In the Japanese art world from the end of the Meiji era to the beginning of the Taisho era, contemporary overseas trends were introduced through either people who had visited Europe or publications from Europe, and an enthusiasm towards innovative expression that is not restricted by traditional rules or style emerged. In particular, what arose was a manifestation of the absolute freedom and individuality in self-expression. This tendency was notably strong in the field of painting, where a number of artists, inspired by the style of Van Gogh and Matisse, began to explore the possibilities of their own expression.

This desire for innovation also occurred in the field of printmaking, another two-dimensional artistic form, and led to the “Sosaku-hanga (creative prints)” movement, which sought to reclaim creativity in printmaking from mere reproduction techniques (*1). ONCHI Koshiro (1891-1955) is known as an artist in this lineage, and also as a pioneer of abstract expression in Japan.

ONCHI Koshiro was born as the fourth son of his father, Wadachi, a prosecutor at the Tokyo District Court. As per his father’s wish, Koshiro tried to become a medical doctor and entered Doitsugaku Kyokai Junior High School (School of the Society for German Studies), but failed the entrance examination for Daiichi High School (one of the first high schools in Japan under the prewar education system). In December 1909, while studying for another year’s high school entrance exam, Koshiro came across a book by TAKEHISA Yumeji (1884-1934) entitled “A Collection of Works by Yumeji: Spring” (Rakuyodo). ONCHI immediately sent Yumeji a letter expressing how he found the book. This was the start of his personal admiration towards TAKEHISA Yumeji. Koshiro did not go on to study medicine, and enrolled in the preparatory course in the Western Painting Department at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. Yet, instead of this formal educational environment, it was at Yumeji’s, which Koshiro attended with such enthusiasm that he later called it “Yumeji School” (*2), that he began to make prints with his contemporaries TANAKA Kyokichi (1892-1915) and FUJIMORI Shizuo (1891-1943), with whom he initiated friendships. They too were attending an academic education as art students, but, as they weren’t really satisfied with the old-fashioned ways of teaching, they threw themselves into woodblock printing as a means of experimental creation.

The print magazine “Tsukuhae”, established by these three artists, survives today in two versions: a hand-printed private edition and a machine-printed public edition. Six private editions were published in a short period of time between April 1914 and July 1914, and the public edition was published from November 1914 to November 1915. The decadent imagery evokes night and darkness, and the Van Gogh-like undulating line engravings cling to the emaciated human body: always there was a sense of sentimentality and even death. The motifs of life and death, shared by all three artists, reflected the pressing circumstances of the real world: the death of close friends and relatives, and the fact that TANAKA’s body was affected by an epidemic (tuberculosis). The production of the private book itself was intended to be a hurried preparation for TANAKA, who was ill.

While TANAKA and FUJIMORI carve unreliably long and thin deformed motifs of human body and light and shadow in a rough way, as if they are resisting the negative image, ONCHI’s expression has a more static and graphic approach. “Lyric I” (Image 2), featured in the public edition of “Tsukuhae” I, was produced four months earlier under the title “Tears” and was already included in the private edition of “Tsukuhae” III. In this work, a large eye glares fiercely at the viewer. Despite the specific motif of the eye, the division of the picture by the crossing of the white lines and the group of white ray-like lines in the upper right also tell the artist’s interest in graphic motifs.

In the works “Wish of Idiot” (Image 3) and “Things across the Sky” (Image 4), the titles give only the slightest hint that the motifs can be something figurative, but the images represented remain deeply embedded in ONCHI’s consciousness, as if they defy the viewer’s simple interpretation. In addition, Koshiro produced “Lyric: Enlightening Moment” (Image 5), which has been considered as the first abstract artwork in Japan, and “Lyric” series, in which the gradual arcs, polygons and the echoing tones of colours are woven together to create a space on a mere 10cm square of paper. In the following years, ONCHI attempted a manifestation of mental images, and a visual reconstruction of motifs such as still lifes and vessels, by changing the medium of his creation from prints to pen-and-ink drawings, oil paintings and book cover design.

The public edition of “Tsukuhae” ended with the seventh edition entitled “Farewell” as it was not economically sustainable. But TANAKA sadly passed away before the final issue was published. As mentioned, at the time of editing the “Tsukuhae” magazine, each of the three artists was facing the bereavement of siblings and friends, and there are glimpses of a sense of sorrow for their deaths in their works. TANAKA devoted his life to “Tsukuhae”, while FUJIMORI and ONCHI overcame their loss and deepened their own creativities.

More than 100 years have passed since the first publication of “Tsukuhae”. As ever, our lives are easily lost to unexpected disasters or to minute virus invasions. Art has no power to cure illness, and the words “lyricism” and “sentimentality” sound not practically useful. But their work seems to tell us that, through a deep introspection of tragedy, we are able to regain our strength and the courage to go on.

KONNO Saki
Curator
Tohoku Fukushi University Serizawa Keisuke Art and Craft Museum

Translation :Naoko Mabon (WAGON)

(*1) Traditional woodblock prints were created by several people across divided production stages, but the “Sosaku-hanga (creative prints)” movement aimed to improve the artistic quality of the prints by having an individual carry out the entire production process themselves (self-drawing, self-carving, self-printing). The “Fisherman” (1904), published in the “Myojo” magazine by YAMAMOTO Kanae (1882-1946), is known as a pioneer of this movement. Subsequent artists were influenced by German Expressionism, such as Kandinsky, whose work ONCHI also saw at the Hibiya Art Gallery in March 1914.

(*2) The “Minatoya”, a shop selling small goods designed by Yumeji, was the base of activities for the three artists until TANAKA Kyokichi returned home due to his deteriorating health. The print magazine “Tsukuhae” was published by Rakuyodo, who was the publisher for Yumeji’s books. Therefore it is believed that, behind the scenes, Yumeji provided support towards the publication of their magazine.

Reference
・“Takehisa Yumeji to sono shuhen” The Miyagi Museum of Art / The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama, 1988
・“Tsukuhae” NHK Plannet Kinki, 2014
・“Onchi Koshiro: Lyric and Modernism” The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo / The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama, 2016

Image captions

All images are from the collection of the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art. Reproduced from public domain images available on the Museum’s official website.

Image 1: ONCHI Koshiro “Lyric: Leap” 1915, woodcut on paper, 13.4 x 9.8 cm (published in “Tsukuhae” VI on 5 May 1915)
Image 2: ONCHI Koshiro “Lyric I” (partial image) 1914, woodcut on paper, 13.3 x 11.0 cm (published in “Tsukuhae” I on 18 September 1914)
Image 3: ONCHI Koshiro “Wish of Idiot” (partial image) 1914, woodcut on paper, 8.6cm x 5.8cm (published in “Tsukuhae” III on 16 December 1914)
Image 4: ONCHI Koshiro “Things across the Sky” (partial image) 1914, woodcut on paper, 13.6cm x 11.0cm (in the collection of “Tsukuhae” III, published on 16 December 1914)
Image 5: ONCHI Koshiro “Lyric: Enlightening Moment” (partial image) 1915, woodcut on paper, 13.5 x 9.6 cm (published in “Tsukuhae” V on 7 March 1915)