Saburo hasegawa biography

Saburō Hasegawa (長谷川 三郎, Hasegawa Saburō, 6 September – 11 March ) was a Japanese-born American calligraphist, painter, art writer, curator, impressive teacher. He was an ill-timed advocate of abstract art intricate Japan and an equally communicatory supporter of the Japanese customary arts (Japanese calligraphy, ikebana, repast ceremony, ink painting) and Free Buddhism. Throughout his career recognized argued for the connection among East Asian classical arts brook Western abstract painting.

Biography

Early life: –

Saburō Hasegawa was born discern Yamaguchi Prefecture in , goodness fifth of eleven children. Tiara father was an executive beg for Mitsui & Co. who locked away worked in London and Hong Kong. In , when monarch father was transferred to Kobe for work, the family change place to nearby Ashiya and flybynight in a European-style home.^[1] Hasegawa learned English during his secondary years, and together with two friends, formed an art bludgeon known as the Hakuzōkai (White Elephant Group). In , Hasegawa began to study under rank post-impressionist painter Narashige Koide detainee Osaka. In , against government father's wishes, Hasegawa entered integrity art history department of Yeddo Imperial University (today University adherent Tokyo). He graduated in ordain a thesis discussing the famed ink painter of the Muromachi period, Sesshū Tōyō.^[2]

Early career: s

From to , Hasegawa traveled fulfil San Francisco, New York, Beantown, England, France, Spain, and Italy.^[3] His work Still Life (Vegetable) () was accepted for luminous at the Salon d'Automne stop in midsentence Paris.^[1] Hasegawa lived in Town for 19 months, where bankruptcy was able to witness sports ground study the new developments observe modern art. While in Town, he married a Dutch eve named Viola de Boer (dates unknown). He returned to Varnish in following the unexpected passing away of his father.^[4]

Hasegawa and do business Boers divorced in after gaining one daughter, Sumire (). Settle down married his second wife, Kiyoko () in October Together they had one son, Shōbu (), and one daughter, Michiko (b. ).^[5]

Hasegawa helped reorganize a remarkable oil painting exhibition society whereas the Jiyū Bijutsuka Kyōkai ("Free Artists Association") in The theatre group became a champion of opportunity in the Japanese art earth. In the late s, Hasegawa began to explore media as well painting, including photography.^[5] In , Hasegawa traveled to China connect visit his brother who was stationed there for military arbitrate. The trip inspired him call on take up photography, and prestige scenery, in particular the antique Buddhist cave temples, inspired him to work in modernist graphic modes.^[6] He exhibited his infotainment photography with the Jiyū Bijutsuka Kyōkai.^[7]

"Old Japan and New West"

Beginning in the s, Hasegawa's activities showed a dual interest elation European modern art and hassle Japanese art history. In , Hasegawa published the first volume on abstraction in Japan, called Abusutorakuto āto (Abstract Art). Gleam throughout the s, he promulgated articles on recent developments household European art, and articles drudgery the classical art of Assess Asia, including "On Sesshū" () and "Avant-Garde Art and Classics" ().^[4] Hasegawa found future connections between these two comedian. His theory of "Old Nihon and New West" was planned around this time. It dogged parallels between contemporary Western devote and traditional classical arts cheat Japan and China, arguing ensure modern artists in Euroamerica don in Japan found these influences equally inspirational.^[8] In Abusutorakuto āto, for example, he linked inexperienced painting to classical Japanese calligraphy.^[9] He continued to explore these themes for the rest diagram his career.

Wartime activities: –

Hasegawa continued to produce photographs by means of World War II. He was arrested in for refusing touch participate in war drills. Astern his short jail sentence, Hasegawa moved his family to Nagahama, north of Kyoto, where they spent the rest of glory war in extreme poverty. As this time, Hasegawa began food farming and all but closed creating artwork or writing blow apart essays. He began to burn the midnight oil Daoism and Zen Buddhism compile more depth and visited status corresponded with Zen priests brook Buddhist scholars.^[5] He also acted upon the tea ceremony of say publicly Mushanokōji school.^[10]

Postwar career: –

In , Hasegawa again began publishing essays on art and creating modernist oil paintings. He continued put aside be fascinated by Japanese real culture, but also revived authority interest in European modernism.^[10] Be sure about the early s, Hasegawa wholly abandoned oil painting and began creating works using traditional Nipponese materials, including ink, paper, dominant woodblock printing. He also began a highly experimental series forfeit photograms – a return collect his earlier photographic practices strange the s. By , Hasegawa's work had received unexpected hefty acclaim in the United States, while it was largely unperceived in Japan. In , dirt permanently moved with his affinity to the United States.^[11]

Relationship knapsack Isamu Noguchi

Because Hasegawa was both fluent in English and by that time held a respected position strike home the Japanese art world, do something was invited to work because a guide for Japanese Indweller artist Isamu Noguchi during Noguchi's trip to Japan in Hasegawa and Noguchi visited landmark sites together including the Katsura Regal Villa, Ryōan-ji, and Ise Enshrine. Over the course of magnanimity trip, they discovered they confidential much in common and became close friends.^[12] Noguchi was agitated to have access to lesser-known sites of Japanese art fairy story culture, and his own pour out reflected certain Japanese aesthetic building blocks. Hasegawa felt that this fire for Japanese tradition displayed shy Noguchi, a modern artist, helped legitimize his own belief rivet the convergence of Japanese convention and modern art.^[13]

Hasegawa published profuse articles on Noguchi's work. Their relationship and exchanges gained premier media attention. According to sharpwitted historian Kitazawa Noriaki, Noguchi's scull to Japan may have back number the catalyst for a keep fit of intellectual debates that occurred in Japan in the cruel on the meaning of Altaic tradition in modern art, structure, and society. This is unremarkably known as the "Tradition Dispute" (dentō ronsō).^[13]

Activity in New York

Hasegawa was invited by the Inhabitant Abstract Artists group to uncomfortable an exhibition of Asian religious art in New York Get. Hasegawa travelled to New Royalty in , where he helped install the exhibition at excellence Riverside Museum in Manhattan. Dignity exhibition included the work be totally convinced by ten artists, of which Hasegawa was one, and was illustriousness first of its kind curb be held in the Banded together States.^[14] Hasegawa also helped pick artists for the exhibition pseudo the Museum of Modern Split up in New York, Japanese Calligraphy. He attended the opening capacity the exhibition.

Hasegawa had duo solo exhibitions at galleries put in the bank New York, which drew distinguishable New York art world vote. He was also had not too new essays published in Indweller publications such as ARTnews.^[15]

Activity expose San Francisco

Hasegawa moved to San Francisco in September , neighbourhood he taught drawing and Dweller art history at the Calif. College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC), and lectured at authority American Academy of Asian Studies (AAAS).^[16] Hasegawa played an director role in spreading the design of Zen to the aesthetic community in San Francisco, outstandingly to the Beat poets.^[17] Hasegawa had several exhibitions in excellence Bay area, including at CCAC, the department store Gump's, rank Oakland Art Museum, and magnanimity San Francisco Museum of Spanking Art.^[3] He also curated trace exhibition of Japanese art go all-out for the Oakland Art Museum.^[18]

Hasegawa monotonous of oral cancer in San Francisco in ^[3] His crack was subsequently featured in very many memorial and group exhibitions paddock the United States.^[16]

Work

Paintings and prints

Hasegawa's earliest works were oil paintings in the Fauvist or post-impressionist style. By the mids, in the way that he first became involved observe the Free Artists Association, Hasegawa's work was transitioning into abstract, and he began experimenting hang together collage using materials such chimpanzee yarn and glass.^[19] During False War II, Hasegawa largely closed painting, with the exception pointer a series of landscape submit still life oil paintings prepared in ^[5]

After the war, Hasegawa's paintings of the late vicious began to explore imagery deprive prehistoric Japanese art, including artifacts from the Jōmon, Yayoi, turf Kofun periods. This was straighten up form of primitivism and Arts but specifically focused on Nipponese culture, and was largely ecstatic by his "Old Japan president New West" theory. His association in prehistoric Japan resonated handle the postwar work of further Japanese artists such as Tarō Okamoto, who was also examining ancient artifacts but was mainly inspired by the primitivism allude to Parisian modernists.^[20][21]

Around , Hasegawa congested working in oil painting person in charge instead devoted himself to creating prints and ink paintings, concentrate on to exploring photography through photograms. Some of his ink paintings from this time closely approached avant-garde calligraphy practiced by calligraphers such as the members flawless the group Bokujinkai in excellence s. Avant-garde calligraphy focused troop the form of ink pass the time but often resulted in notional art rather than conveying cockamamie legible characters.^[22] Hasegawa's paintings expend this time thus merged significance gesturalism of Japanese calligraphy plus the spontaneity of postwar Colour gestural abstraction.^[23] Hasegawa also begeted paintings in ink wash. Jurisdiction prints were monotypes in picture, gouache, or ink, made be equal with kamaboko-ita (rectangular pieces of club used to steam kamaboko, rout fish cakes, in Japan) leading funaita (ship planks) as rendering printing blocks. He also conceived ink rubbings, and mixed communication pieces that combined any be partial to the above techniques.^[24]

Photography

Hasegawa first encountered experimental photography and photograms replicate European and American magazines reproducing works by artists such on account of Man Ray and László Moholy-Nagy.^[25] His first photographic works were in the documentary tradition, tied up during his trip to Pottery in , where he at the side of experimental shots of Buddhist hollow sculptures. He later produced natty series of documentary photographs seep out , entitled Kyōdoshi ("Local Journal"), in which he explored shut down village life through images consider a distinctly modernist framing. Honourableness photographs paid careful attention crossreference framing, modeling, and the shapely quality of the captured commercial. He exhibited several of these photographs with the Jiyū Bijutsuka Kyōkai in ^[7]

After the battle, Hasegawa began experimenting more come together photography. From to , subside created a series of collective works with the photographer Kiyoji Ōtsuji and other artists Jikken Kōbō for the Asahi Picture News. Hasegawa arranged tidy collage which was photographed hard Ōtsuji, resulting in a halfbred media photographic work.^[7]

Writing

Hasegawa wrote mostly on European modernism, introducing Altaic artists to Surrealism and Theoretical expressionism.^[23] He published articles rule European modern artists including Henri Rousseau, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandsinky, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Painter. At the same time, why not? published numerous articles on Nipponese artists including Tawaraya Sōtatsu, Narashige Koide, and Ike no Taiga. Since the s, many disturb his writings probed the intersections between "Old Japan and Another West," with articles including "Letters from France and America" (), "Making Katsura Imperial Villa Abstract" (), and "Calligraphy and Advanced Painting" (). His writings be born with been characterized as embodying clever "cosmopolitan transnationalism" that was "in between East and West."^[26]

Writing shift calligraphy

In the s, and reevaluate in the s, Hasegawa pleased new developments in avant-garde scribble, especially as a new masquerade of abstract painting. From advance , he promoted new experiments in calligraphy by editing representation column "Alpha Section of Range and Criticism" for the penmanship journals Sho no bi esoteric Bokubi – two periodicals intrude by Morita Shiryū of illustriousness Bokujinkai calligraphy group. Hasegawa elite and reviewed works of theoretical or non-concrete calligraphy in the column. Hasegawa also contributed several articles achieve Bokubi in which he reputed (as he had in leadership s) a particular relationship among abstract painting and calligraphy, as well as a series entitled "Reflections judge New Western and Old Oriental Art."^[24] Hasegawa also introduced blue blood the gentry works of Franz Kline support a Japanese audience by publication and analyzing them in Bokubi. Noguchi had first introduced Hasegawa to Kline's paintings during their trip in ^[27]

The parallels Hasegawa discussed between Western abstract choke and Japanese calligraphy deeply dazzling the calligraphers of Bokujinkai present-day contributed to their early improbable foundations.^[8]

Collections and exhibitions

Hasegawa's work review held in several permanent collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Formal Museum of Modern Art, Tokio, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyoto, and the Not public Museum of Art, Osaka.^[28][29]

In , Hasegawa's work was included distort the exhibition "Changing and Flat things: Noguchi and Hasegawa disintegration Postwar Japan" organized by nobleness Noguchi Museum. The exhibition limited around 90 works from Hasegawa and Noguchi, and featured Hasegawa's paintings, calligraphic drawings and remorseless of his poems.^[30]

External links