Artist: Hara, Kumataro
Date: 1906
Size: 130 x 97 cm
Technique: Oil On Canvas
What was it the artist was depicting–a nude painting her own shadow or the shadow cast by his own from from behind, as he painted a picture in the identical pose? This is a work by Hara Busho, done while he was residing in England. A nude, bathed in light shining from behind her, lifts a hand holding a brush to the shadow on the wall. It is a beautiful nude with a mysterious air. Hara Busho never involved himself with the Western style painting community in which Kuroda Seiki and the pleinairists thrived nor exhibited his works publicly, and died at the age of 46. In recent years, recognition of the legitimacy of his exploration of methods and expressions intrinsic to oil painting has brought him much praise. This work was painted during the approximately three years Hara spent in England, during which time he started this artistic pursuit. He first covered the canvas with two layers of underpainting, leaving traces of arc-shaped brushstrokes visible. Then, onto this surface, he painted from life, having the model actually pose in this manner and applying paint thickly to the illuminated areas of the body. Hara mastered these traditional techniques not by affiliating himself with any school or organization, but by repeatedly visiting museums to earnestly study actual works by Rembrandt and other artists and make copies of them. His copying technique was such that it won the praises of the contemporary English art critic M.H.Spielmann. Nude was painted the year before Hara’s return to Japan, around the time he was attempting to progress from copying to finding his own unique style. After returning to Japan, Hara fell ill without being able to develop further the results of his study abroad and died in splendid isolation. (Writer : Naomi Sakonju Source : Selected Masterpieces from The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music: Grand Opening Exhibition, The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, 1999)
Artist |
|
|---|---|
Download |
|
Permissions |
Free for non commercial use. See below. |
 |
This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. However - you may not use this image for commercial purposes and you may not alter the image or remove the watermark. This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.
|
Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has 100 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may
not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not implement the
