The sand dunes are depicted as though seen from the vantage point of a bird in flight. Until this time, Kokuryo Tsunero had focused mostly on painting groups of young people. However, he now started to focus on the dunes themselves rather than on people or objects. His depiction of scenery that appears to show nothing in particular is influenced by the use of neutral space in the Nihon-ga painting that he had studied at Tokyo Fine Arts School (currently Tokyo University of the Arts). The empty sand dunes can be thought of as a blank slate on which to reflect the minds of the artist and the viewer. In addition, Kokuryo saw the accumulated water in the distance as a mirror that reflected himself. In other words, in this work, we can be seen that the sand dunes are no longer a setting for young people, but a setting for examining the artist himself.
(Minamishima Ko)
The sand dunes are depicted as though seen from the vantage point of a bird in flight. Until this time, Kokuryo Tsunero had focused mostly on painting groups of young people. However, he now started to focus on the dunes themselves rather than on people or objects. His depiction of scenery that appears to show nothing in particular is influenced by the use of neutral space in the Nihon-ga painting that he had studied at Tokyo Fine Arts School (currently Tokyo University of the Arts). The empty sand dunes can be thought of as a blank slate on which to reflect the minds of the artist and the viewer. In addition, Kokuryo saw the accumulated water in the distance as a mirror that reflected himself. In other words, in this work, we can be seen that the sand dunes are no longer a setting for young people, but a setting for examining the artist himself.
(Minamishima Ko)