Okada Saburosuke was one of the most important artists who contributed to the development of Western-style painting in Japan in the latter half of the Meiji Era (1868–1912). He was appointed assistant professor at the time of the establishment of the Western Painting Department within the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University of the Arts) in 1896, and the following year he traveled to France as the first Ministry of Education exchange student to study Western painting. This painting is believed to be one of Okada’s early works, created before that time. The challenge he faced was in reproducing three-dimensional elements like the human body, the contours of the face and limbs, the wrinkles in the clothing, and the corners where the floor and walls meet, on a two-dimensional plane. While the brushwork retains a certain stiffness, the realism he has achieved through his mastery of Western-style shading techniques is striking. (HIBINO Miyon)
Okada Saburosuke was one of the most important artists who contributed to the development of Western-style painting in Japan in the latter half of the Meiji Era (1868–1912). He was appointed assistant professor at the time of the establishment of the Western Painting Department within the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University of the Arts) in 1896, and the following year he traveled to France as the first Ministry of Education exchange student to study Western painting. This painting is believed to be one of Okada’s early works, created before that time. The challenge he faced was in reproducing three-dimensional elements like the human body, the contours of the face and limbs, the wrinkles in the clothing, and the corners where the floor and walls meet, on a two-dimensional plane. While the brushwork retains a certain stiffness, the realism he has achieved through his mastery of Western-style shading techniques is striking.
(HIBINO Miyon)