2021 Volume 53 Issue 1 Pages 193-200
This article reports the analysis of the subjects and themes of pictorial works by the second-year students in the advanced course of Hiramai Elementary School, Takaoka-city, Toyama. The pictorial works were created and preserved at the school upon graduation as a keepsake during the Taisho and Showa eras. While examining the advanced course education at the school and the trend in Japan’s art education during that period, 491 pictorial works created by the students at the school were analyzed by considering the characteristics of the artwork and the influence of art textbooks on student expression. The results of this study revealed: 1) the students’ pictorial works mainly included copy works from art textbooks and reference books, as well as still-life and scenery pictures, 2) a certain degree of influence from the free-drawing education movement, which was the trend of creating scenery pictures and crayon drawings, was appeared, 3) there were copies of the same pictures as those published in the elementary and secondary education art textbooks, 4) even when copying art textbooks, the arrangements made by the students demonstrated originality and ingenuity evident in the artwork.
