抄録
The trans-geographic development of modern artistic movements related to artist relocation has become a specific field of research in early 20th century Art History. The artists’ “Passage” to Paris, Walter Benjamin’s “City of Lights”, is a good example of this. During the first three decades of the 20th century these artists, predominantly non-French and from various countries including Japan, constituted the École de Paris (School of Paris). This paper examines those Japanese artists who came to Paris from post-Meiji modern Japan, focusing on two contemporary painters: Tsuguharu Léonard Foujita, emblematic artist of the École de Paris, and Koichiro Kondo, impressionist ink painter, model of Kama of La Condition Humaine (Man’s Fate, 1933) by French novelist André Malraux.
The modern artistic Japanese scene is characterized by a complex situation of double challenges: continuation of traditional Japanese artistic values encouraged by Fenollosa and Okakura while catching up with Western knowledge and technology. Each artist was highly tempted by the West. Once in Europe, though, they suffered from the confrontation of cultural identity, universal artistic values, and fundamentally imposed Eurocentric aesthetics. Through contemporary European avant-garde art and spiritual dialogue with past master works, these artists experienced an awakening of Far East identity, while searching for and assimilating to European aesthetics. They found their “other self” in Paris.
The analysis of the awakening process of these two artists reveals a complex artistic identity affirming a hybrid style, a fusion of East and West. This synergy of two complementary entities generates a new and dynamic spirit. Through intercourse with the West, artistic Japan has achieved far-reaching dimensions.
