Government following his advice, founded in November in 1876 the Art School attached to the Engineering School (which was renamed "the Engineering University" in 1877 and later has become the Engineering Department of the Tokyo Inperial University) and called the above-mentioned three Italian artists to Japan. On the twenty-nineth of August in 1876 the Government made a three years contract with these artists. It is not clear when they atrrived in Japan but, judging from the date of Fontanesi's first work after his arrival, a landscape sketch--dated September, 1876--now in the collection of the Engineering Department of the Tokyo Ineprial University, they must have come at latest in August of that year.
Fontanesi made his residence in the Engineering School at Toranomon and here he, changing the old building into schoolrooms and so forth, made preparations for the new art school. When the foundation of the school was announced on the sixth of November in 1878, already there were sixty students, including those of the sculpture course, many of whom were promising youths from well-known private schools: of Western art in Tokyo and Yokohama. Shotaro Koyama, Hisashi Matsuoka, Seijuro Nakamaru, Matate Indo, Shunryo Mochizuki came from Togai Kawakami's school " Choko Tokuga Kan"; Chu Asai, Isana Morisumi, Kei Nishi were from Shinkuro Kunizawa's school "Shogi Do"; Genkichi Takahashi, Teitoku Morimoto, from Yuichi Takhashi,s school "Tenkai Sha"; Yoshimatsu Goseda, Hosui Yamamoto, from Horyu Goseda's sohool; and there were as women students, Hinako Otori, daughter of Keisuke Otori who was the head of the Art School, Rin Yamashita, Itoko Jinnaka and so forth. As for his teaching, we omit explaining it here in detail, for he used no particularly novel method worthy of notice. One word, however, must be added to show how ambitious he was and how thoroughly he prepared himself to come to Japan. He brought with him a great many plaster figures. reproductions of famous paintings, text books of prespective and geometrical patterns, painting implements and so forth for teaching equipment. Ih his note book for lectures, though written fragmentally, we can see his principles in art: It was he who for the first time used people publicly as models in the school, and also it is noticeable that in school he severely rebuked students for painting boldly and roughly followinig the style of Bunjinga.
Now the author chaniges his subject and introduces Fontznesi's works which still remain in Japan.
"The Pond Shinobazu" (Pl. XI, 1)
Oil painting with his signiature "A. Fontaniesi".
"Sunset" (Pl. XII. 2) Oil painting with his signature "A. Fontanesi Tokio 29 Au...".
"Cattle-Breeding" (Pl. XI, 2) Oil painting. "Tree" (Illust. I). Oil painting. These two were both given to his pupil Seijuro Nakamaru.
"Portrait of a Lady" (Pl. XII, 1) Paintig in water-colours. This was given to Atsutomo Matsuda, famous artist in copper plates, when Fontanesi returned to Italy.
"Landscape" (Pl. XIII, 1) Drawing with his signature "A. Fontanesi Tokio 9.76".
"The Setting Sun" (Pl. XIII, 2) Drawing.
"Spring Sunbeam" (Illust. 2) Drawing with his signature "A. Fontanesi Tokio 1878".
"Angel" "Goddess" (Illust. 3) Drawings. Both are drafts of the fresco in the new building of the Art School.
"Landscape" (Illust. 4) Drawing with his Signature "10 Juille't". But the date is not clear.
"Catching Fish" Drawing.
"Model drawing of Buildings" (Illust. 5) Drawing.
Nineteen drawings; he brought from Italy and used in teaching.
"Landscape" (Attributed to Fontanesi.) Oil painting. Contributed to Konpira Shrine in Kagawa together with thirty-four other works of Yuichi Takahashi and now owned by the shrine.
The above mentioned works are all that were left in Japan. Besides these, he took some back to Italy together with paintings done by his students. For instance, "Casolare nel Bosco" (Illust. on page 5) in M. Bernardi's "A. Fontanesi. i Maestri della Pittura Italiana dell' Ottocento," is clearly signed "K. Hikita" and is doubtlessly the work of Keizo Hikita, one of his students in the Art School.
Thus two years after his arrival in Japan his ambition was gradually realized and the works of art students in Japan were much improved. On the fifteenth of July in 1878 the Emperor Meiji visited the Art School and Inspected Fontanesi's and his students' works. Not long after that the Empress and the Empress Dowager also visited the school and they aecepted with pIeasure the gifts of some of the students' works. According to the newspaper record, there were thirty-eight students at that time including five girls, by which the popularity of the school can be easily imagined.
Unfortunately, however, Fontanesi suffered from beriberi, an endemic disease. Moreover, he was deeply disappointed because it was necessary to postpone the planed rebuilding of the school owing to the civil war of seinan. So he asked the Government to release him and on the thirtieth of September in 1878, one year before his contract would be fulfiled, he returned to his mother country. The details of his later life in Italy until his death at the age of sixty-four are told in the beforementioned books.
In conclusion the author wishes to say a word about the condition of the art-world in Japan after Fontanesi left it. In his place the Government employed Ferrecci for a time but the latter was so inferior to the former in artistic genius and skill that more than halt of the students left the school. Because of his unpopularity Ferreeci was dismissed on the thirty-first of January in 1830 shortly after his arrival and San Giovanni was called from Italy. The present writer will at another time tell of the life and works of this artist. Most of the representative artists of to-day in Western Painting in Japan have been developed under the guidancs of those students of Fontanesi whose names are mentioned above. Indeed, Fontanesi's contribution to Western art in Japan is immeasurably great.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES
Pls. I (Colour), II, VI, VII & VIII Panel paintings of Kichijoten Shrine of Joruriji Temple.
Colour on panel.
I--Height: 104.1 cm.; width; 25.0 cm.
II--Height: 102.0 cm.; width: 62.9 cm.
VI--Height: 104.1 cm.; width: 31..0 cm.
VII--Height: 104.1 cm.; width: 25.0 cm.
VIII--Height: 104.1 cm.; width: 31,.0 cm..
Collection of the Imperial Art School of Tokyo.
The present works are panel paintings of Kichijoten Shrine of Joruriji Temple in Kyoto. Recently the shrine has been moved out of the temple and only the principal image of Kichijoten remains in the temple. The shrine is surrounded by seven panels; on the outside of the front doors are painted sparrow and bamboos, and inside, two guardian kings; inside of the side panels there are fohr guardian kings ,and on the back panel, Sarasvati with other dieties. The placing of the dieties situated around the principal image Kichijoten must have been arranged according to the Suvarnaprabhasottamarajasutram which teaching was diffused and earnestly worshipped in the Nara period. The diety painnted in the middle of the backpanel is surely Sarasvati as mentioned above, that in the lower right hand is Drdhadrthividevata, in the hover left hand, Hariti, in the upper right hand, Sanjaya, but that in the upper left hand is not clearly recognizable.
In a record preserved in Joruriji Temple we find a sentence that a Kichijoten was produced in the second year of Kenryaku (1212) and probably this is the date of the production of the existing Kichijoten. The composition and the general effect of the paintings reflect the antique style of the Tempyo paintings but in the technique of the details we find the characteristic brushwork of the Fujiwara period.
Pls. III & X (Detail) "Landscape," by Kao Ch'i-p'ei (Chinese, d. 1734).
Slight color on silk. Kakemono.
Height: 219.4 om; width: 46.9 cm.
Collection of Mr. Kojiro Abe, Hyogo.
(See the article by K. Tnaka.)
Pls. IV & V "Five Hundred Arhats," by Ikeno Taiga (Japanese, 1723-1776).
Slight colour on paper. Kakemono.
Height: 181.5 cm.; width: 115.0 cm.
Collection of Manpukuji Temple, Kyoto.
The present painting is Taiga's work done during the age of Meiwa (1764-1771) when he was about forty. Formerly it was mounted as screens in Manpukuji Temple in Uji but now, for convenience sake, preserved as kakemono. It is said that Taiga took hints from the scroll "Arhats Crossing the Sea" by Wang Chin-p'eng in Yuan which is owned by the same temple. If the idea was not his own, the great ability of Taiga to create such a grand composition on the screen-painting is remarkable. Moreover, it is interesting that the technique of Shitoga--finger-drawing--is adopted in this painting. The background and colours are done with brushes, and in some places. it is said, even twisted paper-braid is used to help the artistic effect. At any rate, the present painting is one of the few examples of Shitoga in Japan and, at the same time, one of Taiga's masterpieces in his mature age.
Pl. IX "Sri-maha-devi (or Kichijoten)," placed in Kichijoten Shrine of Joruriji Temple.
Coloured wooden Statue: collection of Joruriji Temple, Kyoto.
The shrine: collection of the Imperial Art School of Tokyo.
Pl. XI (1) "The pond Shinobazu," by A. Fontanesi (Italian, 1818-1882).
Oil-painting on canvas.
Height: 51.5 cm.; width: 73.4 cm.
Collection of the Imperial University of Tokyo.
(2) "Cattle-Breeding," by the same painter.
Oil-painting on board.
Height: 19.4 cm.; width: 24.7 cm.
Collection of the Imperial Art School of Tokyo.
Pl. XII (1) "Portrait of a Lady," by the same painter.
Water-colour on paper.
Height: 19.4 cm.; width: 14.6 cm.
Collection of Mr. Kotoku Watanahe, Tokyo.
(2) "Sunset," by the same painter.
Oil-painting on canvas.
Height: 39.5 cm.; width: 61.0 cm.
Collection of Prince Kinteru Sanjo, Tokyo.
PI. XIII (1) "Landscape," by the same painter.
Drawing.
Height: 85.5 cm.; width: 108.5 cm.
Collection of the Imperial University of Tokyo.
(2) "The setting Sun," by the same painter.
Drawing.
Height: 85.0 cm.; width: 108.0 cm.
Collection of the Imperial University of Tokyo.
(Pls. XI-XIII)--See the article by K. Kumamoto.