From the Editor's Desk
January 2015
From the Editor’s Desk
SONZAI TO SOUZO
EXISTENCE AND CREATION
A Book of Paintings by Susumu Takiguchi
First published in May 2015 (official publication date), author: Susumu Takiguchi, edited by Norihiro Nakamura, book compilation and design by Tadashi Kitagawa, published by Ami-Net Oxford International Press-The World Haiku Club, United Kingdom, printed at Sk-i Corporation, copies sold at Geibun-do, 19-13 Yamazumi-cho, Sasebo-shi, Nagasaki-ken, Japan, 857-0822, Tel: +81 (0)956-31-5656, Fax: +81 (0)956-31-3407, skpt@orange.ocn.ne.jp, http://www.sk-i.net/ , Copyright2015: Susumu Takiguchi, ISBN: 978-4-902863-61-1 C0071, Yen8300 + VAT, Copies can be purchased from Geibun-do.
This is a comprehensive book of main paintings executed by Susumu Takiguchi, especially focused on the last ten years during which he has every year had successful solo-exhibitions in Japan, showing works in various categories ranging from landscapes to the abstract. They were painted both in Japan, and in Britain and various European countries, and include earlier works which go back to his primary-school days when he began a formal training in oil painting. The book is divided into six chapters (Landscapes, Still-lifes, Figure Paintings, The Human Condition, Abstract Paintings and Drawings), each containing the artist’s introductions and comments on all the works illustrated. It also has an essay on art written by the artist and some biographical notes and photographs. Susumu Takiguchi is also a poet, writer and haijin (haiku poet), being the Founding Chairman of the World Haiku Club, a world-wide movement for the dissemination and study of haiku literature.
SOME OF THE PAINTINGS IN THE BOOK
Self-Portrait after Rembrandt
273mm x 220mm (F3), Oil on Canvas Board, February 2012
“…Self-portrait turned out to be far more difficult to paint than I had anticipated. “Difficult” is in fact an understatement. It was nigh impossible. The main reason was the mirror. You look at yourself in the mirror and turn your head towards the canvas on which you are painting yourself, to do each brush stroke. Each time you come back to the mirror the angle at which you look at yourself varies slightly because you cannot remember precisely how you looked at yourself last time. One degree out of true, you will be painting, for instance, your nose inaccurately with the result that your left cheek will become too wide than it should, or your left eye will be elongated and become somebody else’s eye. Out of despair, I tried to remember Rembrandt’s various self-portrait paintings and drawings. What I could not remember, I opened my art books and studied the reproductions closely. In the end feelings came to me and I could begin to do my self-portrait. The first result is this work and I named it “Rembrandt”…”
Rialto Bridge, Venice
297mm x 420mm (A3), Felt-tip Pen on Watercolour Paper, 2004
“…Venice is probably my most favourite place in the world. This is especially true from the point of view of painting pictures. I paint Venice day and night. Yes, you can actually do the landscape paintings of Venice at night because the City is well lit to show up the magical scenes in front of you. I paint tourist traps, back canals, collapsing walls, bridges, gondolas, vapporettos, Venetians and tourists…just about everything. If it is an eternal city I wish to paint it eternally…”
Akasaki-dake in Sunset, Sasebo
1303mm x 1620mm (F100), Oil on Canvas, 2008
“… Akasaki-dake is the peaked mountain in the horizon seen in the painting. It is bang opposite to the house across the Bay of Sasebo, where I have my studio in Japan. The studio was built in 2014, a memorable year not least because of it and other important events including the creation of an anthology of my poems and a book of my paintings. I have painted this same view a countless number of times and no doubt I will continue to do so until I can no longer move my paint brush…”
Bramley Apples
455mm x 530mm (F10), Oil on Canvas Board, January 2007
“… This is one of the main works of my second one-man show in 2007 where I presented more than one hundred paintings of fruit. Yes, fruit only. Apples played a leading role in this exhibition. I have two Bramley apple trees from which these apples came. ..”
Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute and Gondolas
530mm x 455mm (F10), Oil on Canvas Board, 2005, Private Collection
“… The Salute was built for the Venetians to thank God for ending the plague which killed so many people. It is now a landmark of the City and together with the old customs house provides a most attractive subject for artisits. It is a beautiful sight even in silhouette against the setting golden sun. ..”
Sunset at Akasaki-dake mountain, Sasebo
530mm x 455mm (F10), Oil on Canvas Board, 2005, Private Collection
“… I paint this same view many times. Each one is different depending on the season, weather and of course my mood…”
Michelle Asleep
(The graduation work at Slade School of Fine Art Summer School, London)
1016mm x 1524mm, 40” x 60”, Oil on Canvas, 1980s
“… The Slade is famed for its excellence in figure painting. True to this reputation the teaching was useful in many ways. I did fifty –odd studies, sketches and drawings to complete this painting…”
Inspired by Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C Minor Op. 68
1016mm x 1016mm (40” x 40”), Acrylic on Canvas, 2013
“… Brahms had to struggle in writing his first symphony because the giant figure of Beethoven was for him a high hurdle he had to overcome as well as an object of his admiration. It therefore took him ten years to complete it. His agony and final victory inspired me into painting this picture…”
Diana Taking an Afternoon Nap
610mm x 915mm, 24” x 36”, Oil on Canvas, 2008
“… Diana seldom slept during daytime. In this instance she took a nap after lunch basking in the sun. She was peace itself…”
Seven Kanji Apples in an Arita Ceramic Bowl (2)
220mm x 273mm (F3), Oil on Canvas Board, March 2007
“… The big blue and white bowl was created by a wife of a potter maintaining tradition. A layman, she does not have too much inhibition and makes her pots in a freer and more spontaneous manner. Normally I use is as a salad bowl but in this instance it looked most attractive with red apples in…”
Eve at Her Wedding (Life of A Bramley Apple)
220mm x 273mm (F3), Oil on Canvas Board, September 2006
“… Apples in supermarkets look the same and are never misshaped. Apples on your tree are the opposite and sometimes take incredible shapes. They include to one’s embarrassment shapes which resemble female genitals. These “sexy” apples can look sexier than the real thing and this fact led me to want to explore the possibility of depicting them as a woman…”
Eve in Seven Years’ Itch (Life of A Yellow Apple)
220mm x 273mm (F3), Oil on Canvas Board, March 2007
“… This brand of apple has yellow skin and blushes of pink on it. That gives it the same sort of quality as the skin of a woman. This apple happens to be the nearest to a human…”
A Large Kasbah in the Evening Sun, Morocco
380mm x 455mm (F8), Oil on Canvas Board, 2010
“… One of the strongest features of Morocco, or any north African countries, is that the mud, or earth, is extended to roads and houses so much so that one cannot really see where one ends and another starts. Often collapsed mud houses are just left there to become piles of mud again while people build a new house next to them. This is for the simple reason that it would be cheaper to build a new house than repair the damaged, old one. Kasbah is just a large example of the same phenomenon…”
Gossip in the Afternoon, Marrakech, Morocco
158mm x 227mm (SM), Oil on Canvas Board, 2011
“… This was the kind of scene I read about in the Arabian Night. Now it was real. Everywhere I looked there were characters, objects, flowers, colours which were in the story…”
A Great Gorge in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco
227mm x 158mm (SM), Oil on Canvas Board, 2010
Orange Sand Dune (2), Morocco
158mm x 227mm (SM), Oil on Canvas Board, 2010
“… Who is this natural artist? Wind, or sand? Well, I think that the wind is the sculptor and the sand his material. To this should be added the sun which gives the incredible colours and light, especially in the evening…”
Beige-coloured Sand Dune, Morocco
158mm x 227mm (SM), Oil on Canvas Board, 2010
“… In high noon the sand assumes the colour of ash with varying degree of grey hues. The shade and shadow, by contrast, give deep, black empty space. ..”
Transparent Blue, Majorca Island, Spain
158mm x 227mm (SM), Oil on Canvas Board, 2008
“… The colour of the sea is especially beautiful in Majorca.
Deia, the Serra de Tramuntana, , Majorca Island, Spain
158mm x 227mm (SM), Oil on Canvas Board, 2008
Tower Bridge in the Sunset, London
220mm x 273mm (F3), Oil on Canvas Board, 2006
Kujukushima in the Fire-like Sunset, Sasebo
242mm x 333mm, Oil on Canvas Board, work of my primary school days
Kujukushima in the Golden Sunset, Sasebo
227mm x 158mm (SM), Oil on Canvas Board, 2005
The Houses of Parliament in the Gorgeous Evening, London
1303mm x 1620mm (F100), Oil on Canvas, 2008
The Eastern Foot of Mont Ste Victoire, Aix-en-Province, France
465mm x 555mm, 18 1/4” x 21 3/4”, Oil on Canvas, August 1974 (The work which made me decide to become an artist)
“… This work is important because it determined that I would become an artist. While staying in Aix-en-Provence I devoted one day to do this painting the result of which would decide my future. If it went bad I would abandon the idea of becoming an artist and vice versa. Well, I am now an artist…”
Her Tears Have Dried Out, An Outcome of the Great Tsunami in Japan 2011
652mm x 803mm (F25), Oil on Canvas, September 2014
A Chernobyl Victim and Her Monster Son (Silent Protest Against All Inhumanity)
652mm x 530mm (F15), Oil on Canvas Board, October 2014
Death of An Infant (Still sucking the mother’s milk which is no more)
455mm x 530mm (F10), Oil on Canvas Board, September 2014
Thus began All Things (The Birth of Venus)
410mm x 318mm (F6), Oil on Canvas Board, September 2014
Portrait of Francis Bacon
Pencil on Paper, May 1992
A Portrait of Shiki Masaoka
Pencil on Paper