There have been a lot of articles recently about people going somewhere and seeing something, but even though this is a photography blog, I haven’t taken any photos at all.
To be honest, I still don’t feel like I’ve fully recovered from the energy and stamina I lost during the intense heat, so it’s hard for me to get into the mood to go out with my camera hanging from my neck. There’s no point in forcing myself, so I’ll just continue to take photos and write my blog in a natural way, taking it easy and going at my own pace.
Leaving aside the excuses, this time I went to see the Isson Tanaka Exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Tobi) in Ueno.
The exhibition will run until December 1st, but if you’re not careful, the end of the exhibition will come before you know it, so it’s best to go when you can. I had some free time on a weekday afternoon, so I headed to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.
Rather than trying to show off my own poor knowledge of the artist, I’ll just quote the lead copy from the official website of the museum, which is 100 times better than anything I could write.
The artist Tanaka Isson (1908-1977) devoted his life to the pursuit of his own art.
This exhibition is a major retrospective that introduces the full scope of Isson’s work, from his childhood, when he was known as a child prodigy, to his final works, which he painted on Amami Oshima, the island where he died.
Isson’s life, which was devoted to painting with his whole body and soul, without concern for worldly success, can be said to be the “trace of unyielding passion”.
His paintings, which are full of the clear light of nature, are the crystallization of that passion, and in their quiet, serene atmosphere, they seem to also contain the undying radiance of his soul.
Since this is a large-scale retrospective exhibition that covers all of his works throughout his life, there is plenty of both quality and quantity.
EPSON MFP image
Of course, I am drawn to his famous “Adan no Umibe” (Beach of Adan) and other works like “The Brilliance of the Soul” from his later years in Amami, but I am also fascinated by the many Southern School and landscape paintings from his youth and adolescence, which brim with youthful talent, the many portraits, folding screen paintings, fusuma paintings, etc. that he provided to his supporters as a means of earning a living , the many experimental works he produced through his self-study in spite of his lack of recognition in the art world, all of these are important parts of the story of this solitary genius painter, and were a great highlight of the exhibition.
It seems that the exhibition will change from late October. I wonder if I should go again.
