was a Japanese artist, art theorist, and writer. He is particularly well known for his
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
paintings and public sculptures and murals, and for his theorization of traditional Japanese culture and
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
artistic practices.
Biography
Early life (1911–1929)
Taro Okamoto was the son of cartoonist
Okamoto Ippei
(June 11, 1886 – October 1948) was a Japanese illustrator, cartoonist, and writer.
Biography
Okamoto Ippei was the second son of the Confucian scholar Katei Okamoto. He studied Western-style painting at Tokyo School of the Arts under the in ...
and writer
Okamoto Kanoko
, born , was the pen-name of a Japanese author, tanka poet, and Buddhist scholar active during the Taishō and early Shōwa periods of Japan.
Early life
Kanoko's maiden name was Ōnuki Kano. She was born in Aoyama, Akasaka-ku (present day Minat ...
. He was born in
Takatsu Takatsu ( ja, 高津, link=no ), alternatively spelled Gao Jin in Chinese, refers to:
People:
*Shingo Takatsu
*Gao Jin
Places:
*Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki
*Takatsu Station (disambiguation)
**Takatsu Station (Kanagawa)
**Takatsu Station (Kyoto)
{{Disambi ...
, in
Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture.
In 1927, at the age of sixteen, Okamoto began to take lessons in oil painting from the artist
Wada Eisaku
was a Japanese painter and luminary of the ''yōga'' (or Western-style) scene in the late Meiji (era), Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa (1926–1989), Shōwa eras. He was a member of the Japan Art Academy, an Imperial Household Artist, a recipient of ...
. In 1929, Okamoto entered the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (today
Tokyo University of the Arts
or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...
) in the oil painting department.
Time in Europe (1929–1940)
In 1929, Okamoto and his family accompanied his father on a trip to Europe to cover the
London Naval Treaty
The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, and the United States that was signed on 22 April 1930. Seeking to address is ...
of 1930. While in Europe, Okamoto spent time in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, and
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, where he rented a studio in
Montparnasse
Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...
and enrolled in a lycée in
Choisy-le-Roi
Choisy-le-Roi () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department, in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France.
Geography
Choisy-le-Roi is located southeast from the center of Paris, on both banks of the river Seine. The neighbouring commu ...
. After his parents returned to Japan in 1932, he stayed on in Paris until 1940.
Much of Okamoto’s formative education occurred during his stay in Paris. In 1932, he began attending classes at the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
, and enrolled in the literature department where he studied
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
and specialized in
aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
. He attended lectures on
Hegelian
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
aesthetics by
Victor Basch
Basch Viktor Vilém, or Victor-Guillaume Basch (18 August 1863/1865, Budapest – 10 January 1944) was a French politician and professor of germanistics and philosophy at the Sorbonne descending from Hungary. He was engaged in the Zionist moveme ...
.
In 1938, Okamoto, along with many other Parisian artists at the time, began studying
ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
under
Marcel Mauss
Marcel Mauss (; 10 May 1872 – 10 February 1950) was a French sociologist and anthropologist known as the "father of French ethnology". The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss, in his academic work, crossed the boundaries between sociology and a ...
, and he would later apply this ethnographic lens to his analysis Japanese culture.
Okamoto also began to establish himself as a painter in Paris, working with the Parisian
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
artists. He was inspired by
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
’s ''Pitcher and Bowl of Fruit'' (1931) which he saw at the
Paul Rosenberg Gallery, and in 1932 he began successfully submitting his own paintings for exhibition at the Salon des surindépendants, for which he received some positive reviews. From 1933-1936, he was a member of the group
Abstraction-Création
Abstraction-Création was a loose association of artists formed in Paris in 1931 to counteract the influence of the Surrealist group led by André Breton.
Founders Theo van Doesburg, Auguste Herbin, Jean Hélion and Georges Vantongerloo started th ...
, and showed works in their exhibitions. He participated in the French intellectual discussion group
Collège de Sociologie and joined the secret society founded by
Georges Bataille
Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels, ...
,
Acéphale
''Acéphale'' is the name of a public review created by Georges Bataille (which numbered five issues, from 1936 to 1939) and a secret society formed by Bataille and others who had sworn to keep silent. Its name is derived from the Greek ἀκέ ...
. His painting ''Itamashiki ude'' (“Wounded Arm”) was notably included in the International
Surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
Exhibition in Paris in 1938.
Okamoto met and befriended many prominent avant-garde art figures in Paris, including
André Breton
André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...
,
Kurt Seligmann
Kurt Leopold Seligmann (1900–1962) was a Swiss-American Surrealist painter and engraver. He was known for his fantastic imagery of medieval troubadors and knights in macabre rituals and inspired by the carnival held annually in his native ...
,
Max Ernst
Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...
,
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
,
Man Ray
Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...
,
Robert Capa
Robert Capa (born Endre Ernő Friedmann; October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954) was a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist as well as the companion and professional partner of photographer Gerda Taro. He is considered by some to ...
and Capa's partner,
Gerda Taro
Gerta Pohorylle (1 August 1910 – 26 July 1937), known professionally as Gerda Taro, was a German Jewish war photographer active during the Spanish Civil War. She is regarded as the first woman photojournalist to have died while covering the ...
, who adopted Okamoto's first name as her last name.
["Okamoto Taro: Nuclear Proliferation, Tradition, and "The Myth of Tomorrow"](_blank)
(D. Wood & A. Takahashi - Kyoto Journal #77.)
Wartime (1940–1945)
Okamoto returned to Japan in 1940 because his mother had died, and because of the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He found some artistic success in Japan upon his return, winning the Nika Prize at the 28th Nika Art Exhibition in 1942. The same year, he also had a solo exhibition of works he had completed in Europe, at the
Mitsukoshi
is an international department store chain with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, which also owns the Isetan department store chain.
History
It was founded in 1673 with the (shop name) , selli ...
department store in
Ginza
Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...
.
[岡本太郎の絵画 : 開館10周年記念展 = The Paintings of Taro Okamoto, 218.]
In 1942, Okamoto was drafted into the army as an artist tasked with documenting the war, and left for service in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
He returned to Japan in 1946 after spending several months in a
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...
in
Chang’an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...
. During his absence, his family home and all of his works were destroyed in an
air raid.
Postwar activity (1946–1996)
1946–1950
After the war, Okamoto established a studio in Kaminoge,
Setagaya
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. The ward calls itself Setagaya City in English. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the fringed orch ...
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. He became a member of the artist association Nika-kai ("Second Section" Society) in 1947 and began regularly showing works at the Nika Art Exhibition. He also began giving lectures on European modern art, and started publishing his own commentaries on modern art.
In 1948, he and the art critic
Kiyoteru Hanada
was a prominent Japanese literary critic and essayist. Hanada is widely acclaimed as one of most influential advocates
and theorists of the postwar avant-garde art movement. Jukki Hanada is his grandson.
Biography
Hanada was born in the Higashi ...
established the group Yoru no Kai ("Night Society"), whose members attempted to theorize artistic expression after the war. It dissolved in 1949. Hanada and Okamoto then founded the Abangyarudo Kenkyūkai ("Avant-Garde Research Group") which mentored younger artists and critics such as
Tatsuo Ikeda,
Katsuhiro Yamaguchi, and Yūsuke Nakahara. Eventually these groups inspired younger artists to break off and form their own avant-garde groups.
1950–1969
A prominent name in the art establishment, Okamoto began to have a series of solo exhibitions in the 1950s, at such prestigious venues at the art galleries of
Mitsukoshi
is an international department store chain with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. It is a subsidiary of Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, which also owns the Isetan department store chain.
History
It was founded in 1673 with the (shop name) , selli ...
department store in
Nihonbashi
is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The current ...
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, and the
Takashimaya
is a Japanese multinational corporation operating a department store chain carrying a wide array of products, ranging from wedding dresses and other apparel to electronics and flatware. It has more than 12 branches strategically located in 2 ...
department store in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
. His work was included in the Japanese presentation at the 2nd
São Paulo Bienal
SAO or Sao may refer to:
Places
* Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD
* Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso
* Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...
in 1953 and the 27th
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
in 1954. Okamoto remained active as a Nika member, while also exhibiting in the non-juried, non-award-granting
Yomiuri Indépendant Exhibition
The , affectionately nicknamed "Yomiuri Anpan," was a famously permissive, unjuried, free-to-exhibit art exhibition held annually in Tokyo, Japan from 1949 to 1963. Sponsored by the ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' newspaper, the exhibition was held at the To ...
.
From the 1950s through the end of his career, Okamoto received numerous public commissions to create murals and large sculptures in Japan, including government buildings, office buildings, subway stations, museums, and other locations. Notable examples included ceramic murals for the old Tokyo Metropolitan Office Building in
Marunouchi
Marunouchi () is a commercial district of Tokyo located in Chiyoda between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace. The name, meaning "inside the circle", derives from its location within the palace's outer moat. It is also Tokyo's financial di ...
, designed by
Kenzō Tange
was a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture. He was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed major buildings on five cont ...
and completed in 1956, and five ceramic murals for Tange’s
Yoyogi National Gymnasium
Yoyogi National Gymnasium, officially is an indoor arena located at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, which is famous for its suspension roof design.
It was designed by Kenzo Tange and built between 1961 and 1964 to house swimming and d ...
for the 1964
Tokyo Olympics.
During the 1950s, Okamoto theorized several key aesthetic ideas that helped establish his role as a public intellectual in Japanese society.
First, he crafted his theory of “polarism” (''taikyokushugi''), the declaration of which he read at the opening of the Yomiuri Indépendant Exhibition in 1950. In 1952, Okamoto published an influential article on
Jōmon period
The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...
ceramics. This article was the beginning of a long engagement with prehistoric Japan, and his argument that Japanese aesthetics should take inspiration from the ancient
Jōmon period
The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...
helped change the public perception of Japanese culture.
He continued to write on Japanese tradition and became one of the major thinkers active in the reevaluation of Japanese tradition after World War II. He later traveled around Japan in order to research the essence of Japanese culture, and published ''Nihon Sai-hakken-Geijutsu Fudoki'' ("Rediscovery of the Japan-Topography of Art") (1962) and ''Shinpi Nihon'' ("Mysteries in Japan") (1964), amply illustrated by photographs he took during his research trips. These works were an extension his ethnographic interest and taking his own photography helped provide strong evidence to his observations.
As part of his travels around Japan, in 1959 and 1966, Okamoto visited
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
. He was struck by what he saw as the remnants of a simpler and more indigenous life there. In 1961, he published ''Wasurerareta Nihon: Okinawa bunka-ron'' ("Forgotten Japan: On Okinawa culture"), which included many photographs from his trip. The book received the Mainichi Publication Culture Award. Many of Okamoto’s photographs revisited Okinawa subject matter already photographed by other Japanese photographers, such as
Ihei Kimura
was a Japanese photographer, known for his portrayal of Tokyo and Akita Prefecture.
Life and work
Born on 12 December 1901 in Shitaya-ku (now Taitō-ku), Tokyo, Kimura started taking photographs when very young but his interest intensified when ...
and
Ken Dōmon. His interest in Okinawa may be seen as part of a larger modern Japanese interest in viewing Okinawa as a lingering repository of tradition, in contrast with the rapidly modernizing Japanese main islands.
In 1967, Okamoto visited
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, where he worked on a major
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
commission and filmed a program for Japanese television entitled “The New World: Okamoto Tarō explores Latin America.” Okamoto was deeply inspired by Mexican painting and saw it as an avenue to refocus the attention of Japan's art world away from Western countries. He imagined a partnership between Japanese and Mexican art worlds to launch a new, non-Western modern art aesthetic, and saw affinities between Japanese
Jōmon culture and
pre-Columbian art
Pre-Columbian art refers to the visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, North, Central, and South Americas from at least 13,000 BCE to the European conquests starting in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era c ...
in Mexico. Allusions to Mexican art would appear in his subsequent artworks.
1970–1996
Okamoto continued to travel, write and produce public art works in the 1970s. He also began to produce prints, experimenting with
silkscreen
Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh ...
and
copperplate printing.
Okamoto’s most notable achievement of the 1970s was his involvement with 1970 Japan World Exposition in Osaka (
Expo ’70), for which he designed and produced the central Theme Pavilion, which included a monumental sculpture entitled ''
Tower of the Sun
The is a building created by Japanese artist Tarō Okamoto. It was known as the symbol of Expo '70 and currently is preserved and located in the Expo Commemoration Park in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The tower has three faces on its front ...
'', an exhibition in and around the tower, and two smaller towers.
[Winther-Tamaki, “To Put on a Big Face: The Globalist Stance of Okamoto Tarō’s Tower of the sun for the Japan World Exposition,” 82.] The distinct appearance of ''Tower of the Sun'' was influenced by Okamoto’s background in European
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
, interest in Mexican art, and
Jōmon ceramics''.'' The pavilion was visited by over 9 million people during Expo ’70, and is preserved today in the
Expo Commemoration Park
or Expo '70 Commemorative Park is a park in Suita, Japan. It is north of Osaka (about 15 km from Umeda). The park is the former site of Expo '70, a World's Fair held between March 15 and September 13, 1970. It is about 264 ha of lawn and ...
.
[Winther-Tamaki, “To Put on a Big Face: The Globalist Stance of Okamoto Tarō’s Tower of the sun for the Japan World Exposition,” 97.]
Toward the end of his career, Okamoto began to receive many more solo exhibitions of his work. In 1986, several of his early paintings were included in a major exhibition of Japanese avant-garde artists, ''Japon des Avant-Gardes 1910-1970'' at the
Centre Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. In 1991, his major works were donated to
Kawasaki city, and a museum in his honor was opened in 1999, following his death in 1996.
Work
Artwork
Painting
Although very few of Okamoto’s prewar paintings remain, during his early career in Paris he was interested in abstraction and showed a number of works with the
Abstraction-Création
Abstraction-Création was a loose association of artists formed in Paris in 1931 to counteract the influence of the Surrealist group led by André Breton.
Founders Theo van Doesburg, Auguste Herbin, Jean Hélion and Georges Vantongerloo started th ...
group. However, over time he grew dissatisfied with the limitations of pure abstraction, and began to include more representational imagery in his paintings. The completion of ''Itamashiki ude'' (“Wounded Arm”)'','' which melded abstraction and representation, convinced Okamoto that he should leave the
Abstraction-Création
Abstraction-Création was a loose association of artists formed in Paris in 1931 to counteract the influence of the Surrealist group led by André Breton.
Founders Theo van Doesburg, Auguste Herbin, Jean Hélion and Georges Vantongerloo started th ...
group and explore other modes of painting. ''Itamashiki ude'', which seems to depict a young girl through the representation of an arm, shoulder, hair, and bright red bow, disturbingly includes no human head or body, and the arm itself defies expectation with abstract stripes of flesh and bubble gum pink tones. Although the work was celebrated by the
Surrealists
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
in Paris, Okamoto opted out of joining the group.
![Tower of young sun in Japan Monkey Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Tower_of_young_sun_in_Japan_Monkey_Park.jpg)
Okamoto’s postwar paintings, like his murals and public sculpture, continued to be informed by abstraction and
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
, but were also influenced by his theory of polarism, and by his discovery of prehistoric arts. ''The Law of the Jungle'' (1950), one of his most famous paintings, depicts a monstrous red fish-like creature with an enormous, zipper-shaped spine devouring a human figure.
Small human and animal forms in vibrant
primary color
A set (mathematics), set of primary colors or primary colours (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) consists of colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamu ...
s surround the central creature, floating through the glowing green
jungle
A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century.
Etymology
The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...
setting. Many of the key features of this work – the mix of abstraction and surreal
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
forms, vibrant colors, and a flat picture plane – continued in his paintings for the rest of his career.
Key murals and sculptures
During his trip to Mexico in 1967, Okamoto painted a 5.5 x 30-meter mural in oil on canvas, entitled ''Asu no shinwa'' ("Myth of Tomorrow")'','' for the
Hotel de Mexico in Mexico city by
Manuel Suarez y Suarez that was being constructed for the 1968 Olympics.
["Instalan en Tokio mural de Okamoto perdido 30 anos en Mexico"](_blank)
(Consultado el 10 de Agosto de 2010.) The mural’s subtitle is “
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
and
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
,” and accordingly the painting illustrates a landscape of nuclear destruction where a skeleton burns in red and emits pointed white protrusions. Surrounding images allude to events of nuclear disaster, such as the incident with
Lucky Dragon #5. The hotel was never completed and thus the mural was never installed or displayed. After being lost for 30 years in Mexico, on November 17, 2008, the mural was unveiled in its new permanent location at
Shibuya Station
is a railway station in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, operated jointly by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Keio Corporation, Tokyu Corporation, and Tokyo Metro. With 2.4 million passengers on an average weekday in 2004, it is the fourth-busiest c ...
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
.
Okamoto’s ''
Tower of the Sun
The is a building created by Japanese artist Tarō Okamoto. It was known as the symbol of Expo '70 and currently is preserved and located in the Expo Commemoration Park in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The tower has three faces on its front ...
'' became the symbol of
Expo '70
The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...
in Osaka. Standing at 70 meters tall, the humanoid form was created in concrete and sprayed stucco, with two horn-shaped arms, two circular faces, and one golden metal face attached at its highest point. As a whole, it represents the past (lower part), present (middle part), and future (the face) of the human race. Visitors entered through the base of the sculpture and then ascended through it in escalators next to the so-called "Tree of Life," a sculptural tree displaying the evolution of creatures from primitive organisms toward more complex life forms. Visitors then exited through the arms of the sculpture. Constructed not long after Okamoto’s visit to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, the project was also inspired by
pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
imagery. At the same time, the form of the tower resembled
Jōmon figurines (''
dogū
are small humanoid and animal figurines made during the later part of the Jōmon period (14,000–400 BC) of prehistoric Japan. ''Dogū'' come exclusively from the Jōmon period, and were no longer made by the following Yayoi period. There are ...
'') and alluded to
Cubist
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
portraiture of Picasso.
Unlike the apocalyptic ''Asu no shinwa'' ("Myth of Tomorrow")'','' the Tower ultimately had a more positive message: the eclectic inspirations for its imagery suggested the possibility of a more global modern art, and Okamoto imagined the tower and its surrounding plaza to facilitate a great gathering – rather than a great destruction – of people.
Both ''Asu no shinwa'' and ''Tower of the Sun'' display imagery that runs throughout much of Okamoto’s public artworks. Works in a similar style include ''Wakai tōkeidai'' (“Young Clock Tower”) (1966) in
Ginza
Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, ''Wakai taiyō no tō'' (Tower of the Young Sun) (1969) in
Inuyama,
Aichi
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectu ...
prefecture, and ''Kodomo no ki'' ("Tree of Children") (1985) in
Aoyama,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
.
Art theory and writings
Polarism
Okamoto’s idea of ''taikyokushugi'' (polarism) was born out of his attendance at lectures on
Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
while in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. He questioned
dialectic
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
s and refused the notion of synthesis, believing rather that thesis and antithesis (polar opposites) could actually remain apart, resulting in permanent fragmentation rather than unity or resolution. This theory, proposed shortly after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, was in many ways an aesthetics that directly opposed the visual totality and harmony of Japanese wartime painting. In terms of its application to art, Okamoto saw abstract painting as synthesis – it united color, motion, and the various senses into one work. ''The Law of the Jungle'' (1950), however, is permanently fragmented: individual elements are clearly described in line and color, but resist any identification, and float in the painted space without any connection to one another. There is also a strong tension between flatness and depth, clarity and obscurity, foreground and background, representational and abstract. ''Dawn'' (1948) and ''Heavy Industry'' (1949) are also thought to be examples of polarism.
Tradition and contemporary art
Okamoto’s
Jōmon theory has become one of the most influential theoretical contributions to 20th century
Japanese aesthetics
Japanese aesthetics comprise a set of ancient ideals that include '' wabi'' (transient and stark beauty), '' sabi'' (the beauty of natural patina and aging), and '' yūgen'' (profound grace and subtlety). These ideals, and others, underpin much o ...
and cultural history. The theory was first introduced in his seminal essay “''Jōmon doki ron: Shijigen to no taiwa''” (“On Jomon ceramics: Dialogue with the fourth dimension”), published in ''Mizue'' magazine in 1952. Inspired by a trip to
Tokyo National Museum
The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage ( :ja:国立文化財機構), is considered the oldest national museum in Japan, ...
, where he viewed earthenware ceramic vessels and ''
dogū
are small humanoid and animal figurines made during the later part of the Jōmon period (14,000–400 BC) of prehistoric Japan. ''Dogū'' come exclusively from the Jōmon period, and were no longer made by the following Yayoi period. There are ...
'' from the prehistoric
Jōmon period, the article argued for a complete rethinking of Japanese aesthetics.
[Reynolds, “Uncanny, Hypermodern Japaneseness: Okamoto Tarō and the Search for Prehistoric Modernism,” in ''Allegories of time and space,'' 55.] Okamoto believed that Japanese aesthetics until that point had been founded on the aesthetics of prehistoric
Yayoi period
The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age.
Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon p ...
ceramics, which were simple, subdued, restrained, and refined. This foundation gave rise to the what many considered traditional Japanese aesthetic concepts, such as ''
wabi-sabi
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature. I ...
.'' By contrast, the energetic, rough, and mysterious patterns and designs of
Jōmon ceramics offered a dynamic, authentic expression that was missing from contemporary Japan. He argued that Japanese artists should pursue the same dynamic power and mystery to fuel their own work, drawing inspiration from this more “primitive” culture of their ancestors. Okamoto’s understanding of Japanese aesthetics drew heavily from his ethnographic studies and encounters with
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
in Paris, but instead of exoticizing ethnographic objects, he used
Jōmon objects specifically to construct a native theoretical basis for Japanese avant-garde artistic practices.
Despite Okamoto’s interest in prehistoric art, he did not advocate for any direct preservation of the past in contemporary art. His best-selling book ''Konnichi no geijutsu'' (The Art of Today), published in 1954, encouraged young artists to destroy violently any past art systems and rebuild a Japanese art world equal to the Western art world.
This could be seen as a way of advocating a form of
Jōmon-style energy and expression.
“Myth of Tomorrow” Restoration Project
A long-lost work by Taro Okamoto was discovered in the suburbs of Mexico City in the fall of 2003. It is a huge mural titled "Myth of Tomorrow. It depicts the tragic moment when the atomic bomb exploded. The work conveys Taro Okamoto's strong message that people can overcome even the cruelest tragedy with pride, and that "The Myth of Tomorrow" will be born in its wake. However, the work had been left in a poor environment for many years and was severely damaged.Therefore, the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum Foundation launched the "Myth of Tomorrow" Restoration Project to transport the work to Japan, restore it, and then exhibit it widely to the public.The restoration was completed in June 2006, and the first public viewing of the work was held in Shiodome in July of the same year, attracting a total of 2 million visitors in a short period of 50 days. The work was later exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo from April 2007 to June 2008, and in March 2008 it was decided to permanently install the work in Shibuya, where it has been on view since November 18, 2008 in the connecting passageway of Shibuya Mark City. The installation of the work continues to this day.
Collections and legacy
Much of Okamoto’s work is held by the
Tarō Okamoto Museum of Art in
Kawasaki and the Tarō Okamoto Memorial Museum, which is housed in the artist’s former studio and home built by the architect
Junzō Sakakura in 1954 in
Aoyama,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. Both museums organize special exhibitions addressing key themes in Okamoto’s oeuvre, such as
Jōmon artifacts,
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
, and public artworks. Okamoto’s works are also held by the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
, the
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
The in Tokyo, Japan, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art.
This Tokyo museum is also known by the English acronym MOMAT (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). The museum is known for its collection of 20th-centu ...
, the
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
The is an art museum in Kyoto, Japan.
This Kyoto museum is also known by the English acronym MoMAK (Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto).
History
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (MoMAK) was initially created as the Annex Museum of the National ...
, and the
Museum of Modern Art, Toyama
The is a museum in Toyama, Toyama. It is one of Japan's many museums which are supported by a prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Museums"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 671-673.
The museum, which opened in 1981, stands within Jōnan ...
.
The
Tarō Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art (TARO Award) was established in 1997 and is run by the
Tarō Okamoto Museum of Art in Kawasaki. The award is given annually to young contemporary artists who are creating art of the next generation, and who display the creativity and individuality he advocated for in The Art of Today (1954).
References
Sources
* Jonathan Reynolds, “Uncanny, Hypermodern Japaneseness: Okamoto Tarō and the Search for Prehistoric Modernism,” in ''Allegories of time and space: Japanese identity in photography and architecture'' (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i, 2017), 54-85.
* K. Yoshida, ''Avant-garde art and non-dominant thought in postwar Japan: image, matter, separation'' (New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2021).
* Bert Winther-Tamaki, “To Put on a Big Face: The Globalist Stance of Okamoto Tarō’s Tower of the sun for the Japan World Exposition,” ''Review of Japanese Culture and Society'' Vol. 23 (2011): 81-101.
* 川崎市岡本太郎美術館, ed. ''岡本太郎の絵画 : 開館10周年記念展 = The Paintings of Tarō Okamoto''. Kawasaki-shi: Kawasaki-shi Okamoto Tarō Bijutsukan, 2009.
* Okamoto Tarō & Jonathan M. Reynolds (Translator), "On Jōmon Ceramics," ''Art in Translation'' 1:1 (2009), 49-60, DOI: 10.2752/175613109787307645
External links
Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki
Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum
Gendaigeijutsu Atelier
Institute of Esthetic Research
明日の神話保全継承機構(in Japanese)
Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okamoto, Taro
1911 births
1996 deaths
Japanese sculptors
Muralists
People from Kawasaki, Kanagawa
Tokyo School of Fine Arts alumni
University of Paris alumni
20th-century sculptors
20th-century Japanese painters