Masao Tsuchiya
(Japan 1913– )
- Title
- Poor man's banquet
- Alternative title:
- Kobore-mono no utage
- Place of origin
-
Japan
- Period
- Heisei period 1989 - → Japan
- Year
- 1990
- Media category
- Materials used
- kappa stencil and silkscreen
- Edition
- 3/30
- Dimensions
-
80.0 x 55.0cm image; 90.0 x 60.0cm sheet
- Signature & date
- Signed l.r., in Japanese, pencil "Tsuchiya Masao" [and artist's seal]. Not dated.
- Credit
- Gift of the artist 1993
- Accession number
- 471.1993
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
Folk art is distinguished by its rough immediacy and directions. Whereas folk art, in the form of prints, ceramics and various other utilitarian objects, had existed for centuries, it was Yanagi Soetsu (1889- 1961) who articulated its aesthetic parameters and defined it as a movement that developed an international following.
In this print Tsuchiya depicts two paupers drinking from a simple wine flask, against a blank background. All elements extraneous to their enjoyment of their wine have been eliminated. Tsuchiya has chosen to give his figures the masks of characters in a Kyogen play, a form of theatre used as the comic interlude in a Noh performance. He thus depersonalises their enjoyment, moving from the specific to the general. His point is that the unfortunate enjoy life despite their hardships - in fact they can get more pleasure from life than those who might have more.
Tsuchiya was born in Tokyo and still lives there. Like Akiyama (Acc.no. 405.1993) he too had studied under Munakata Shiko, the master of strong black and white figurative folk images.
Jackie Menzies, Contemporary Japanese Prints: The Urban Bonsai, 1992, pg. 96.
- Bibliography (1)
-
Jackie Menzies (Australia) (Author), Contemporary Japanese Prints : The Urban Bonsai, Sydney, 1992, 96, 106 (colour illus.). cat.no. 66
- Exhibition history (11)
-
The Urban Bonsai, Queensland Art Gallery, 04 Mar 1992–04 May 1992.
The Urban Bonsai, National Art Gallery, Wellington, 20 Jun 1992–09 Aug 1992.
The Urban Bonsai, Christchurch Art Gallery, 12 Sep 1992–29 Oct 1992.
The Urban Bonsai, Manawatu Art Gallery, 13 Nov 1992–10 Jan 1993.
The Urban Bonsai, The George Adams Gallery, Victorian Arts Centre, 18 Mar 1993–25 Apr 1993.
The Urban Bonsai, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 08 May 1993–01 Aug 1993.
The Urban Bonsai, Lewers Bequest and Penrith Regional Art Gallery, 11 Mar 1994–24 Apr 1994.
The Urban Bonsai, The Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, 19 May 1994–19 Jun 1994.
The Urban Bonsai, Campbelltown Arts Centre, 15 Jul 1994–21 Aug 1994.
The Urban Bonsai, Moree Plains Gallery, 11 Nov 1994–24 Dec 1994.
The Urban Bonsai, Tweed River Regional Art Gallery, 01 Feb 1995–05 Mar 1995.
