SOMETIMES IT IS THE
MODEL
AND NOT THE ARTIST!
Years ago when I
first started studying European art seriously I noticed certain aspects
which I was having trouble reconciling. Could an art work be good if an
artist was a lousy draftsman? (Now I know it can.) Can a draftsman be
remarkable and still produce a rotten work of art? (Of course! But naturally
this is all subjective. What isn't?)
Jean Dominique
Ingres, unquestionably the finest portraitist of his day - even if the eyes
of his sitters were all somewhat almond shaped - was previewing one of the
annual salons. One whole room, as I recall, was devoted solely to this
master. While wandering through the cavernous chambers Ingres entered the
room with the Delacroixs. Ingres always wore a cape so on this occasion he
swept one side of it up covering his eyes dramatically and reaching out with
the other arm saying to his companion - whoever that was - something like
this: "Lead me from this place. This is not art!" For years I understood
what Ingres was saying although I must admit that I did have a sort of
naughty appreciation for Delacroix.
Ingres himself had
been railed against by at least one critic when he unveiled one of his
finest masterpieces "The Grand Odalisque". Too many vertebrae! One too many.
Or, was it too few? Don't remember, but that is not the point. The point is
summed up in Ingres' response: "If I had had to learn anatomy I never would
have become an artist." Naturally this is more of a rationale than an
answer. Surely he would have become an artist anyway although he did play a
wicked violin. But I digress. Ingres' criticism of Delacroix did not seem
completely unfounded. There was something awkward about some of Delacroix's
figures. That is....that is...that is...until I ran across a small volume of
photos of some of his models. One fellow in particular seemed overly
muscular, a bit stunted - leg-wise - and with a rather oddly shaped head.
And then I saw the photograph juxtaposed with drawing. Oooops! It was the
model and not the artist. Also, I must admit now that looking more closely
at his legs they don't seem stunted at all. Good thing I am not giving a
crime report.
It is one thing
that Cezanne and Matisse showed little propensity for academic drawing, but
Delacoix? The photo showed that I was wrong. Perhaps Ingres was attacking
the riot of color and the loose brush work. He didn't specify as far as I
know.
That brings me
around to the matter of the print featured on this page. Kunihira is not a
household name. Not even close. The work is stiff and awkward. The face of
the figure is poorly drawn - or so I thought until earlier this week.
One visitor to our
site who lives in a major European capital - let's call this person "C" -
wrote me about this print. "I've seen that face before!" And sure 'nuf C had
seen it and proved it too me. Either that or every other artist who drew a
likeness of Asao Onimaru was equally bad. Not likely. The only conclusion
that could be drawn is that Onimaru had a face only his mother could love. C
added: "I also find that the actor portrayed has such a striking visage that
he cannot be mistaken as other actors of his time. On page 61 of Schwab,
you'll see plate 11 - actor Asao Kuzaemon as Shiga Danshichi, by an artist
signing as 'Roko' - no other print by him is known. It is dated 1813. This
is the same striking face and expression. [The difference between Kuzaemon
and Onimaru can be explained, but I don't how just yet.] Then you can find
the same actor in Hendrick Lühl's little yellow book, Osaka-Holzschnitte, on
page 45, dated 1821, by Yoshikuni." Thanks C for bringing this to our
attention.
This image is being
shown courtesy of
Kabuki21,
the finest English
web site of its kind on the Internet.
Actually I should
not be so surprised by this turn of events. The 20th century has been filled
with numerous examples of prominent actors who had distinctive, if not
craggy, features: Charles Laughton, Charles Bronson, Anthony Quinn and
Humphrey Bogart just to name a few. But at least in their cases we have
photographs and films which hardly lie.
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