Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

Th e Cou rie r-Mail 28 June 1982 Arts and Entertainment Sheer beauty, magic \1 a<tcrp1eces from the ldemit>u Col– lect ion .ire <i mply a superb experi– ence. i\ s 1ou cnlcr th is special space (3 1 th e Queensland Art Gall er)) t h rough a genu ine Japa nese 1ca– hou,c. 1ou arc in a land of sheer beau 1) ~ nd magic. \ ,J11 ,,re asked 10 pa I' befo re you en- 1er 1h1s "land of wonders," and do ,o gladly please, beca use you really " ould do you rself a disservice if you missed out on this experience. The publ ic responded so well to the cxh1bit1ons Columbian Gold, and Chi– nese Pain ting (for which they paid an cn tr) fee ) 1ha1 the gallery authorities had been greatly encouraged to obtain more of that standard. If anything. the Idem itsu Collection surpas.ses that. The fi rst object that keeps you rivet• ed is a majestic, vibrant jar of unglazed ea rthenwa re qating fr0m the second mi llcnium BC. Thi,, mo,1 probably, is a buria l jar: it is one of the olde>t pot– tery piece, to be found in Japan .. On~ is compelled to ask the old quest ion. "Is there such a thing as progress in art ?" Of course, there is not: only change. In as much as I am concerned. I'd gladl) pay the S4 (for adult, ) just to ,cc that piece only. But then. I am an en- 1h1bias1. Other cera mic, included in this exhi– bi tion range from a Yao type jar of the ,econd century i\ D (classed as Import• ant Cult ura l Properl)') to tea bowls wh ic h cpi1omi,e the 4ual itics most lrca!lurcd by famous 1canrn~tcr!I, i.e. " the incomplc1c. the unobtrusive. lhe sugges1il•c and the transient," 10 I71h– l 91h centuries porcel ain and stone– ware . richlv adorned with undergla,e .1nd enamel ,11·crgla1.c decora tions ware, 1ha1 found favor with European taste of the times. \1 y pcr,onal taste favor, ,ome lovely ,4u ,1re dishes by Ogata Kcnlan. whose pollery. in his lifetime, was nol a fi nan– cial success Rul now 10 1the se lovel y. lovel y screens! Where would Istar1 ·1 As news– pa per space is a problem, lei me jusl 1alk abou1 a ,c ·een with very special appeal to me. II is a pai r of six-fold screens by an anonymous painter of the 17th ceniury. The work is considered the oldesl cx- 1an1 ill11stra1ion of a Kabuki play in $Crccn form C hern blu~~orn intcrwcnvcs with g,1ld e11 ba nds of cloud on a scn,1111us ground of (strangely) autumnal color,. There is melancholy in the air. The small figures, wilh their pallerned ki– monos. blend into a sell ing of richly po· ctic C\'OCa tion. Contras1ing with the glamor of the gold-ground-screens arc the sparse ink pai nti ng,. such as tha1 of a sleeping crow on a wintry bra nch (dale 1680), which recalls 1he well known Chinese prolOl)pe by Mu-Ch'i: and the Chinese inn uence is noted in se1•eral landscape scrolls. such as lhose bv Hokusal. and in Ikeno Tasga's dynamic Landscape of the T11 elve Mon1h,. whkh reminds me ,,f 1he Chinese literati pai n1ers, such as we have ,ecn recently in the Chinese exhib11ion 11 is fr,,111 calligraphy (1h, East val– ues 11 more highly than painting) thnt 1he Ea,tcrn painter le•rns all about brush and ink and about rhythmic vi– t,d1 t~ ,1 nd c,pre~i'vcncss. Therefore. it i~ more tha n welcome 1hat ,ome " ondcrfu l calligra phy scrolls .ire ,ncluded. <uch as 1he one by Sojun, ,r "ho<e work 1hc catalogue says. "A <1a 1emen1 classic of Zen Buddhis1ethic -- 1n both <tvle and content." Th i, . ,u rci) applies too. 10 1he three ,·.illigraph) ,rn,lls by Scngai. whu i, c,in,1dercd one ,if the greatest ,if all Zen :1r11,1 -ca lliµrn pher, There " li11le need 1,, 11 nder,1and the .I ., pa nc<c l.1ngu:1µe in ,,rdcr w gel deep- 1, n,,wed b1 1he :ibs1r:1c1bea ut \' and in• rier life e,,ire, cd in those calligra phic i.:h.1r,1\.·1cn, The c.11 ,ilngu c 1n the nh ib11 ion is ful11 dl11,1r.11cd in c,,lor. " ith annota• 111•n, 1h111"ill be found •·nluable. ca :RTRl DE 1.Ai'iGER ' "A BEAUTY Under AWillow", painted by 17th centurr Japanese arl• ist Nishikawa Sukenbou - one or the masterpieces or the Idemitsu Col• lection 11 Queensland Art Galler •, \ ,