Soft light from outside a window highlights the nape of the neck of a woman staring in this direction. The title suggests that the artist’s primary interest was in capturing this light rather than his model’s face. The painting was made by Yokohama-born Arishima Ikuma while he was studying in France. In 1906 Arishima had had the good fortune in Paris to see a major retrospective of Paul Cézanne, which had caused a sensation in the art world. After seeing the show, he had also helped introduce Cézanne to Japan through his contributions to magazines. This painting, in which he has sought to capture light with rough and quick brushstrokes, reveals his enthusiasm and struggles to master a new form of expression he had learned from Cézanne and the Impressionists.
(KATADA Yuko)
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Soft light from outside a window highlights the nape of the neck of a woman staring in this direction. The title suggests that the artist’s primary interest was in capturing this light rather than his model’s face. The painting was made by Yokohama-born Arishima Ikuma while he was studying in France. In 1906 Arishima had had the good fortune in Paris to see a major retrospective of Paul Cézanne, which had caused a sensation in the art world. After seeing the show, he had also helped introduce Cézanne to Japan through his contributions to magazines. This painting, in which he has sought to capture light with rough and quick brushstrokes, reveals his enthusiasm and struggles to master a new form of expression he had learned from Cézanne and the Impressionists.
(KATADA Yuko)