The 5th Seminar Held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems – Transitions in Western-Style Paintings from the Momoyama Period to the Final Years of the Edo Period
At the 5 seminar held by the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems on November 24, 2020, Dr. TAKEDA Eri, a part-time lecturer from the Toyo Institute of Art and Design delivered a presentation titled “Transitions in Western-Style Paintings from the Momoyama Period to the Final Years of the Edo Period (“Bakumatsu”) – Technical Transitions in Japanese Oil Paintings and the Validation of Art Historical Research and Appraisals in Japan.”
Dr. TAKEDA has been engaged in historical research on and the restoration of Japanese oil paintings for many years. She summarized the traditional techniques used for Japanese oil paintings based on research and reproductive experiments on pieces of artwork on her own. The presentation aimed to clarify how Japanese oil paintings fit in with Japanese art history. As the examples, she focused on the oil paintings of the mid-Edo period that have been found in recent years.
Japanese oil paintings, also known as Yofuga (Western-style paintings), were not recognized until research on Western art began during the early years of the Meiji period. Therefore, the art appraisals that were performed on pre-Meiji Western-style paintings are far from being appropriate in some sense. Considering this historical background, Dr. TAKEDA classified the history of Japanese oil painting into the following three categories: paintings made using the lacquer technique in the Asuka period, the early Western-style paintings in the Momoyama period, and the Western-style paintings influenced by the Netherlands in the Bakumatsu period. She said that the recently discovered mid-Edo period pictures painted with dried oil on the lacquered walls of the Yomeimon Gate of the Nikko Toshogu Shrine suggests a link between the early Western-style paintings in the Momoyama period and their counterparts in Bakumatsu. She pointed out that the painting is likely to be the work of an artist belonging to the Franciscans, which indicates passing down of painting techniques from Momoyama to Bakumatsu.
Professor Emeritus SAKAMOTO Mitsuru, an art historian who has been dedicatedly conducting research mainly on early Western-style painting, and Mr. SATO Noritake from the Association for the Preservation of the Nikko World Heritage Site Shrines and Temples, who has been leading the restoration project of the lacquered decorations of Edo period temples and shrines in Nikko, were invited to the seminar as commentators. Additionally, vigorous discussions were held among the participants who expressed different opinions regarding the oil-painted walls of the Yomeimon Gate and how they should be appraised in the context of Japanese oil painting history.