Huang Tusui’s work “Nectar Water” returns to his alma mater, Tokyo University of the Arts, and will be on display from September 6 to October 20. (Photo by reporter Dong Boting)
[Reporter Dong Bo-Ting/Tokyo Report]”Huang Tu Shui and His Era—Taiwan’s First Western Sculptor and the Tokyo Art School in the Early 20th Century” jointly organized by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and the University Art Museum of the University of the Arts in Tokyo today (5) The opening ceremony was held at the Tokyo University of the Arts Art Museum in Japan on the same day. Minister of Culture Li Yuan, National Taiwan Museum of Art Director Chen Kui-yi, Tokyo University of the Arts President Hibino Katsuhiko, Tokyo University of the Arts Director Hiroko Kurokawa and others attended the ceremony. The exhibition features Taiwan’s first nude female sculpture, a national treasure, as well as works by Tokyo artists who were contemporary with Huang Tushui. This is the first time “Nectar Water” has been exhibited overseas since it became a national treasure, and the exhibition location is the alma mater of the late artist Huang Tushui (1895-1930). Li Yuan, the Minister of Culture, said that it had only been three months since he took office, and this exhibition was what prompted him to go abroad. “It seems that I am accompanying Huang Tushui’s works from 100 years ago back to his original hometown. This is of great significance.”
After the opening ceremony, Minister of Culture Li Yuan (3rd from left) went to the exhibition venue to appreciate “Nectar Water”. (Photo by reporter Dong Boting)
Li Yuan explained that “Nectar Water” was not damaged by the Great Kanto Earthquake 100 years ago, and disappeared for nearly 50 years before being rediscovered in Taiwan. “When it was exhibited in Taiwan last year, many young people were busy surrounding the work. While watching, everyone wanted to know what the sculpture “Manna Water” was about. Her eyes didn’t seem to be fully opened. There was a clam shell under her feet, and there were some sea creatures. Did she want to sleep? It rises slowly from the sea with confidence and kindness. Just like Taiwan slowly rose from the sea as an island 5,000 years ago, it has a lot to do with our culture.” He pointed out that this rise from the sea. The island has been intertwined with different civilizations in history, including Western civilization, Japanese civilization, and Chinese civilization. Under the collision of several civilizations, it most wants to know what it looks like.
Director of the National Museum of Fine Arts Chen Kuiyi (front row from left), curator of the National Museum of Fine Arts Xue Yanling and Minister of Culture Li Yuan admire Huang Tushui’s work “Sakyamuni Emerges from the Mountain”. (Photo by reporter Dong Boting)
Chen Kuiyi, director of the National Museum of Fine Arts, pointed out that it is of great significance that Huang Tushui’s works can be exhibited back at his alma mater. “This exhibition is not only a sorting and research on Huang Tushui’s art, but also a reflection on the era in which he lived and what he was doing at that time. Faced with the impact of Western culture, the Japanese art world has launched a more profound discussion on how to pursue the preservation of local characteristics and values.”
Murakami Kei said in an interview that through this exhibition, “you can see how artists based in Tokyo at that time learned art.” By appreciating the collections of the Taiwan and Japan museums, the public can “see how that era influenced Huang Tushui’s paintings. Through the exhibition, visitors can also see the creative enthusiasm displayed by the young Huang Tushui and his contemporaries in Tokyo.
Huang Tushui was born in Taipei. He was the first Taiwanese student to enter the Tokyo Art School and the first modern sculptor to be selected for the Imperial Art Exhibition. He studied at the Tokyo Art School from 1915 to 1922 and studied under the Japanese woodcarving master Mitsuun Takamura. Then in 1923 He established his own studio near Ikebukuro, Tokyo, until his death at the age of 36. During the more than 10 years since Huang Tusui devoted himself to studying the integration of Eastern spirit and Western techniques, which nourished his creative nutrients, since the end of Meiji and the beginning of Taisho, Japanese society is facing the transition of generations, the impact and integration of new and old values, innovation and inheritance.
The exhibition is co-curated by Xue Yanling, curator of the National Art Museum, and Kei Murakami, associate professor of the Art Planning Laboratory of Tokyo University of the Arts. In addition to the self-portraits of Taiwanese artists who arrived to study at the University of the Arts, such as Chen Chengbo, Yan Shuilong, and Guo Baichuan. A special “Loess Tushu Thematic Area” displays 10 works of Huang Tushu, including “Nectar Water”, “Statue of Sakyamuni Emerging from the Mountain”, “Portraits of Buffaloes”, as well as related literature and other information. Among them, Huang Tushu published in “Oriental” is also displayed The magazine’s articles provided suggestions and insights into Taiwan’s art scene at that time. The exhibition will be on display in Exhibition Rooms 3 and 4 of the Tokyo University of the Arts University Art Museum from September 6 to October 20. For details, please visit the Tokyo University of the Arts official website. (https://www.geidai.ac.jp/)
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Source: China