Gosztonyi Ferenc - Király Erzsébet - Szücs György szerk.: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Évkönyve 2002-2004. 24/9 (MNG Budapest, 2005)
STUDIES - Shinji Tanaka: On Bertalan Székely's Japanese Woman, 1871
The background of the picture is occupied by a screen. In a later sketchbook, Székely uses the German word schirme for this article. 44 In the painting it just about covers the entire background. This may have been the reason why Aladár György found the garden 'rather confined'. The screen seems to be open; it is unsure whether it is the folding type or a one-panel screen. The middle part of the screen is of a distinctly darker tone. This may be due to a transparent veil hung over the screen. Or is it due to the play of sunlight and shadow or any other reason? If Székely meant to depict a veil, he apparently diverged from the genuine Japanese pattern. ENTRIES RELATING TO JAPAN IN SZÉKELY'S SKETCHBOOKS 45 'Székely's new artwork demonstrates an erudite spirit, a delicate taste, and powerful artistic skills; it will surely contribute to further attracting the interest of foreigners [...] in his work', wrote Hevesi in his article. 46 Later, in 1872, the Japanese Woman was exhibited with the caption Chinese Woman at the OMKT show, and it bore a similar caption at the 1873 World's Fair in Vienna. Aladár György discussed the painting in two reviews published at the time of the OMKT show. 47 In these articles, he dismissed the Japanese Woman as a failure. At the time of the 1873 World's Fair the Japanese Woman was displayed alongside genuine Japanese objets d'art and Japanese paintings. One can only wonder what impression the picture made on its contemporary audience. This, however, is not discussed in any of the articles I have found on the subject. 48 Later on, the Japanese Woman was never put on show. It probably remained in the artist's possession until his death. 41 ' (Fig. 4) The catalogues of the 1911 memorial exhibition and the 1955 retrospective assert that Székely worked on the Japanese Woman from 1870 to 1903. The artist's sketchbooks provide valuable information about the way in which he approached his theme over those years. Entries relating to the painting found in two of Székely's sketchbooks and in a separate note of six pages, all in the Manuscript Collection of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTAKK). 50 Each of these entries is dated by the artist. Notes on the subject appear in his sketchbook regularly from late January to late April 1886. Separate notes pertaining to the subject are dated March 1888 and April 1899; the entry from the year 1886 also belongs here. These notes concern the planning of the colour arrangement in Japanese Woman, with colour tests often demonstrated in tables. Székely experimented with applying various grounding glazes (Unterlagslasur), touch up paints (Opak) and finishing glazes (Schlußglasur) on highlights (Licht), medium tones (Mittelton) and dark spots (Schatten). The composition might have taken 4. Bertalan Székely in his studio. Repr. Vasárnapi Újság, 31 December 1905 a permanent form as early as 1871 ; it seems that later on Székely was only concerned with the colouring of the Japanese Woman. Although entries in other sketchbooks do not directly refer to the Japanese Woman itself, some of the sketches and notes do relate to Japan. In what follows, I will focus on individual items, commenting on them one by one. The most interesting of them are Székely's copies of Japanese woodcuts and illustrations, probably dating from ca. 1871. It has been firmly established that eight of his copies were based on the famous Hokusai Manga, which had considerable influence on the Japonistes. Bowls manufactured by the Vieillard ceramics factory in Bordeaux were decorated with motifs based on parts of the Manga that Székely copied as well. 51 MTAKK Ms.939/1. fol.l9/v. Line drawing of flower. Notation at the upper left: 'japan'. The flower may be a Chinese peony (Jap. Botan). MTAKK Ms.939/1. fol. 21. Copy based on a drawing in vol. 10 (1819) of the Hokusai Manga, the series sketchbooks drawn by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The female figure represents the ninth-century woman poet Onono Komachi, a celebrated beauty. The original includes two male figures as well. One of them is the poet Noin (988-?), while the other is haiku poet Takarai (or Enomoto) Kikaku (1661-1707). MTAKK Ms.939/1. fol.22. Copy based on a scene in vol. 10 of the Hokusai Manga. The woman is Da Yi (Jap. Dakki, 11 B.C.), queen of the ancient Chinese empire of Yin, notorious for her cruelty and hedonism. The original scene includes a fox with nine tails (Jiu wi hú). According to legend, the fox drove the queen crazy. The third figure in the scene is Sun Wu
