The St. Louis Republic., 1904-08-31
JAPANESE ARTS ONE AIM
IS THAT OF DECORATION.

| 10 II1HI VI OISOIIA 1OIvo
| Mr.. Heromich Shugio. being his Inn
| periar Majesty's Art Commissioner to the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition. and being
| besides a highly cultivated man. unques-
| tionably is the highest authority availabls
! on japanese art. But Mr.. Shugio does not
| submit himself readily to explaining
JAPANESE pictures. for he contends that
| the good ones do not need TO be explained.
| still. Mr. Skugio" you demonstrate,
European writers have explained Japa-
ne Sc art to the extent Of volumes. whereas
| it really should come from a japanese"
The European connoisseurs.'' declared
tie Commissioner drvly. have discovered
J far more concerning japanese art than we
know ourselves.
Catechize Mr.. Shugio at length on tho
subject. and you ere informed only that
! Jaranese art has Il single end and aim
that OF decoration. II strives neither for
portraitura. for the literal historical or foi.
philosophical expression. 1t possesses ss
| poetic strain. rendered by a system OF.
symbolism, but even this is subordinate
to the decorative idea.
In all his EXPIRE ssions the Japanese tends
! to poetic sentiments. and In pictures par
ticular sentiments have come to be ex'
pressed in a particular or a conventional
way. These are 50 simple that at first
they may seem childish. 1t is somewhat
as If our own art were continually exslt--
Ing the three cardinal virtues-faith. hope
and charity: If. whenever we saw q.
dove In Il picture We personified it as Hope.
and had other symbols for other mean
ings.
Mr.. Shueio declares that this is distinct
Iy a secondary phase of japanese art. and
that its Importance is much exaggerated
in the average Western conception of jap
anese art. On the other hand he thinks
the merely decorative function OF pic
ture is underes;imated in European art
for he believes that this is the only legiti-
mate function of painting.
Special associations he said. "are
connected in the japanese mind with the
cherry blossom. the plum blossom, the
pine tree and many other flowers and
shrubs and these in pictures have mean
ing in a general sense.
But a japanese picture Is a decoration
simply and solely. That. IL you care to
reason it out. is the origin OF pictures.
Man in. his development found that he
was not satisfied to be surrounded merely
with the things which were the means OF
satisfying his physical needs. He desired
ornamentation. he wanted to beautify. He
found that beautiful things were actually
food for his finer senses. The pictur4
probably was among the last Of his in,
ventions. in responding to the art impulse.t
But he certainly didn't want the picture
for any purpose other than decoration.
And subsequent attributes Of pictures
must have come about In the complex
state Of society, when the original use be-
came confused with side issues. But the
picture as a decoration solely continues
TO be fact in Japan. and we hope that It
will continue go"
Looking upon splendidly painted Japa-
pese screen in the central room of the
Japanese fine art section. from the Japa-
nese viewpoint as gathered through Mr..
Shugto. you have to apply only one stand
ard in estimating the quality of its art;
and that lies In whether OF not it satis-
fies tie eye as harmony in line and color.
Harmony-that is the whole Of the mat
ter.
Being representation Of a pine tree
upon which storks are standing this paint
ing has the secondary interest Of sentt-
ment- The pine tree is strong and endur-
Ing. and hence 1t stands for strength, en-
durance, fortitrde. The stork also Is a
long-lived bird. and strong. The Japanese.
then. would like to have this picture
about him. that it might often lead him
to the contemplation OF the virtues IT sug-
gests. which promise a long and fruitful
life. But 1t is decoration primarily, and
as such Mr.. Shugio expects the American
public to study the pictures In the Japa-
nese section.
OF course, the artists viewpoint as to
pictures always Is very different from that
of the general public. The artist appre-
ciates technique. good drawing. good mod
cling. exceptional coloring, and SO on. With
US. We are always auarreling because the
public is SO ignorant Of these things, and
the impossible task of educating the pub
lie into the artists viewpoint always is
being agitateI With the Japanese. de-
clares Mr.. Shugio. there Is the artists
viewpoint also, but, he adds. the artists
are very careful-regarding 1t as a canon
of their art-not to adopt the artists pref
erences as a basis of estimating pictures.
What all the people like" he insists pos
itively. lis the best picture"
And do you know" he continued, II
find that the average of people who come :
into our section actually pick out our besn
work for their special admiration. Tho
intuitiveIy select the best pictures
have"
an educated Western conception of arr
nothing OF the kind is true as to Western
painting. What the public likes Is almost
sure to be ''artistically' a bad thing.