抄録
The magazine “Bijyutsu Shinpo” (translated to ‘Art News’), which was launched in
1902, pioneered art journalism in Japan and introduced 31 artists who worked in Japan
at the time through a series of articles. This study analyzes those articles and explores
what kinds of artists were featured to understand the magazine’s journalism activities.
The magazine often featured and introduced artists who attempted to take on
innovative approaches (Shin-pa) over artists who sought to master existing painting
themes and techniques (Kyu-ha). However, the first artist featured in the inaugural
article was Hiroshi Yoshida, who belonged to the Kyu-ha group. He had just achieved
success at the Ministry of Education Fine Arts Exhibition (Bunten), and his style
matched the magazine’s ethos. Furthermore, the magazine sometimes featured untimely
and overlooked artists, such as Hotsuma Katori. It featured Katori because of his efforts
to understand artistic expression historically and his desire to innovate on top of that.
In summary, the magazine usually selected timely artists based on their standing at
Bunten but also sometimes featured artists depending on its sense of art. This activity
was working to gain the reader’s trust in the magazine’s journalism and, moreover,
display their sense of art.
