Magic Lantern Stagecoach (2005) by Miyasako MasaakiAdachi Museum of Art
This painting, Magic Lantern Stagecoach, was painted in 2005 by the Japanese artist Miyasako Masaaki. It was originally commissioned by the film director Kihachi Okamoto, and is an example of two artists of two very different media working together.
In 2005, at the age of 81, Okamoto was bedridden with cancer. Too ill to work, he was nonetheless planning a new film. He asked Masaaki to interpret his ideas into paint, and this is the result.
Masaaki's masterpiece shows a nostalgic vision of a bygone era. An elderly man drives his travelling magic lantern show over rutted roads, away from a quiet town. A young girl, perhaps his daughter, watches his tired face with close attention.
Our viewpoint, high above the horses, gives the impression that we're swooping in unseen, watching a story unfold from the clouds above. It's a tantalising vignette of a larger story. Who are the man and girl, why are they setting off, and where are they heading?
His eyes are on the road ahead, but his mind seems to be elsewhere
Masaaki adds subtle details to give this still painting a cinematic effect: the mans hand and head are blurred, they seem to be in movement or dissolving away.
The carriage also seems to be turning…
Their lamp is lit, its gentle golden glow casts a light over the pair. Perhaps they're setting off early in the morning, the lamp guiding their way until dawn. Or could it be the the early evening, and they have a long, dark journey ahead of them.
The lamp also hints at his profession. Magic lantern shows were popular in the years before cinema. Though instead of film, travelling showmen would show stories and news to gathered crowds on hand-painted glass slides lit by bright lamps.
Magic lantern (ca. 1900)The Strong National Museum of Play
The magic lantern was originally invented in the 17th Century, and remained popular right up until the widespread use of cinema. This magic lantern was made in the United States in 1900.
Magic Lantern Stagecoach (2005) by Miyasako MasaakiAdachi Museum of Art
Perhaps Okamoto and Masaaki see themselves in the same tradition of magic lantern showmen: Itinerant entertainers of crowds, their livelihood dependent on the public, and their reactions to their latest work.
It's easy to find parallels, but it's hard to find answers, in this enigmatic painting.
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Thanks for joining this tour of Miyasako Masaaki's Magic Lantern Stagecoach. You can see this work, and more by Masaaki, at the Adachi Museum of Art in Yasugi, Japan. Take a tour of the museum, and see what else they have!
