Metempsychosis (Yokoyama Taikan)

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Detail of Metempsychosis (1923) by Yokoyama Taikan; a dragon rises from the surging waves of the ocean

Important Cultural Property.[1][2][3]

Description

In his choice of title, Yokoyama Taikan returned to the same Buddhist-infused conceptual world as drawn on for his earlier

Selflessness (無我, Muga).[4][5] His vision of nature sees transience and cyclical rebirth represented by the flow of water.[6]

In the mountain haze, amid the pines (traditional symbol of longevity),

stone lantern and a torii.[2][5][10][11]

In the scroll, Yokoyama Taikan reworked the ink paintings of Sesshū and Sesson while drawing also on the traditions of Yamato-e.[11] His varied shading includes the one-sided katabokashi (片ぼかし) technique and effects akin to Western chiaroscuro; a few years later, during his 1930 visit to Italy, he would be struck by Leonardo's use of sfumato.[4][5][11] Yet despite the artist's innovations, the traditional clothing worn by the figures that people the scroll and their pre-industrial trades "may suggest that the changes in society brought about by contact with the West are only superficial to the fundamental continuities rooting modern Japan to its traditional past".[5]

At the end of the scroll is the inscription "Taishō Water Pig (1923), eighth month, by Taikan" (大正癸亥八月大観作), along with the artist's Shōkodō (鉦鼓洞) seal.[12]

Metempsychosis (1923), by Yokoyama Taikan; ink on silk; 55.3 by 4,070 cm (1 ft 9.8 in by 133 ft 6.4 in); the narrative unfurls from right to left

History

In a break from his usual practice, Yokoyama Taikan undertook detailed preliminary studies for Metempsychosis, drafting moti both a preparatory sketch and a practice roll (now in the collection of the

Kyōto.[5] Acclaimed a masterpiece, it has been frequently exhibited and studied ever since and a full-size facsimile edition has been published.[4][5][12] Yet, according to James Cahill, the painting, "hailed in its time as a masterwork ... from [a] more critical viewpoint might be seen as misusing the handscroll form by offering less of interesting visual material per running foot than handscrolls traditionally had offered".[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ 絹本墨画生々流転図〈横山大観筆／〉 [Metempsychosis, ink on silk, by Yokoyama Taikan] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b 生々流転 [Metempsychosis, ink on silk, by Yokoyama Taikan] (in Japanese). Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Masterpieces". National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Fujimoto Yōko (2012). 圖版 橫山大觀 生々流轉 [Metempsychosis, by Yokoyama Taikan]. Kokka (in Japanese). 117 (11): 52–4.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Weston, Victoria Louise (1998). Modernization in Japanese-style painting: Yokoyama Taikan (1868–1958) and the Mōrōtai style (Ph.D.). Ann Arbor. pp. 46–9.
  6. ^ "The Aesthetic of Transience". Japan Echo. 34 (6). 2007. Archived from the original on 2016-04-13.
  7. ISBN 0824820630
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-226-62091-6
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1929280315
    .
  10. ^ Inoki, Linda (6 March 2002). "The heartfelt works of Taikan Yokoyama". The Japan Times. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  11. ^
    ISBN 0520059026
    .
  12. ^ a b 「生々流転」横山大観 [Metempsychosis, by Yokoyama Taikan] (in Japanese). Kitaibaraki City Library. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  13. ^ 館長が選ぶ記念館名品展 [Masterpieces from the Collection, chosen by the Director] (in Japanese). Yokoyama Taikan Memorial Hall. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  14. ^
    Asahi Shimbun
     (in Japanese). 7 February 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  15. ^ a b 4階1室 [Room 1, Floor 4] (PDF) (in Japanese). National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  16. ^ Cahill, James. "Cahill Lectures And Papers". James Cahill. Retrieved 3 April 2016.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Metempsychosis_(Yokoyama_Taikan)&oldid=1113965515"