Masayuki Hachiya

A Study of Japan’s Art Textbooks Published in the Early 20th Century: Focusing on Brush Painting Textbooks and Educational Art Textbooks

Masayuki Hachiya – Hiroshima University, Japan – attending virtually

Abstract:

This presentation focuses on art textbooks published and used in Japan in the early 20th century and analyses the contents and structure of the textbooks. During those days, textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education were used in art classes. In addition to textbooks for drawing with tools, three other types of textbooks were published for the art subject: pencil drawing textbooks, brush painting textbooks, and educational art textbooks. Each school was supposed to choose one of these textbooks according to its educational policy. In the early days, Western-style pencil drawing was implemented, but eventually, traditional Japanese brush painting was encouraged in art education and practiced more in schools. During this time, schools were required to choose either pencil or brush for their art classes. Later in the early 20th century, educational art textbooks eliminated the distinction between the use of pencil and brush and incorporated both of them. This, in turn, enriched the content of art textbooks and contributed to the progress of art education in those days. This presentation will focus on art textbooks published in the early 20th century, mainly several brush painting textbooks and educational art textbooks used in secondary education, and will clarify the characteristics of these textbooks through an analysis of their contents and structure. Brush painting textbooks, in particular, tended to have many illustrations of flowers, birds, scenery, and so forth. It will also be confirmed that educational art textbooks incorporated illustrations of pictures made with pencil and brush, photographic illustrations that served as references for sketching, and the study of colour, composition, and lettering, thereby enriching art education during those years.