藝術、國家、個人：日本近代之例

Art, the Nation, and the Individual in Japanese modern society

我們通常將藝術理解為個人思想或感情的表現，但這樣的理解以及與此連動的「獨創性」，已逐漸成為過去式。在如此現況下，本論文檢討了在日本的近代化過程中，具有以自我表現為基礎的藝術觀以及具有以國家為創作原點的藝術觀的歷史交替。根據本論文的歷史見解，個人主義的藝術觀，從1904-1905年的日俄戰爭之後的明治末期到1923年的關東大震災為止，大約涵蓋整個大正時期，並由同時代致力於西洋美術受容的文學團體《白樺》派所代表。這種思潮的興起，可回溯至1890年前後，透過大日本帝國憲法的頒布與實施，明治日本具備了近代國家的形式。從這時候算起，大約十年的時間，本論文將之視為從國家主義到個人主義的移行期，以夏目漱石和外山正一等人為線索，確認思想上的變革後，依此描繪精神史的底圖，此外，也提出了在這個時期前後的兩個美術上的寫實主義（realism）。亦即，驚訝於西方油畫具有的再現性的敏銳，欲將之作為資訊傳達工具來報效國家而將其一生奉獻給此種技術的受容•展開•普及的高橋由一，以及一面以國家為基底來看待藝術，一面與《白樺》派有深交的岸田劉生；藉由探討此二人的軌跡，確認個人的獨創性因「自然」概念而得以普遍化的過程，作為美術上個人主義表現的具體範例。

We normally take “fine art” as an act by an individual creator, and his work as an expression of his personality. However such an image of “fine art” has already lost its plausibility in the circumstances of today, which for example, often includes team production in the case of movies or animation films. This paper deals with two oil painters in the Japanese modern time, Takahashi Yuichi and Kishida Ryūsei, and their realistic intentions, in order to explore their differing fundamental thoughts. Takahashi, the pioneer of Japanese oil painting, was impressed by the painting style introduced by the Western world during the Meiji Restoration and devoted himself to its acquisition and spread throughout Japan. His passion was sustained by his belief that the exact representation of oil painting could contribute to the modernization of Japan as state. On the contrary Kishida's realism has its background in individualism after the Russo-Japanese War. The individualistic style of thought shared by many contemporary artists and intellectuals tended to combine the individual personality with the transcendent named “Nature” or “Humankind”. In the case of Kishida the representation of ordinary things in paintings meant the assimilation of himself to “the Great Nature”.  Contrasting the differences between both painters, this article shows a change from the state to the individual in the intellectual history of Japanese modern time.