Abstracts
Foujita Tsuguharu’s Senninbari (thousand stitch belt) and Ogi Port on Sado
Island in the Niitsu House Collection
SAWADA, Keizo
Foujita Tsuguharu’s Senninbari (thousand stitch belt) , which went on display in the 24th Nikakai in 1937, turned out to be with his otheroil painting Ogi Port on Sado Island (made in the same year), and it was confirmed that Niitsu House in Niigata owns them. This article is areport on these two works.
Not only did Niitsu House’s two Foujita oil paintings go on display in the exhibitions in Tokyo in 1937, but they also went on display inFoujita’s solo exhibition at the former Niigata Newspaper Company in Niigata afterwards. Businessman Niitsu Tsunekichi, who kept a housenear the newspaper company, was constructing a western-style building on the premises and was proceeding to acquire works of art todisplay inside the building upon completion of it the following year. Foujita’s solo exhibition was held at that time, and these two works werepurchased by Niitsu. The building was completed five months later and Foujita’s works were displayed inside.
However, Niitsu Tsunekichi passed away the following year, and Japan was defeated in World War II before long. The western-stylebuilding was then seized by the occupation forces. After ten years, the building returned to the Niitsu family. During this time, it went toruin and was left that way for a long time, and people forgot about Niitsu Tsunekichi’s art collection too. At last, the building was repaired inthe 1990s and was reopened under the name “Niitsu House.” Although Niitsu House displayed their collection after it opened, Foujita’s two oilpaintings were not among those on display.
The main collection of Niitsu Tsunekichi, including Foujita’s works, was exhibited in Niigata for only one week in 2008, their first time on
display outside Niitsu House. “The Niitsu House Collection” was published and included pictures of Foujita’s works.
(Curator, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art)

Art Appreciation for Preschoolers
MIYASHITA, Tohko
I work at the Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern art, where I have worked on art appreciation activities with our neighbor Mitsuke
City since 2013. This document about preschool art appreciation is the result of investigation based on these activities and written accounts ofmy own experiences.
The first example makes it clear that art appreciation is based on individual experiences. From four other examples, I noticed thefollowing three characteristics of art appreciation in the context of preschoolers: 1) their fundamental knowledge and experience areinsufficient, 2) they liken what they see to what they know, and 3) it is difficult to communicate what they experience to others. In summation,preschoolers are profoundly lacking in the foundational experience necessary to appreciate works of art.
Be that as it may, they are still appreciating art and we cannot simply conclude that preschoolers are unable to appreciate art. What’s
important is to hear them out and to help them verbalize whatever comes to mind.
For preschoolers, who lack experience, it is believed that it is necessary to let them appreciate art while reinforcing the experiences thatthey do have. They need art they can experience with their whole bodies. Outdoor sculptures are perfect for this. They can touch them, feel
how warm or cold they are, and hear the sounds they make. They don’t just use words—they use their whole bodies to enjoy art appreciation.
For children, art appreciation itself is an experience, and it needs to be a fun one.
(Curator, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art)

Helping Children Think, Express Themselves, and be Confident Through theUse of Art Appreciation Activities
AOKI, Yoshiharu
There's a preconception that we're supposed to behave and be perfectly silent when in an art museum. Looking at actual children,
however, we can see that there is something more important. In order for children to connect their own skills and knowledge with the new
information they come across and in order for them to make connections with each other, we need to offer opportunities that allow them tospeak their minds freely, like allowing them to discuss what they see as they go through an art museum or sitting down together afterward
to discuss what they have seen. We also realized just how incredibly important it is to support the children by sympathizing with them andengaging in discussions with them.
(Educator, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art)

Sado Mokko: The Life and Works of Nakamura Bokushi
MATSUYA, Kuninori
Nakamura Bokushi (Sakon) (1916-1973) was an avant-garde calligrapher who was born on Sado. He, along with Shiryu Morita, Yuichi
Inoue, Sohgen Eguchi, and Dainen Sekiya, parted from established feudal calligraphy circles on January 5, 1952 to form Bokujinkai, a group foravant-garde calligraphers, to create a new calligraphy for the post-war era. In Bokujinkai’s activities, they spoke to modern artists in Kansai
to help them in their search for a way to subsist on their calligraphy. Due to the family business, however, he had no choice but to withdraw
from Bokujinkai early.
This report is about the calligraphy reform Nakamura was unable to carry out and is the result of the 20 years the writer spentresearching Nakamura’s life and works.
(Senior Curator, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art)

■ 94