| Popis: |
The present writer has discussed in details about the works of Seiki Kuroda in a previous issue of this journal as well as in “The Collected Works of Kuroda Seiki” and “The Collected Drawings by Kuroda Seiki.” Existing works of Kuroda, however, are so numerous that some of them were left out in these articles owing to the shortage of space, and, morevoer, there have been discovered some pieces which had been unknown heretofore. Given here are information about those. Kuroda visited the Netherlands and Belgium around 1888, and saw various art galleries there. At the Hague museum, especially, he made copies of Rembrandt's “Dissection” and “Self Portrait.” These works of Rembrandt influenced upon Kuroda's portrait paintings, including self-portraits, and indoor pictures, of those times. In the following few years he, under the influence of Raphael Collin and other Western artists, studied the techniques of plein-airistes, and produced many works of figures and landscapes in the plein-air style during the period of his staying at Grèz-sur-Loing from 1890 to '92. As works of figures during this epoch there are the “Reading” and other important pieces discussed before, and also the study for “Summer” as well as the “Portrait of a Western Lady” and the “Lady Standing”in a back view. As for landscapes painted in this epoch, we have to add the “Road That Leads Up and Down”, “Spring at Grèz” and “Wood at Grèz”, besides the “Meadow” which appears to have been a study for “Lady Picking Grasses.” From his return home in 1893 to 1896, Kuroda devoted himself to the “Mukashigatari” (Reminiscence of Olden Days) which he was working upon in Kyoto. He made many studies, either in oil colours or in drawing, for this magnificent work, among which there was the “Portrait, a study for Mukashi-gatari” depicting the face of a young woman. He also painted a few landscapes, centered around the gateway of the Seikanji Temple, which later formed the background of the “Mukashi-gatari.” During this Kyoto period he also made such other landscapes as the “Landscape at Kiyomizu,” “Wood in Autumn” and “Spring Rain at Kamo-gawa.” With the establishment of the Western-style painting Department in the Tokyo Art School (present Tokyo University of Arts) in 1896, he was nominated chief of that department, and moved to Tokyo where he settled thereafter. The same year he organized the artists' group Hakuba-kai to develop a new art movement, and showed such representative works of his as “Mukashi-gatari,” “By the Lake” and “,Mind, Heart and Soul” at the exhibitions of this group. Besides these large-sized works, there were a considerable number of landscapes in this period, most of which dealt with the sights at Ōiso, Hakone and Zushi; for example, the “Old Stage at Hakone,” “Fisher's Boat Coming Ashore,” “Sea in Spring,” “Six Views of Mt. Fuji,” and “Six Sea Landscapes.” These are small but spirited works. “The “Portrait” depicting a woman in yukata (summer kimono), and the “Reading” showing an old man reading a newspaper, also belong to this period. Among the works after his second visit to Europe in 1900, we might mention “Hong Kong,” “Sannō Festival” and some still-life works depicting peonies, lilies and others. |
