Saturday, April 19, 2014

岡田美術館と歌麿 - Utamaro and Okada Museum



強羅の岡田美術館まで出掛けて、歌麿の「深川の雪」を観て来た。幅3.4mの巨大な肉筆画と聞いていたが、想像していたよりは小振りの作品だった。歌麿の筆致はさて置き、ややくすんだ青が主体の色彩は豪華さの点では恐らく米国にある「吉原の花」に譲るのではないかという印象だった。
それよりもあっけに取られたのはこの美術館そのもので、日本絵画は蒼々たる日本画家の名が並ぶ。展示作品でその腕前にみとれてしまう絵師は、個人的には、尾形光琳・酒井抱一・鈴木其一及び守一父子・伊藤若冲・喜多川歌麿・葛飾北斎・上村松園・小林古径・橋本雅邦などなど。先日観た院展100周年特別展よりも充実感を覚えたくらいだ。
今回の特別展には北斎春画もあり、このテーマは今年始めの芸術新潮でもイギリスの展覧会に関する特集記事が組まれていたくらいだから注目度もあるのだろう。大胆且つ大らかに男女が交わる図がわずか数点だが、うっかり素通りして入口を見落としそうな小部屋に控えめな展示がされていた。
この美術館のもうひとつの柱が東洋陶磁器のコレクションで、紀元前10数世紀(殷の時代)の細密模様が施された「饕餮文方罍」なる青銅器にまず息を飲んだあと、清朝の景徳鎮を中心に野々村仁清、尾形乾山など網羅された器を次から次へと観ていくのは大仕事だ。僕は乾山作の複数の角皿が最も強く印象に残ったが、これらはカタログには収録されていなかった。鍋島焼もこれまでまとまって鑑賞したことがなく興味深かった。
これら厖大なコレクションが一個人の蒐集で、それだけでこんな美術館が出来てしまうとは、一体何者なのかと調べて見ると、パチンコ、スロットマシン・メーカーで業界の王として君臨する岡田和生氏がそれもわずか15年くらいかけて蒐集したものらしい。美術館は昨年10月のオープンで、入場料は2800円と普通の約2倍もするので、入口で「えっ?」と聞き返す訪問客が少なくない。屋外の足湯スポットからは風神雷神図の大パノラマが眺められる趣向で、これは開館に合わせて会場へのアプローチを飾るオブジェとして組み上げられた75cm角パネル640枚構成の福井江太郎の作品。



www.okada-museum.com

I went to Hakone to see Utamaro’s “Snow in Fukagawa” in Okada Museum in Gohra. The recently rediscovered ukiyoe painting was said to be large with 3.4 meter width, but it did not actually look so large as I had expected. Apart from Utamaro’s detail touch, its dominant color was rusty blue, and from the viewpoint of colorful gorgeousness, I guess “Flowers in Yoshiwara” now in Connecticut might be superior.

More striking was the museum itself to me. Renowned names in Japanese drawing history lined up here, and going through the works on display, I would highlight Korin Ogata, Hoitsu Sakai, Kiitsu and Morikazu Suzuki, Jakuchu Itoh, Utamaro Kitagawa, Hokusai Katsushika, Shoen Uemura, Kokei Kobayashi, Gaho Hashimoto, and so on for their exceptional skill of drawing.

This special exhibition also includes Hokusai’s pornographic Ukiyoe on display. The “Shunga”(porn Ukiyoe) may be generally topical today as a theme observing it was the feature article in Geijutsu Shincho art magazine earlier this year focusing on the exhibition in London. Anyway, a few pictures of a couple’s moment of bold and open intercourse were shown in a smallish room somewhat hesitantly whose entrance could be easily overlooked if you are less attentive.

The other core of the museum is the collection of Asian porcelain and ceramics. One would first of all gasp with the minute and precise patterns on more than 30-century old Chinese bronze pot, then follows the huge collection mainly focused on Jingdezhen in Qing dynasty as well as Japanese masterpieces of Ninsei Nonomura and Kenzan Ogata. It will be a hard work for visitors to go through all these. I was most impressed with the square plates by Kenzan which were not included in the published catalog book unfortunately.

This huge collection in the whole museum is purely private by a single individual, and my automatic question was “who is he?” Mr. Kazuo Okada is the owner of a “pachinko” and slot-machine manufacturer and reputed as the King of the gamble world who started collecting arts some 15 years ago. The museum opened last October. The admission fee is 2800 Yen, which is rather high, twice higher than typical fees, that makes some visitors utter “what?” at the ticket counter.

Outside of the museum building was the area with foot-warmer hotspring pool where you can enjoy the panoramic view of “Wind God, Thunder God” through the glass wall. It is composed of 640 brass gilt panels of 2.5 feet length each by Kohtaro Fukui for the opening of the museum.

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