Painting Circles: Tsuchida Bakusen and Nihonga Collectives in Early Twentieth Century Japan (Japanese Visual Culture)

Painting Circles addresses the changing professional milieu of artists in early 20th century Japan, particularly the development of new social roles and networks, and how these factors informed the development of artistic identity. The focus of the study is the Nihonga painter Tsuchida Bakusen (1887-1936), who in 1918 founded an exhibition collective, the Kokuga Society, in response to increasing dissatisfaction with the nation's government-sponsored exhibition salon. The study examines efforts by Bakusen and company to establish an independent position vis-à-vis the arts establishment by demonstrating their reflexive knowledge of Western modernist art movements on the one hand, and on the other, by showing their deep commitment to preserving traditional Japanese painting themes, media and techniques into the 20th century. Painting Circles: Tsuchida Bakusen and Nihonga Collectives in Early 20th-Century Japan Dedication Contents Acknowledgements INTRODUCTION 1 BAKUSEN,S EARLY LIFE AND WORKS: TOWARDS A RURAL GENRE PAINTING Early Life on Sado Island Early Training under Suzuki Shōnen The 1904 Shinkoten and the Kyūha-Shinpa Dynamic Studying at Chikujōkai Exhibition Debut: Manchurian Summer Heat (1905) Rural Fūzokuga: Punishment (1908) and Tax Collection Day (1909) 2 BEYOND CHIKUJŌKAI: EXPANDING INFLUENCES AND NEW ENCOUNTERS The Kyoto Municipal Specialized School for Painting Tanaka Kisaku, the Nameless Society, and Chat Noir Exhibiting at Le Masque and the Bunten: Hair (1911) 3 CHALLENGES, CHANGES, AND EVOLVING STRATEGIES AT THE BUNTEN The Division of Bunten Nihonga Section and the Founding of the Inten Lure of the Exotic: Island Women (1912) and Abalone Divers (1913) Balancing Boldness and Restraint: Scattering Blossoms (1914) and Women of Ōhara (1915) Revisiting the Keichō Era: Three Maiko (1916) 4 GATHERING THE HIGASHIYAMA CIRCLE Ono Chikkyō: The “Impressionist Naturalist” Sakakibara Shihō: Harmony and Discord Murakami Kagaku: Painting the Profane and the Sacred Nonagase Banka: Testing the Limits of Tradition Results of the 1917 Bunten The Formation of the Kokuga Society 5 THE INAUGURAL KOKUTEN EXHIBITION OF 1918: CONTENT AND CONTEXTS The Kyoto and Tokyo Press Debuts The Kokuga Society Name, Manifesto, and Statement of Purpose Management and Organization of the Kokuten Exhibition The Inaugural Kokuten and its Critical Reception Bakusen’s Bathhouse Maiden Kagaku’s Death of a Saint Banka’s Stream in Early Summer Chikkyō’s Village of Nakiri and Shihō’s Early Plums Other Significant Works at the First Kokuten The Impact of the First Kokuten: An Overview 6 ARTISTIC FLOWERING: THE SECOND AND THIRD KOKUTEN EXHIBITIONS The Death of the Bunten and Birth of the Teiten Overview of the Second and Third Kokuten Exhibitions (1919, 1920) Bakusen: Three Maiko (1919) and Spring (1920) Chikkyō: Gokayama in Summer (1919) and Island at Sea (1920) Shihō: Red Pines (1919) and Forest in Nara (1920) Kagaku: Hidaka River (1919) and Nude (1920) Banka: Time of Rest (1919) and Fishermen Returning at Sunset (1920) Other Significant Works at the Second and Third Kokuten Aftermath of the Three Kokuga Society Exhibitions 7 HIATUS, EXPANSION, AND COLLAPSE: THE KOKUTEN'S MIDDLE AND FINAL STAGES Art Pilgrimage to Europe The Great Kantō Earthquake and the Japan Art Exhibition (1923) The Kokuga Society’s Expansion and Evolving Policies Bakusen’s Maiko in a Garden (1924) and Women of Ōhara (1927) Other Significant Kokuten Paintings, 1924–1927 The Eighth Kokuten and the Dissolution of the Kokuga Society CONCLUSIONS Kagaku, Shihō, Banka and Chikkyō in the Post-Kokuten Period Intellectual Formalism: Bakusen’s Later Years The Kokuga Society’s Legacy Appendix 1: Documents Related to the Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai Statement of Purpose (Riyūsho), 1918 Kokuga Society Manifesto (Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai Sengensho) and Regulations (Kiyaku), 1918 Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai Submission and Exhibition Rules and Protocols (Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai Tenrankai Shuppin Kiyaku), 1918 Kokuga Society Dissolution Notice (Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai Kaisansho), 1928 Appendix 2: List of Characters Endnotes Bibliography Index This Book Explores The Practice Of Nihonga Painter Tsuchida Bakusen (1997-1936), And His Professional Strategy For Developing An Independent Artistic Identity, One That Emphasized The Central Role Played By Tradition In The Invention And Expression Of A Japanese Regional Dialect Of Artistic Modernism.