Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/55035

This paper examines the trend toward a word of “soboku”, or naivety and simplicity, which has been frequently referred to in Japanese art scene in the 1930s, especially around the newborn Dokuritsu Exhibition (est.1930). Mainly focusing on the monthly art journal Dokuritsu Bijutsu issued by the Dokuritsu Exhibition, we show that “soboku”, albeit a common word itself, can explain some of highly characteristic attitudes and strategies of the early Dokuritsu Exhibition. On the one hand, around the 1930’s Dokuritsu Exhibition, “soboku” sometimes means the style of French painter Henri Rousseau and his followers. In this case, “soboku” is often used in order to indicate some negative aspect of one’s painting style, which was considered as old-fashioned, and therefore should be surpassed. On the other hand, the word “soboku” has positive meanings. For example, indicating naive, childlike, artless style of paintings, this word was applied to one of the most controversial problems in this period, namely the local color of works. In this case, “soboku” signifies some merits of painter’s local color. In other cases, when arguing a painter’s works or his style in connection with his own life style or personal character, this word connotes more ethical meanings.