Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-06-16
TRUE JAPANESE ART.
The Present Period One of Renais-
sance for the Nation.


London House.-Japanese artists,
having little or no knowledge or anat-
omy, could not draw the human
figure with anything approaching
classic accuracy but the history Of
Matsumoto Kisaburo and his school
completely upsets this theory. This
man, in the rank of an ordinary me-
chanic, suddenly began to sculpture
wooden figures as faultlessly anatOmi-
cally as the works of Greek masters.
Without special education of airy kim,
without even an opportunity TO study
models in a studio, not only did Mat
sumoto prove the unerring accuracy
of his observation, but his pupils and
successors also evinced the same
capacity. Their fault was over
realism; their works were entirely OBJ
iective. STILL they showed that even
the commonest class of artists in
Japan can accurately model the sur
face of the human body without know
ing anything about the underlying
bones or muscles. 1t may be noted
en- PEASANT that proof of a similar
faculty has been given by modern
Japanese painters. The best of them
in former times never limned anything
resembling a real tiger. They painted
tigers skin admirably, but what
they put inside the skin was fabu-
lous monster They had never seen a
tiger.
But now that western civilization
has brought the circus in it's train,
they are able, having seen, to place
that already perfect skin upon an ir-
reproachable mass Of ferociOus,
snarling energy true to life in every de-
tail. AS for Matsumoto's school of
wood carvers, the element of idealism
wanting in their work has now been
supplied by experts of the Art Acad-
envy who sent to the Toxic Exhibition
sculptures of the very highest merit,
qiute faultless anatomically, and
showing grace, tenderness and soft
ness such as never previously dis
tinguished Japanese carvings in wood
Since the seventh century the glyptic
artist in Japan has been able to depict
majesty, ferocity, benignity and de-
crepitude, alone or in combination,
and since the sixteenth his chisel has
produced, with unsurpassed fidelity
birds, flowers, insects, fishes and other
natural objects But only now has
he attempted to show the normal
human figure in us gentle, pathetic,
passionate and tranquil aspects. In
this field he seems likely to achieve
what has long been hoped from him
the union of modern technical methods
withhold and purely japanese art
istic instincts.
In short, with art the present is a
time of renaissance for this nation,
and we have to congratulate ourselves
that we. too. may benefit from the in
creased attention recent events mVsr
focus upon this interesting develop
ment. AS far as decoration is con-
cerned. an important point to be re-
membered is that in the use of such
ornaments the Japanese cOnfine them
selves strictly more or less to one
flower for one room. They know
nothing of the nosegay style of ar
rangement. Chrysanthemums are,
of course, the ideal flower, and a few
left with long stems, and arranged in
pots. give just that touch which shows
that the Interpretation of the style
has been carried out in an enlightened
manner
Ard Patrick yvnn the ~C~cp otjOYe