Things Coming from Over There; Kawano Tasuku

Kawano Tasuku ( 河野扶 ) 1913-2002

Kawano Tasuku spent his life painting in oils while making a living as a high school mathematics teacher for 25 years until his retirement at the age of 57. Oil painting was introduced to Japan in the 19th century after the country ended its 260 year policy of isolation. During Japan’s isolation art developed separately from the rest of the world. When Japan opened its borders, oil paining was a completely new method for Japanese artists which they had to learn from scratch. Kawano wrote tons of journals from which we can learn how he viewed the complicated environment of Japanese art. He mentioned in his diary that he did not want to get lost in the labyrinth of Japanese western art.
He admired the old decayed earthen walls of the temples in Nara and the stained Namako walls (a wall covered with square tiles jointed with raised plaster). He stated his style of painting is based on these walls. Interestingly, in 2020, Japanese Sakan plasterwork was included as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.
Kawano aimed to create paintings which would not feel out of place in a teahouse. Tea ceremony is an art in Japan. At the teahouse selflessness is valued. Everyone is equal and comes to find sanctuary in the tranquillity of the teahouse.
To achieve this he eliminated any intention from his paintings. He avoided adopting any method, though there was time when he was influenced by Art Informel Western paintings.
He said, “My paintings have no scenarios,” meaning he did not use any method and emptied his mind when painting just as is necessary for Japanese tea ceremony. This led Kawano to develop his own, original style of oil painting heavily influenced by Japanese culture. From this perspective, we wonder how the works of Kawano will be appreciated in the West? How will the works be viewed in Japanese modern art history?
Kawano took inspiration in abstract expression through his experience of Kabe-kone; kneading oil colours like the mud in earthen walls, which he learned at the Kabe School of art, a Japanese group influenced by European Informalism. He applied oil colours to the canvas, scraped away the excess and then reapplied more oil colours. The repetition of this process is the foundation of his paintings. Kawano developed this style and used it in his art during the last 15 years of his life. While repeating the process Kawano’s intention eliminated itself from the canvas naturally. He felt he was painting under someone’s instruction, rather than from his own will. He described it saying, “my hand, holding the brush, works uncontrollably and finally I realize that my painting is finished. The only instance when my will slightly emanates is the moment when I decide when to stop painting…. Things coming from over there rather than things I actively try to achieve are natural and best.”
In Japan it has been believed since olden times that a god or a joy-bringing spirit visits from afar, from the divine realm. His description of “things coming from over there“ is a similar concept to this traditional Japanese belief.
Kawano was born in Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyushu. He lived in Korea with his father from when he was 8 to 14 years old. He won his first art award at 12. Apart from this award, there were at least three turning points in his life. The first one was when he failed to enter the Tokyo Fine Arts School after taking the entrance examination twice. This kept him separate from the mainstream academic painting circle in Japan. The next turning point was discovering the “Kabe-kone” technique. I see this as a kind of plasterwork technique, the same one that years later would be included as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, but Kawano applied it to oils rather than plaster. With this technique he realized that he could construct pictorial space in his canvas without intentionally setting out to depict something. This was a trigger for him to stay away from the traditional figurative painting. Finally, when he was in his late seventies, he reached the stage where he felt free and liberated from any previous ambitions that still lingered in his art and painted without ego or seeking approval. Kawano noted the contradiction in eliminating intention from his painting while he was in front of his canvas. While painting free from intention, accidental and serendipitous things appeared on his canvas and revealed his inner sense of beauty, which made him feel a kind of wonder and freshness. Kawano had been absorbed in experiencing these feelings for more than 15 years until his death.
He called it “things coming from over there” [Technique without intention] which is just like a craftsmanship. He may have preferred to be called an artisan rather than an artist….
Please have a look at the works of a man who believed “Art is not about imitation but about letting beauty be born.”