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 Sketch-tour books and prints of the early twentieth century [continued]
Scott Johnson
In 1912 the geographical limits of the sketch-tour books were extended with
thepublication of Pari no E-nikki (A Picture-diary of Paris) by Hashimoto
Kunisuke (1884-1953). Kunisuke had graduated from the yôga division of the Tôkyô
School of Fine Arts and later exhibited with the White Horse Society. Pari no
E-nikki records a trip to Paris and London bridging the years 1909 and 1910.
The book begins with a one page introduction followed by 63 pages of
illustrations. The artist's written diary, covering 129 pages, follows the
illustrations. There are no media surprises here; the illustrations include 11
color lithographs, 40 black and white lithographs and 12 halftones, four of
which are in color.
There are no woodcuts at all in Pari no E-nikki, perhaps because
Hashimoto wanted to point up his foreign themes by using imported graphic media.
The color halftones open the book; since they reproduce oil paintings, they are
given pride of place. The color lithographs, however, are more successful in
artistic impact. The themes are predictable: the gargoyles of Notre-Dame, dance
halls, women putting up posters, cafes, art schools and nude models. But for the
Japanese armchair traveler of the time, they are precisely the right subjects.
The major importance of Pari no E-nikki is that it extends the
sketch-tour genre beyond Japan. By this time, there was nothing especially
unusual about Japanese artists traveling abroad, or even having their work
exhibited in salons and galleries. But the sketch-tour book had needed to reach
wide readership before it became profitable to market an illustrated book on
such artistic travels abroad.
By the end of the Meiji Period in 1912, Western style art was securely
established in Japan. Most of the artists mentioned so far had developed their
careers to the point that the publicity aspect of the sketch-tour books was no
longer of such concern. The straightforward realism which had been one of the
hallmarks of the earlier books was beginning to seem passe, as awareness of
Cezanne and VanGogh, and later of Fauvism and Cubism, gained the attention of
the Japanese art world. Nakazawa Hiromitsu remained a prolific devotee of this
genre, but most of his White Horse Society colleagues turned their attention to
larger canvases and new styles of painting.
Final flowering
One result of these developments was a gap in sketch-tour publishing. In fact
the genre was nearing a crisis point which ultimately took it from the world of
art books. But before this happened there was a final flowering of extraordinary
books under Kanao Tanejirô's Bun'endô imprint. In 1916 Bun'endô published the
most ambitious of all the sketch-tour books, Shina Taikan (A Compendium
of China), written and illustrated by Fukuda Bisen (1875-1963). Bisen was a
Nihonga artist with early training under Kubota Beisen and Hashimoto Gahô. By
the turn of the century he was an established artist, but restless and
dissatisfied. Shina Taikan contains a dedication to Okakura Tenshin, who
had inspired the book but died before its publication. Bisen credits Tenshin
with advising him to travel to China in order to find renewal. Bisen followed
this advice, and in 1909 went to China, where he stayed for several years,
traveling, sketching and painting.
© Boston Book
Co. 2001
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