Introduction of Chapters

• Chapter 1: First Encounters – Itaya Hazan, Kosugi Hōan, and Idemitsu Sazo

  The Museum founder Idemitsu Sazo (1885-1981) is known, on the one hand, for passionately collecting fine antiques of Japan and the East, and on the other, nurturing close connections with artists of his period and supporting their creative practices. Ceramic artist Itaya Hazan (1872-1963) and painter Kosugi Hōan (1881-1964) are two representative artists whom the avid collector developed close ties with.
  Sazo’s first encounter with Hazan’s works was around 1924. Since then, Sazo had been deeply touched by the beauty of his works and began developing an intimate relationship. Around 1930-31, Sazo discovered Hōan’s landscape paintings in which he saw connections with the works of the Edo period Zen master Sengai (1750-1837), whose works Sazo had fully endeared and collected. These were the beginnings to the resonances of beauty between Sazo and the artists.

• Chapter 2: Searching for New Expressions – Discovering the West

  The history of Modern Japanese Art took shape under the major theme of responding to new waves of culture from the West. This chapter focuses on Itaya Hazan’s and Kosugi Hōan’s strong curiosity towards new artistic styles and expressions, and further their works created from such perspectives by reviewing their works.
  Hazan experimented with popular styles at the time such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco and adapted them to Japanese ceramics. His modern sense of creativity and unique esthetics towards sculpting later culminated into his original hokō-saiji style produced from mat glaze. Hōan, who served his years in training under the western painter Ioki Bunsai (1863-1906), traveled to Europe at the age of 32. While being deeply inspired by the dream-like painting expressions of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-98), Hōan continued his career as a western painter.

• Specially Featured Topic: Connections with Japanese Painting – Georges Rouault and Sam Francis

  Georges Rouault (1871-1958) was a French painter who, in his early works, expressed the cruelty of the world and the pain of the people living within it. In his late years, Rouault created paintings of affectionate female figures as well as figures of Jesus Christ. Sam Francis (1923-94) was a painter of the Abstract Expressionist movement in the United States, known for his dynamic use of vivid colors.
  The two artists’ works stand out as extraordinary pieces among the collection that were acquired as a result of “resonating beauty” between Sazo and the artists. Sazo was reminded of Japanese painting by Rouault’s thick outlines and sensed a profound spirituality akin to Sengai’s zen-ga (Zen painting) in Francis’ iconic use of “space.” Such connections led Sazo to include their works in his collection.

• Chapter 3: Return to the East and New Creations – Expressions of Old and New

  Itaya Hazan was a pioneer in creating new expressions of design in the history of Japanese ceramics. Focusing on Chinese ceramics, he extensively studied ceramics and crafts of the East as well as tea ceremony utensils, of which he reflected in his celadon and white porcelain ceramic-making. His studies, however, were not merely reproductions of classic works, but imbued with his original creativity. Hazan’s attitude towards ceramic-making perhaps resulted from him studying European art styles. He continued to hold deep respect towards the beauty of ceramics of the East and tea ceremony utensils.
  It was in 1913 when Kosugi Hōan, who was studying abroad in Paris as a young western painter, discovered the masterpiece “The Ten Conveniences” by the literati painter Ike Taiga (1723-76). This discovery of the great work, although it was a replica, led him to pursue Japanese and Eastern painting expressions. Since then, Hōan incorporated themes and expressions connected to the East in his oil paintings and used vivid coloration on Chinese hemp paper to create Japanese paintings. Through these techniques, Hōan sought to portray the ideal world of the East.