Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/227

 the school he established, completely refute the theory that the anatomical defects commonly seen in the work of Japanese sculptors are due to faulty observation. Without scientific training of any kind, Matsumoto and his followers produced works in which the eye of science cannot detect any error. But it is impossible to admit within the circle of high-art productions these wooden figures of every-day men and women, unrelieved by any subjective element and owing their merit entirely to the fidelity with which their contours are shaped, their muscles modelled, and their anatomical proportions preserved. They have not even the attraction of being cleanly sculptured in wood, but are covered with thinly lacquered muslin, which, though doubtless a good preservative, accentuates their puppet-like character. Nevertheless Matsumoto's figures marked an epoch in Japanese wood sculpture. Their vivid realism appealed strongly to the taste of the average foreigner; a considerable school of carvers soon began to work in the Matsumoto style, and hundreds of their productions have gone to Europe and America, finding no market in Japan. The greatest of these modern experts is Yamamoto Fukumatsu. He reaches the level of Matsumoto Kisaburo.

Midway between the Matsumoto realistic school and the pure Japanese style of former times, stand a number of wood-carvers headed by Takamura Kōun, who occupies in the field of sculpture much the same place as that held by Hashimoto Gaho in the realm of painting. Kōun carves figures in the round, which not only display great power of chisel and breadth of style, but also tell a story not necessarily drawn from the motives of the classical school. This de-