Woman

This masterpiece by Ogiwara Rokuzan, who discovered the essence of Rodin’s art in Paris, is his last work. Rokuzan greatly influenced those artists who went on to lead the next generation of sculptors in Japan.

Ogiwara Rokuzan was born in the town of Hodaka in Nagano Prefecture. After moving to Tokyo and enrolling in the Fudosha, he made his way to the United States, where he became aquainted with Takamura Kotaro and Yanagi Keisuke in New York. Although he originally studied oil painting, his encounter with Rodin’s The Thinker in Paris in 1904 made such an impact on him that he decided to become a sculptor instead. Having been able to meet Rodin in person, Rokuzan traveled through Italy, Greece, and Egypt before finally returning to Japan in 1908. From then on, he sought to produce works that were more than just superficial imitations of Western sculpture. Woman, which he made while in the throes of anguished love for the married Kokko Soma, is said to reflect her exact features. Formally, Rokuzan has succeeded in evoking a gentle, quiet feeling by placing her in a pose that accounts for the balance of a Japanese woman’s figure. At the same time, the generous sense of mass and the organization of the whole that retains stability while generating movement are elements Rokuzan learned from Rodin but then made distinctively his own. In this way, Rokuzan became an artist who, along with Takamura Kotaro, created an expression that transcended mere productive depiction in modern Japanese sculpture. “I can state with certainty that the true beauty of sculpture lies in its inner strength of life,” Rokuzan stated, burning with the urge to create. In 1910, however, he died suddenly at the age of 30. Woman, his last work, was exhibited in the fourth Bunten exhibition and purchased by the Ministry of Education. (Writer : Misato Shimazu Source : Selected Masterpieces from The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music: Grand Opening Exhibition, The University Art Museum, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, 1999)