#polamuseumofart hashtag - Bluesky

@mdstamper.bsky.social

9 months ago

The defining feature of Japanese artist Saburōsuke Okada's (岡田三郎助) style is, above all, his graceful and elegant female figures, which integrate influences from his European and Japanese training in which he gradually established his own style based on delicate brushstrokes and elegant colors. "Kimono with Iris Pattern" (aka "Iris Robe") is a perfect embodiment of Okada's refined decorativeness and the detailed, soft skin tone characteristic of how he depicts women, as seen in works such as 紫の調 (Portrait of a Certain Woman) from 1907 and 萩 (Bush Clover) from 1908. The main feature of this work is the beautiful kimono robe, in which a white iris pattern stands out against the light indigo background that resembles water in a pond, and the vermilion stripes that beautifully harmonize with them. The young Japanese woman wearing the robes is painted in oil paint, with her back visible, against a golden-yellow background in the style of a lacquer dye. Traditional Japanese aesthetics and techniques are clearly visible in this "Western-style" oil painting, reflecting Okada's tireless research. At the age of six, Okada moved to Tokyo and stayed in the residence of Nabeshima Naohiro (鍋島直大), the former lord of the Saga domain. There, he saw the oil paintings of his fellow Saga native, Hyakutake Kaneyuki (百武兼行), and developed an interest in Western painting. After studying at the private school of Soyama Sachihiko (曽山幸彦), he entered the Tenshin Dojo, taught by Kuroda Seiki (黒田清輝) and Kume Keiichiro (久米桂一郎), who had returned from France. In 1896, he participated in the founding of the Hakuba-kai, and was appointed assistant professor in the newly established Western painting department at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (東京美術学校). The following year, he traveled to France as the first student studying Western painting funded by the Ministry of Education, studying under Kuroda's teacher, Raphaël Collin.

あやめの衣 (Kimono with Iris Pattern) by 岡田三郎助 / Saburōsuke Okada (Japanese) - Oil on cardboard mounted on canvas / 1927 - Pola Museum of Art (Hakone, Japan) #WomenInArt #art #JapaneseArt #日本絵画 #ポーラ美術館 #岡田三郎助 #PolaMuseumofArt #着物 #OkadaSaburōsuke #OkadaSaburosuke #womensart #OilPainting #JapanesesArtist

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Michael

@mdstamper.bsky.social

10 months ago

"Lake and Woman" (湖水と女) by Japanese artist Kaita Murayama (村山槐多) is hailed by some as Japan’s "Mona Lisa." It was completed just a couple years before the Yokohama-born, Kyoto-raised artist passed away of pneumonia at age 22 in 1919. Murayama’s painting skills were lauded during his short life, as he joined Japan’s Art Institute (日本美術院) at 14 in Tokyo and earned multiple awards and exhibitions. His posthumously-published poetry and writings have also earned significant recognition as he identified as gay and resisted the doctrine that homosexuality was a "developmental phase" during an era when few Japanese openly wrote about homosexuality. In 1916, Murayama moved to a boarding house in Nezu, and began to feel love for a model "Otama-san" (お玉さん) and the boarding house "auntie" (おばさん). It was initially thought that the model for "Lake and Woman" was this "auntie," but in recent years the theory has been that the model was Misao Sasa, the wife of Kaita's patron, Hidematsu Sasa. Misao, a distant relative of Maruyama, was a tall, slender beauty around 31 years old when "Lake and Woman" was painted. Her husband, Hidematsu, known for his large build and carefree nature, is said to be the model for Maruyama's 1916 のらくら者, translated as "The Slacker" or "The Lazy Man." In "Lake and Woman," Maruyama depicts a Japanese woman sitting by a lake surrounded by mountains in the background. Her hair is tied up in a fashionable updo that frames her beautiful facial features. Her dark eyes and tightly closed mouth suggest a strong will, and exude a sense of unapproachable sublimity. She is wearing a light green kimono with a navy blue haori coat. The background exudes a sense of nostalgia yet loneliness, and the painting composition are reminiscent of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, but in a modern post-impressionism fusion of European and Japanese artistic styles. The painting received an Encouragement Award (奨励賞) at the 3rd Japan Art Academy Prototype Exhibition (第3回日本美術院試作展).

湖水と女 (Lake and Woman) by 村山槐多 / Kaita Murayama (Japanese) - Oil on canvas / 1917 - Pola Museum of Art (Hakone, Japan) #WomenInArt #JapaneseArt #OilPainting #Art #KaitaMurayama #村山槐多 #村山 #MurayamaKaita #ポーラ美術館 #PolaMuseumofArt #womensart #portraitofawoman #artwork #JapaneseArtist #ModernArt #洋画

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