Fenollosa - Fenollosa, Ernest Francisco

Japanese: フェノロサ - Ｆｅｎｏｌｌｏｓａ，ＥｒｎｅｓｔＦｒａｎｃｉｓｃｏ

Year of death: 1908.9.21 (1908.9.21)
Born: February 18, 1853
An American scholar of Oriental art history. Born in Salem, Massachusetts. He studied philosophy at Harvard University, graduating at the top of his class in 1874. After completing graduate school in 1876, he also studied oil painting at the School of Painting attached to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for a time. In 1878, he was recommended by Edward Morse to come to Japan as a foreign teacher, and lectured on political science, philosophy, and finance at the University of Tokyo. Soon after arriving in Japan, he began collecting and researching Japanese art, learning how to appraise it from Kano Tomonobu and Kano Eitoku. Fenollosa's appraisal skills were such a great surprise to people that Eitoku later gave him the name Kano Eitoku Rishin. Meanwhile, his lecture ("The Truth of Art") at the Ryuchi-kai in 1882, in which he advocated the revival of Japanese art, had a major impact on the art world. In 1882, he formed the Kanga-kai himself, and together with Kano Hogai, Hashimoto Gaho, and others, he attempted to create a new form of Japanese painting. These works, collected by Fenollosa himself, are currently housed in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Freer Gallery of Art, and other institutions. After becoming a member of the Drawing Research Committee in 1917, he worked hard to establish an art education system, and in 1920 he founded the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (Tokyo University of the Arts), which opened in 1922. He lectured on art history at the school, which marked the beginning of art history research in Japan. In addition to working hard to protect ancient art, he was also devoted to Buddhism, and in 1918, together with Bigelow, he was ordained by Sakurai Keitoku of the Tendai sect and received the Buddhist name Taishin. After returning to Japan in 1923, he became director of the China and Japan department of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, but resigned in 1929. He subsequently visited Japan twice for short periods, but was not blessed with many opportunities, and died in London. Posthumously, "Outline of the Art History of East Asia" (1921) was published.

(Michinobu Sato)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：1908.9.21(1908.9.21)
生年：1853.2.18
アメリカの東洋美術史学者。マサチューセッツ州セーラム生まれ。ハーバード大学で哲学を学び,1874年首席で卒業。76年大学院修了後,一時,ボストン美術館付属の絵画学校で油絵も学んだ。明治11(1878)年エドワード・モースの推薦でお雇い外国人教師として来日,東京大学で政治学,哲学,理財学を講義する。来日後まもなくから日本美術の収集と研究を始め,狩野友信,狩野永悳に鑑定法を学ぶ。フェノロサの鑑定力は人々に大きな驚きを与えたようであり,のちに永悳から狩野永探理信の名を受けている。一方,日本美術の復興を唱え同15年竜池会で行った講演(「美術真説」)は,美術界に大きな影響を与えた。17年には自ら鑑画会を結成,狩野芳崖,橋本雅邦らと共に,新日本画の創造を図った。これらの作品は,フェノロサ自身の収集によって現在ボストン美術館,フィラデルフィア美術館,フリーア美術館などに収蔵されている。 17年図画調査会委員となって以降,美術教育制度の確立に尽力し,20年東京美術学校(東京芸大)を設立(22年開校)した。同校では美術史の講義を行い,これがわが国における美術史研究の創始ともなった。また古美術保護に尽力したほか,仏教に傾倒し,18年ビゲローと共に天台宗の桜井敬徳から受戒,諦信の法号を受けている。23年帰国後,ボストン美術館中国日本部の主管となったが,29年辞任。その後2度ほど短期間来日したが,恵まれず,ロンドンで客死した。没後『東亜美術史綱』(1921)が刊行された。

(佐藤道信)

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