| ■Tokyo National Research
Institute for Cultural Properties |
■Center for Conservation
Science |
| ■Department of Art Research,
Archives and Information Systems |
■Japan Center for
International Cooperation in Conservation |
| ■Department of Intangible
Cultural Heritage |
|
Seminar held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems
The Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems held a seminar on December 22nd, 2015, where Kyoko ISHII of the Center for Conservation Science and Restoration Techniques made a presentation on the topic: “Possibility and acceptability of past refurbishing of Red and White Cotton Roses. It concerned Red and White Cotton Roses (designated as a National Treasure and owned by Tokyo National Museum), paintings signed by the Chinese court painter Li Di in the Chinese Southern Song dynasty in 1197. At the presentation, she reported on accurate depiction of details as well as her perception on inpainting added by posterity based on the results of various kinds of optical examinations using infrared rays, x-rays, etc. Based on the detailed map of damages that remain on the paintings, she also reported the possible refurbishing made by posterity. Large longitudinal bending lines exist on both paintings. Today, the paintings of white cotton roses and red cotton roses are said to be a pair of hanging scrolls. However, it can be possibly presumed from these longitudinal bending lines and inpainting that they were originally made as a picture scroll, which were then trimmed and made into hanging scrolls. Ishii further reported that the both paintings had already been recognized each as an independent painting in the early Edo period and provided with unique values added in Japan. The two large longitudinal bending lines on both paintings occur in an equal interval on each of the paintings that are different in nature from longitudinal bending lines observed in ordinary picture scrolls. Ishii’s presentation was followed by a lively discussion as to possible causes of these lines, as to a question arising on the signs on the pictures if they had been a picture scroll, etc., thus disclosing and posing a series of interesting problems.
“Remarks of Old Paintings” Vol. 26, Portrait of Okamoto Zen’etsu (Source: Library of Tokyo University of the Arts)
On Tuesday, November 24, the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems invited Ms. Hiroko Kato (Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) to give a presentation on her research under the title of “Updating of the Visual Arts and Iconography Led by Tokugawa Yoshimune – With a Focus on the Roles of Okamoto Zen’etsu Toyohisa.”
Tokugawa Yoshimune, the eighth shogun of the Edo Shogunate (1684-1751), is well known as an innovative yet reactionary politician. Also in the field of art, he encouraged the reproduction of Chinese masterpieces painted in the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, while allowing the import of Dutch oil paintings. He also ordered the reproduction of old paintings possessed by feudal lords and the sketching of rare animals from abroad. One of the leading painters who reproduced such old paintings and made such sketches is Okamoto Zen’etsu Toyohisa (1689-1767), who served Yoshimune as a painter in the Doubou rank. Ms. Kato introduced the fact that approximately 270 painting examples called Funpon, which had been formerly owned by the Hikone Family as a descendant of Zen’etsu, were included in the “Pictorial Materials of the Itaya Family” possessed by the Tokyo National Museum. Based on the existence of these materials, Ms. Kato pointed out the possibility that Zen’etsu might have played an important role in leading visual arts and iconography by communicating the intention of Yoshimune to the Kano and Sumiyoshi Families known as long lines of great painters. These issues clarify Yosimune’s perspectives on paintings, suggesting that Yoshimune’s views affected the style of the Kano school later by way of Zen’etsu through the accumulated example paintings. After the presentation, there was an animated discussion over the roles of Zen’etsu and his relation with Narushima Douchiku as one of the close advisors to Yoshimune like Zen’etsu. We expect further discovery of works created by Zen’etsu, who actually produced a few paintings only.
JAL Project: Overseas Invitees Visiting the Institute
The JAL Project (Chairman of the Executive Committee: Mr. Sachio Kamogawa Director of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) was started in 2014 to invite overseas experts handling Japanese art materials (such as librarians and archivists) to Japan for a review on how Japanese art materials and related information should be provided. Director Emiko Yamanashi and Researcher Hideki Kikkawa of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems of the Institute were commissioned as members of that committee. Kikkawa visited Germany and Chez Republic to interview the invitees in advance, and was involved in training guidance and study tours of the related institutions in Japan.
On October 3 and 5, he interviewed Ms. Cordula Treimer of the Library of the Museum of Asian Art of the Berlin State Museums, and Mr. Jana Ryndova of the National Gallery in Prague jointly with Mr. Takeshi Mizutani of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, as well as toured the locations to understand how Japanese art information was handled and released.
Nine overseas experts in handling materials visited Japan from November 16 through 23 to tour the related institutions located in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Fukuoka. They came to this Institute on November 18 to have discussions with our researchers after the introduction of our book materials, photos of researched works, files of modern and contemporary artists, and sales catalogs, as well as relevant projects, at the library. In response to the request from the invitees in 2014, we also organized an “Exchange Meeting with Overseas Experts in Japanese Art Related Materials” for 2015 to offer them an opportunity to interact with persons working for related institutions in Japan. Twenty-eight participants actively exchanged professional opinions in an amicable atmosphere.
On November 27, the last day of the training program, an open workshop was held at the auditorium of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Like 2014, the invitees made proposals on the transmission of Japanese art information, which provided us with a good opportunity to reconsider how we should globally transmit information on cultural properties.
The Shochuhi memorial is being restored at Bronze Studio in Tokyo (on November 7, 2015)
A bronze black kite spreading its wings is placed on its back. Referring to the pre-earthquake photos pinned on the board behind, the broken pieces are put back together one by one.
As repeatedly reported through this activity report, the Committee for Salvaging Cultural Properties Affected by the 2011 Earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku and Related Disasters having its secretariat in this Institute have provided rescue activities for numerous cultural properties damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. The Shochuhi memorial standing on the site of the inner citadel of Sendai Castle (Aoba Castle) is one of them. The monument was built to console the souls of war victims affiliated with the Second Division in Sendai in 1902. Due to the earthquake, a bronze black kite installed on the stone tower about 15 m in height fell to the ground. Its broken pieces were collected and the main body has been relocated as part of the Cultural Properties Rescue Operations by the Committee. Since the completion of the Operations in 2014, the Monument has been restored as the Disaster-Affected Museum Reconstruction Project in Miyagi Prefecture. In this fiscal year, the broken black kite pieces have been transferred to Bronze Studio located in Hakonegasaki, Tokyo, and joining operations are now under way. Here, I would like to report on the restoration process of the black kite based on my visit to the Studio on November 7, 2015.
The broken black kite was delivered to Tokyo twice on June 3 and July 10. First, as a step prior to the joining process, the concrete and lead inside the largest part of the broken black kite (approx. 5.1 t) was removed. The black kite was filled with these materials to fix the rail inserted as an iron core connecting the black kite and the stone tower, as well as to balance it in weight. After the three months it took to remove them, the process to join the broken bronze pieces started on a full scale. Based on the images taken during the research before the earthquake, the pieces are being put together in such a way as to return them to their original form. Since the head and wing tips of the black kite are crushed, small pieces are being assembled like a jigsaw puzzle.
The construction of the Shochuhi memorial , on which a huge black kite weighing over 5 tons was installed on a tower 15 m in height, was really a feat of strength. According to Mr. Yuji Takahashi of Bronze Studio, the on-going restoration process has revealed the painstaking craftsmanship dedicated at that time, such as fine parts that are now produced with machines were manually processed one by one. The restoration process made us recall the time-consuming endeavors undertaken by the people involved in the construction of the Monument during the Meiji period. These piecing operations will proceed on to the next fiscal year. After the completion of all processes, the black kite will go back to Sendai. On the other hand, however, the stone tower has deteriorated due to the infiltration of rainwater. Although five years have passed since the earthquake, many challenges still remain over the conservation and restoration of the Monument. Long-term initiatives are required.
Self-portrait of Hata Shokichi. Taken in 1910
He pointed the camera lens at the mirror to shoot himself pressing the shutter. His writing on the negative tells that it was taken in Hotel Soufflot in Paris that was a favorite place to stay for Japanese intellectuals and artists.
Hata Shokichi (1882-1966), a sculptor, was a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (present Tokyo University of the Arts) and Tokyo Higher School of Arts & Technology (present Chiba University), and created commemorative medals and reliefs as a non-regular employee of the Japan Mint and Decoration Bureaus. He went to France as an overseas business trainee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce between 1907 and 1910 and became the first Japanese sculptor admitted to the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts (National School of Fine Arts) where he studied sculpture. Twelve negatives during his stay in France have been kept by his bereaved family and Mr. Fumio Hata, a grandchild of Shokichi, donated them to this Institute. The photo negatives include those of his self-portrait, him with Yasui Sotaro, Fujikawa Yuzo and other Japanese artists who were in Paris at that time. We may say that the negatives are highly precious materials that help us look at his association with other Japanese in a foreign country. We will convert these negatives into digital photos and make them available on the web.
Under the circumstance where globalization is becoming an issue in various areas, researchers in art history are also putting more effort into “World Art History” or “Global Art History.” Against this backdrop, the International Symposium: “Histories of Japanese Art and Their Global Contexts – New Directions” was organized by the Institute of East Asian Art History, Heidelberg University at its Karl Jaspers Centre from October 22 through 24, 2015. This symposium was held in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the “Ishibashi Foundation Visiting Professorship in Japanese Art History,” which supports the dispatch of visiting professors in Japanese art history from Japan to Heidelberg University. The symposium was composed of seven panels: I. “‘Making Worlds’ – Imagining Japan,” II. “Global Entanglements of East-Asian Export Artifacts,” III. “Artistic Interactions between Japan and China in the early Twentieth Century,” IV. “Japanese Art and Public Discourses,” V. “Collecting Japan and China in EuroAmerica and the Formation of a “World Art History,” VI. “Contemporaneity in Postwar Art,” and VII. “Japan in International Exhibitions.”
Twenty-two researchers presented their research outcomes, and discussions were held in each panel. Keynote speeches were given by Dr. Christine Guth (Royal College of Art and V&A Museum, London) and Dr. Timon Screech (SOAS, London). Emiko Yamanashi was invited from this Institute to make a presentation under the title of “The art historian, collector and dealer Hayashi Tadamasa – negotiating the concepts of “Fine arts” in Europe and “bijutsu” in Japan” in Panel V prior to “The Origin of Species and the Beginning of World Art History: Kunstwissenschaft’s Encounter with Darwinian Aesthetics around 1900” (Dr. Ingeborg Reichle: Humboldt University, Berlin) and “Collecting East-Asian Art in Imperial Germany and the Predicament of World Art History” (Dr. Doris Croissant: Heidelberg University).
The three-day presentations and discussions revealed that Japanese artifacts and Japanese art history have also been discussed differently in various regions in and after the Age of Exploration, when people, goods, knowledge and information started to move significantly. The report of the symposium will be published in 2017.
Audience at the seminar room
The Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems organized public lectures at the seminar room of the Institute on Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31, 2015. This lecture has been annually held for 49 years in order to widely release our accumulated research outcomes to the public. For 2015, two researchers of the Institute and two more lecturers from outside gave a one-hour lecture, respectively.
Day 1 was dedicated to “Amida (Amitabha) Triad of Ninna-ji Temple and the Belief of Emperor Uda” by Ms. Mai Sarai (Senior Researcher of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems), and “Painters in the 10th Century : Various Phases of “Japanization” from the Perspectives of East Asian Art Historyby Mr. Ryusuke Masuki (Associate Professor at Kobe University). Ms. Sarai explained iconographical features of the Amida Triad built by Emperor Uda together with their involvement with historical backgrounds of the religion centering on Emperor Uda, while Mr. Masuki studied changes in landscape paintings around the 10th century in China read from historical materials, which affected Japanese paintings.
Day 2 was for “Japanese and Chinese Found in Yosa Buson’s Paintings” by Mr. Takuyo Yasunaga (Researcher of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems) and “Looking into the Landscape Paintings of Ike no Taiga : By Means of Two Paintings of ‘Riku-en’” by Ms. Rie Yoshida (Curator of the Shizuoka City Art Museum). Mr. Yasunaga explained how Yosa Buson, a painter representing the Edo period, was aware of “Japanese” and “Chinese” styles in his expressions, which were mixed and shown in his actual paintings. On the other hand, Ms. Yoshida focused on the paintings of “Riku-en” drawn by Ike no Taika, a famous painter in the Edo period like Buson, which are based on the Chinese theory of painting but which are very unique. She also referred to how the paintings of Taiga as a Japanese “Bun-jin (literati) painter” had been established along with the styles of paintings using Japanese brushes shown in his works and the relationships with people involved in his works.
With an audience of 138 people on Day 1 and 109 on Day 2, the lectures were esteemed highly: More than 80% of questionnaire respondents answered “Satisfied Very Much” and “Satisfied in General.”
Heated discussions over the information of canvas silk and silk yarn between Mr. Shimura/Ms. Akimoto and the audience
In the monthly workshop held on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, Mr. Akira Shimura of the Silk Fabric Research Institute, Katsuyama Textile Corporation made a presentation under the title of “Conventional Techniques in Silk Production” as part of our research project, “Research on art expression, techniques and materials.” Ms. Noriko Akimoto of the Silk Fabric Research Institute also attended the workshop as a commentator. Mr. Shimura has been working on the restoration of traditional silk fabrics produced before the modern age. As a base material for Japanese paintings, canvas silk, the theme of this workshop, is very familiar not only to researchers of art history but also to Japanese art restorers. The attendees were engaged in diverse areas, including art history researchers and Japanese art restorers, which shows their strong interest in this field.
For this workshop, Mr. Shimura told us about a variety of findings on canvas silk and silk yarn he accumulated during the process of technical restoration based on field research for canvas silk of various ages left until today. At the beginning, Mr. Shimura presented basic information on silk yarn. Then, receiving useful comments from Ms. Akimoto from time to time, the audience asked questions, and Mr. Shimura answered the questions. During the Q&A session, we, researchers, realized that some of our knowledge on canvas silk and silk yarn perceived as common sense resulted from misunderstandings or misperceptions. Thus, this workshop was a good opportunity for us to revise our understanding, such as the unit, “d (denier),” which is not related to the thickness (diameter) of silk yarn but to the volume of silk. The relations between back coloring and the density of the texture produced with warp and woof (space between threads) were also revealed through detailed observation of the canvas silk produced with traditional techniques and restored.
The workshop, which proceeded in a Q&A session style, took more than two hours. However, the information and knowledge about canvas silk and silk yarn Mr. Shimura presented were very fresh to us. We also had a good opportunity to feel beneath our fingertip the real texture of canvas silk produced in different fabric thickness and density by Mr. Shimura and Ms. Akimoto, as well as glossed silk beaten with a wooden block (silk cloth). These precious experiences will surely assist us in our art research in the future.
The late Mr. Takeshi Kuno (1920-2007) was engaged in research on the sculpture of Buddhist sculptures for 38 years from his entrance into the precursor of this institute, the Institute of Art, in 1944 until his retirement in 1982. After retirement, he established the Research Institute for Buddhist Art next to his residence. As the head of the Institute, he provided valuable materials collected over many years for researchers. After he passed away, the bereaved family donated his research notebooks with his handwritten comments, photographic materials, and so forth to our Institute. These materials, which total 7,480 items, mainly relate to Buddhist statues located in Japan and overseas. Since March 2015, they have been open to the public as “materials donated by Takeshi Kuno” at the library of our Institute.
Mr. Kuno organized the Hakuho Society for Buddhist art lovers in his Institute for Buddhist Art, and devoted himself to on-site observation tours and lectures for its members. The invitation notices inserted in his research notebooks reveal these activities. However, the details of his lectures were unknown. Under these circumstances, Mr. Hisamori Takahashi, who had helped the operation of the Hakuho Society, offered to donate the listed lectures, which we accepted in September. This is a list of lecture records distributed to the members each time Mr. Takeshi Kuno gave a lecture to the Hakuho Society. The members transcribed taped lectures in turns, and Mr. Kuno checked the transcriptions before distribution. This has enabled us to understand the details of his lectures for the Hakuho Society. These listed lectures will be released as part of the “materials donated by Takeshi Kuno” after registration.
The scene during the survey
On August 24 and 26, 2015, the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems conducted high-resolution color and near-infrared photography surveys on seven paintings of Eminent Priests that are part of National Treasure Prince Shōtoku and Eminent Tendai Priests (a total of 10 paintings possessed by Ichijō-ji temple in Hyogo Prefecture) using the digital imaging technology of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties. The seven paintings investigated in the latest surveys are currently deposited with the Nara National Museum. Seiji Shirono, Mai Sarai and Tatsuro Kobayashi took part in the survey conducted at the museum. Together with the images we had already obtained so far, the findings of the latest surveys include more detailed information of the paintings than ever, and we are preparing to publish the outcomes of the research project.
A postcard written by Saburosuke Okada, dated December 5, 1896
A letter partly written by Yachiyo Okada under the name of Saburosuke Okada, dated June 30, 1911
The National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, possesses a large number of letters sent to Seiki Kuroda (1866-1924), an oil painter deeply involved in the establishment of the institute. The Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems promotes republication and study on the letters as important materials to suggest a network of people surrounding Kuroda, while also asking for the cooperation of researchers outside the institute. As part of the efforts, we held a study meeting on August 31 for staffers at the department on letters from Saburosuke Okada, who established academia of Japan’s modern oil painting together with Kuroda. Presenters and titles of their presentations are as follows.
· Ms. Yuri Takayama (curator at the Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art)
“Letters to Seiki Kuroda from Saburosuke Okada: Republication and Bibliographical Introduction”
· Mr. Seiichi Matsumoto (deputy director of the Saga Prefectural Museum and the Saga Prefectural Art Museum)
“The Image of Saburosuke Okada observed in the novels of Yachiyo Okada”
Seiki Kuroda said that letters in Saburosuke Okada’s own handwriting “are worthy of designation as a national treasure in the future.” This means that Okada rarely wrote a letter on his own. In the presentation by Ms. Takayama, she suggested that there is a difference in the handwriting in the letters sent to Kuroda under the name of Okada, and provided further insights into the persons who wrote the letters under the name of Okada. Okada’s wife Yachiyo, one of such persons, was also active as a novelist and drama critic. In the presentation by Mr. Matsumoto, he introduced a newly discovered manuscript of Yachiyo’s novel reflecting her own view on married couples as well as letters sent to Kuroda that were written by Yachiyo under the name of Okada. He showed the image of Okada through the eyes of a woman who was married to a painter. While letters in the modern age are generally seen as important as primary documents in the sender’s own handwriting, this study meeting offered an opportunity to reaffirm the difficulty of understanding letters through the case of letters written by other people under the name of a sender and the excitement of revealing new human relationships surrounding a sender by discovering his/her relationship with people writing letters for the sender.
Poster Presentation
Explanation using iPad
“2015 International Symposium on Conservation of East Asian Cultural Heritage in Nara” was held from August 26 to 29 at the Nara Kasugano International Forum IRAKA in Nara Prefecture, and we made poster presentations at a two-day expert meeting program held on August 27 and 28. With the title of “Formulation of Cultural Property Research Information Archives – Efforts by the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo,” we made presentations on such topics as: (i) utilization of information resources and system building (ii) renovation of the library collection database retrieval system currently available on the institute’s website (using WordPress Works to make it possible to search all databases in a cross-sectoral manner and display search results collectively, changing from the current system in which users need to search respective databases individually), (iii) making research databases available for public use (using WordPress to make it easier to search existing image and text contents, and adding contents to the databases by releasing undisclosed images and other materials sequentially), (iv) cooperation and collaboration with organizations at home and abroad (cooperation with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in Britain and the planned joint research with the Getty Research Institute in the United States,) and (v) future activities.
In addition to poster exhibitions, we conducted demonstrations using iPad and tablet devices, and also had the audience actually use the system. Through these efforts, we gave presentations in such a way that the audience could understand our measures for the renewed integrated retrieval system and library collection databases more precisely and clearly.
We received feedback from the audience that they could understand the increased contents and better user-friendliness of the retrieval system and therefore make more use of the system for a wider range of purposes. In addition, we also received opinions that expect us to offer information to a large-scale portal website or to promote further cooperation with other institutions handling similar documents and materials. All opinions offered valuable insights unique to experts in cultural heritage in East Asia, their conservation, or information systems. We had a meaningful exchange of information concerning measures to offer the institute’s library collection at home and abroad.
The first issue of “The Bijutsu Kenkyu” was published in January, 1932, based on a concept proposed by Yukio Yashiro, then director general of The Institute of Art Research affiliated with the Imperial Arts Academy, the predecessor to the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo. Since then and up to the present day, the magazine has been playing a leading role in cultural property research at home and abroad by publishing articles on cultural properties, pictorial commentaries, research materials and other documents while covering Asia widely. The Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems has been making preparations for the publication of the magazine’s back issues on the Web as part of the entire institute’s archives and in response to opinions and requests for the publication by the Evaluation Committee.
For articles published in issues from the first to the 200th, we contacted their authors and their inheritors to obtain approval for the publication. As for articles for which we obtained approval, we have made, or will make, them accessible on the Web sequentially, and now users can search and browse texts of those articles on the “TOBUNKEN Research Collections” website. However, we prioritized efforts to establish an environment where users can search and browse texts of articles on the Web as early as possible. Therefore, concerning plates carried in the magazine along with the articles and possessed by temples, shrines and museums, we did not obtain approval for the publication from individual possessors, but instead we masked these pictures or drawings. For articles published in issues up to the 200th and the authors of which are unknown, we will follow a prescribed procedure. For articles published in issues later than the 200th, we are making preparations for their serial publication. We hope that the publication of the PDF files will promote further utilization of “The Bijutsu Kenkyu” by a wider range of people and organizations.
World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB), the venue for the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee
The scene of discussions
The 39th Session of the World Heritage Committee was held from June 28 to July 8 in Bonn, Germany. Representatives from the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, attended the session to investigate its trends.
Among the 24 properties inscribed on the World Heritage List in the latest session, 23 are cultural sites and one is a mixed (both natural and cultural) site while there is no natural site. By region, 12 are located in Europe or North America while no property is in Africa except Arabic-speaking northern Africa. In this way, disparities between types of properties or between regions have widened. Meanwhile, industrial heritage sites, such as a railway bridge, dock warehouses, factories for articles of export in high demand globally in the early 20th century, such as nitrogen fertilizers and corned beef, were inscribed on the list, increasing the diversity of cultural properties. As for the nomination from Japan, no remarks were made by committee members during deliberations on the inscription of the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining (Japan). After adding a footnote to the decision and adopting it as amended, Japan and South Korea respectively read out their statements on the decision, which was a different procedure from normal. One property was deleted from the List of the World Heritage in Danger, while three sites – Hatra (Iraq), the Old City of Sana’a and the Old Walled City of Shibam (both Yemen) –, were added to the list. Kathmandu Valley (Nepal), which was affected by a recent major earthquake, was not inscribed on the list because of the necessity to understand the actual conditions and the Nepalese government’s preference for no inscription of the property.
Meanwhile, as for recommendations deliberated in the session, there were more dialogues made between the Advisory Bodies and respective States Parties over the contents of their respective recommendations. Advice by the Advisory Bodies became more positive, and no major change was made to advice on recommendations receiving a low evaluation from the Advisory Bodies at the session. In addition, the upstream process, in which the Advisory Bodies or the World Heritage Centre provide States Parties with technical assistance for drawing up recommendations and other issues at their request, was institutionalized at the session. In this way, support measures for inscription on the World Heritage List were enhanced, but the Centre and Advisory Bodies have pointed out that some States Parties are not utilizing such support. The World Heritage Centre is making efforts to raise its operational efficiency, but there are limitations to such efforts. All States Parties need to realize the fact that their respective cooperation is necessary to maintain the World Heritage framework.
“Monkeys” painted by Kawanabe Kyosai, in the Kindai Nihon Gajo album of paintings possessed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
©The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914
The Art Research, Archives and Information Systems held a monthly workshop on the topic and with the presenters mentioned below on June 4.
– Takuyo Yasunaga (researcher at the department): About “Sansui Zukan,” said to have been painted by Gion Nankai (possessed by the Tokyo National Museum)
– Ms. Eriko Tomizawa-Kay (Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures) “Modern Japanese-style painters observed in collections of paintings outside Japan and their drawing activities – mainly about the establishment and acceptance of ‘Kindai Nihon Gajo (commonly known as the Brinkley Album)’ ”
On the topic of “Sansui Zukan,” a painted scroll in the Edo period that is said to have been painted by Gion Nankai and depicting the Kumano pilgrimage routes running from Wakayama to the Nachi falls via Nakahechi, Hongu, and Shingu, Ms. Yasunaga discussed the possibility of the work having been painted by Gion Nankai [1676-1751], based on the geographically accurate depiction of Kumano and the characteristics of its expression by comparing the scroll with Nankai’s other newly found works and other measures. In addition, she also pointed out the scroll’s relationship with the learning activities of Chinese paintings by early Japanese bunjinga (literati painting) painters and new expressions of actual sceneries. However, attendees of the workshop provided various remarks such as the issue of whether the painting scroll was just a sketch and the relationship with other paintings of the same age.
Ms. Tomizawa made presentations based on the survey of “Kindai Nihon Gajo” possessed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. While paintings included in this gajo are separated individually at present, it originally consisted of 95 paintings created by seven Japanese-style painters who were active in the Meiji era, including Kawanabe Kyosai, Hashimoto Gaho and Kawabata Gyokusho. Ms. Tomizawa’s research revealed that dealer and collector Francis Brinkley (1841-1912) originally asked Kyosai to create an album of 100 paintings. However, as Kyosai died in 1889, the creation of the album was divided among the other six painters, according to her research. Charles Stewart Smith, a prominent U.S. entrepreneur who stayed in Japan in 1892 and 1893, purchased the album from Brinkley and Smith’s bereaved family donated the album to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The album remains in the museum’s possession to this day.
Among the paintings included in the album, 12 painted by Kyosai were temporarily returned to Japan and exhibited along with their sketches (possessed by the Kawanabe Kyosai Memorial Museum) at the exhibition “KYOSAI-Master painter and his student Josiah Conder” held at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo from June 27 to Sep 6. The elaborate brushworks are prominently respected among other paintings in the album, so we recommend that you see them on this occasion.
Symposium “Advancement of Art Resources in a Global Context”
On June 6 (Sat.), the “Advancement of Art Resources in a Global Context – Contact point between global digitalization strategies and academic specialized research” was held at the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo as part of the annual meeting of the Japan Art Documentation Society. Representing the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Deputy Director General Atsushi Tanaka and Mai Sarai, senior researcher at the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, attended the symposium as presenters. With an eye to increasing the quantity of art resource information, which has been internationally requested, this symposium was intended to confirm the situations surrounding relevant organizations regarding issues related to the specialization and advancement of information in Japan and to deepen discussions on the issues.
First, representatives from the National Museum of Western Art, the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) and the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, respectively gave presentations on their own methods of offering information on art and cultural properties. Mr. Tanaka and Ms. Sarai from the institute gave a presentation under the title “Formulation of Specialized Archives on Cultural Property Information – Efforts by the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo,” and introduced the history of the institute, archives activities and digital contents, and reported the institute’s efforts and measures on the provision of information at a global level (cooperation with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures and with the Getty Research Institute, etc). Following the individual presentations, a panel discussion between presenters and a keynote speech by Akiko Mabuchi, the director general of the National Museum of Western Arts, were held in the symposium.
In this symposium, we again presented the effectiveness of art and cultural property information and resources that have been accumulated and maintained by the institute over many years in research activities under the current situation surrounding art resource information to relevant officials at home and abroad. At the same time, we could obtain many suggestions on the provision and dissemination of information at a global level by learning pioneering activities of other institutions.
The dialogue with Leiko Ikemura
We held a public dialogue with Leiko Ikemura, an artist living in Berlin, Germany, on June 9 (Tue.) Before this, the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems held an international symposium “Reconsidering ‘Form’: Towards a More Open Discussion” in January 2014, and Ms. Ikemura served as a speaker in the symposium. (We published a report on the symposium. For details, please see
http://www.tobunken.go.jp/info/sympo13/index_e.html)
The dialogue event was the second phase of the symposium. Emiko Yamanashi and Mai Sarai from the department asked Ms. Ikemura questions and she gave answers to the questions. In the trilateral dialogue, Ikemura delivered various talks, starting with the production concept of her most recent work “Usagi Kannon,” a terracotta statue more than three meters in height. Then she talked about practical issues including production techniques, materials, the selection of media, and ways to realize production concepts. In addition, she frankly and fully discussed the act of creation, such as her attitude toward production, inner feelings and conflicted feelings at the time of creation, and the state of mind she is trying to reach through art.
When she draws a picture, Ikemura said, “I capture the moment when the object and I are integrated. What I want to draw is not an object. I want to capture the sense that the object is connected to me and my body. That is the connection between myself and the world and experience, and I am trying to make it into a painting.” That statement was very impressive.
The contents of the dialogue will be made available on the website of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo. We hope you will look forward to this.
Getty Museum
Getty Research Institute
On June 16 and 17, Atsushi Tanaka, deputy director general of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo (Tobunken), and Mai Sarai at the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems visited the Getty Research Institute (GRI) that plays a leading role globally in the dissemination of information on artworks and art research with the help of Ms. Ann Adachi, a video art researcher living in Philadelphia. They had a consultation with officials at the GRI to seek the possibility of joint research. In October 2014, GRI Director Thomas W. Gaehtgens and other staff members inspected Tobunken. Following the visit, both institutions decided to hold a consultation to seek concrete ways of cooperation.
The GRI is located on a hill overlooking the coast in Santa Monica in Los Angeles and the UCLA campus. The GRI is part of a complex facility generally referred to as the Getty Center that comprises such institutions as the Getty Conservation Institute and the J. Paul Getty Museum having five pavilions.
Jean Paul Getty, the founder of the Getty Center, had an idea that the revolutionary digital technology in the 21st century would enable the integration of art, humane studies and natural science, and that the Getty Center should offer a platform for the integration. Based on the idea, the GRI has been organically organizing a range of projects in cooperation with museums and research institutes not only in the United States but also in Europe, aiming to form a cooperative model to integrate accesses to all artworks.
Sarai gave a presentation titled “Approaches to the Creation of Japanese Cultural Properties Database at the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo; Tobunken,” and introduced Tobunken’s current efforts to disseminate research information on cultural properties to Mr. Gaehtgens and other senior officials at the respective departments.
Tobunken’s digital archives on cultural properties and artist database are contents that are highly likely to be linked to the Getty Center, and we received favorable reviews from staffers at the GRI. We will reach an agreement to promote cooperation between both institutions and eventually exchange memorandums.
If Tobunken’s digital contents could be searched on the GRI’s portal site, which is connected to the world, information on Japanese art and cultural properties will certainly become available to a larger number of people in the world. We will continue to enhance Tobunken’s ability to disseminate information.
Art historian Aki Ueno, who had worked for the Tokyo National Research Institute of Cultural Properties, the predecessor to the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, from November 1942 to April 1984, passed away on Oct. 12, 2014. Ms. Ueno specialized in the Art of Western regions such as Kizil Caves and Mogao Caves. In addition, she was awarded the Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy in 1960 for her joint research on the mural painting of the five-storey pagoda at Daigo-ji Temple with Osamu Takata, Takuji Ito, Taka Yanagisawa and Tsugio Miya, becoming the first woman to receive the award along with Yanagisawa. Her bereaved family will donate Ueno’s research notes, related materials and part of her book stock to the institute so that they can be utilized for future research. They are a valuable collection of materials that show the traces of research on the history of the Art of Western regions and other issues. After organizing them, we plan to make them available to the public.
Yashiro and Berenson-Art History between Japan and Italy
Art historian Yukio Yashiro (1890-1975), who served as the director general of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, went to Europe in 1921 and studied under Renaissance art researcher Bernard Berenson (1865-1959) in Florence, Italy, from the autumn of that year. Yashiro learned his teacher’s method of stylistic comparison, and published “Sandro Botticelli” in 1925, a bulky English work on Botticelli that made Yashiro internationally recognized. After returning to Japan in 1925, he participated in the foundation of the “Institute of Art Research,” the predecessor to the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo. Based on the Institute of Art Research, he made efforts to compile the history of Oriental art using Berenson’s methodology. After World War II, he was involved in the opening of the Museum Yamato Bunkakan from the preparatory stage and served as the first director general of the museum. The National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, has been conducting research on the correspondence between Yashiro and Berenson. On June 30, we started a Web exhibition on the extant correspondence titled “Yashiro and Berenson-Art History between Japan and Italy,” presenting the republications of all 114 letters between Berenson and Yashiro and related documents in cooperation with the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, which is housed in the former villa of Berenson, and Michiaki Koshikawa, professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. (See http://yashiro.itatti.harvard.edu/) You can enjoy various materials showing the exchanges between the two art historians in the Web exhibition comprising the following chapters: letters, a list of people appearing in the letters, “Sandro Botticelli,” English versions of Yashiro’s literary works including an English translation of “My Life in Fine Arts” (from Chapter 7 to 10) published in 1972, studies on Yashiro, Berenson’s literary works on Oriental art and a gallery including Yashiro’s water-color paintings and sketches. Yashiro and the letters shed light not only on the individual activities of Berenson and Yashiro and their master-discipline relationship, but also on the international circumstances surrounding research on Renaissance art and Oriental art from the 1920s to 1950s.
