ギャラリー雅堂だより 2025年3月「錦帯橋の春」

 

錦帯橋の春

今月の作品は山口県岩国市の錦帯橋です。5つのアーチが連なる約190メートルの木造の橋は数度の架け替えを経て今も350年前の姿がそのままに遺された優美な橋です。

 この作品は画面サイズが36×64．8㎝あり、井堂雅夫の作品の中では大きなサイズに分類されます。木版画は作品サイズが大きくなると、色の版を摺り重ねる時に二人がかりでないと版の上の正確な位置(見当)に和紙を置く事が難しくなります。また他にも気候による湿度の変化でおこる和紙の伸び縮みが大きくなり、それに対応して誤差を調整することが求められます。

 職人たちは江戸時代から今日まで、版元から求められるさまざまな要求に応えるべく工夫を重ね、知恵と手先の器用さで新たな技を生み出し木版画文化を支えて来ました。

 錦帯橋が今も職人の技で修復されながら往時の姿を伝えていることも含めて、日本の工芸や建築などさまざまな分野でも独自の繊細な感性で自然と寄り添いながら技を生み出す日本人の力はすばらしく、この世界に携われていることを誇りに感じずにはいられません。　　　　　　

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Feb. 2025

“Kintai Bridge”

This month's work is Kintai Bridge in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. 190-meter wooden bridge with five arches has been rebuilt several times, but it is still a beautiful bridge that retains its original appearance of 350 years ago.

 The size of this work is 36 x 64.8 cm, which is a large size among Masao Ido's works.The larger the size of a woodblock print, the more difficult it becomes to place the Japanese paper in the correct position (register) on the plate unless two people are involved in the process of printing the color plates.In addition, the expansion and contraction of the washi caused by changes in humidity due to climate increases, and the error must be adjusted accordingly.

 Since the Edo period (1603-1867), craftspeople have been devising ways to meet the various demands of the publishers, and their wisdom and dexterity have supported the culture of woodblock printmaking by creating new techniques.

 Including the fact that the Kintai Bridge is still being restored by craftsmen to its original appearance,The Japanese people's ability to create techniques while remaining close to nature with their unique and delicate sensibilities is amazing in a variety of fields, including crafts and architecture, and I cannot help but feel proud to be involved in the world of woodblock printing.

株式会社 雅堂

京都市北区平野宮屋敷町27

TEL 075-464-1655

FAX 075-464-0747

mokuhanga@gado.jp

ギャラリー雅堂だより 2025年2月「四無量心」

 

四無量心

「四無量心」は故郷である岩手にアトリエを開いて間もない1994年、地元新聞社から依頼を承け二年にわたり毎月宮沢賢治をテーマに作品とエッセイを発表した24点の内の一作です。

 京都から離れ岩手の自然に囲まれて自身の心と対話を重ねる創作の日々で、仏教の説く四つの心、慈悲喜捨を指す｢四無量心｣を自身のものとしたいと、エッセイには「アトリエの裏から拾ってきた杉板に下絵もなしで慈・悲・喜・捨と唱えながら刀を入れ摺り上げた」と書いています。

 後に出版された画文集を久しぶりに開いてみると、岩手での創作活動がその後の井堂雅夫の作品が「宇宙と生命」「生かされている使命」を強く意識したものとなり、日本の伝統文化や木版画周知のための展覧会や教室、メディア出演、講演、執筆など自身の生き方や創作活動の方向がより明確で活発なものへと変化していったことに気づきます。

 Blog post

Feb. 2025

“Simuryosin”

In 1994, soon after opening his studio in his hometown of Iwate, Masao Ido was commissioned by a local newspaper to publish 24 works and essays on the theme of Kenji Miyazawa every month for two years.　The "Four Myriad Hearts" is one of them.

 While spending his creative days away from Kyoto and surrounded by the natural beauty of Iwate Prefecture, Masao Ido became acquainted with the term "four immeasurable minds," which refers to the four minds of Buddhism: compassion, mercy, and joy.I wanted to understand the word more deeply.

In his essay, he writes, "I made the prints on a cedar board I found in the back of my studio without any preliminary sketches, chanting 'Ji,' 'Sadness,' 'Joy,' and 'Discretion' while putting a sword into the board.

When I opened the subsequent art books after a long time, I found that his creative activities in Iwate made him aware of "the universe and life" and "the mission of being alive" in his subsequent works, and the direction of his way of life and creative activities, such as exhibitions, classes, media appearances, lectures, and writing activities to promote traditional Japanese culture and woodblock prints, were "the universe and life" and "the mission of being alive.I have noticed that the direction of his life and creative activities has become more and more focused on "the universe and life" and "the mission of being alive".

株式会社 雅堂

京都市北区平野宮屋敷町27

TEL 075-464-1655

FAX 075-464-0747

mokuhanga@gado.jp

ギャラリー雅堂だより 2025年1月「南禅寺雪景」

 南禅寺雪景

今月の作品は東山連峰を背景に南禅寺山門からの雪景色です。

近年は温暖化の影響もあり、こんな風景を見ることは珍しくなりましたが、戒律が厳しいとされる禅寺にはなぜか雪景色が似合います。

 ファンの方から｢雪の作品を見ても何か温かい｣と言われることがあります。創作活動を始めて間もない井堂雅夫の作品を見て気に入り、コレクターになったひとりのアメリカ人が、作品に使われる独特の緑が好きだと、それを「IDOグリーン」と表現しました。しかし制作の様子を見ていると実は緑だけでなく他の色でも独自の色を作り出していることがわかります。パレットに絞り出された赤や黄色、緑、茶色が筆にすくい上げられ、いとも簡単そうに混ぜ合わされると、単色では決して表現できない複雑な色合いが雑味とも言える味わいのある緑や茶色となるのです。それは計算しても叶えられない、井堂雅夫に与えられた特別な感性なのかもしれません。

 雪景色の作品を見ると、岩手の藁葺き屋根の農家をアトリエにして絵を描いていたとき、井堂雅夫が障子の破れた穴から吹き込んでくる雪を気にすることなく「寒いほうが好きだ」と楽しげに語っていたことを思い出します。

 

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Jun. 2025

“Nanzenji-sekkei”

This month's work is a snowy scene from the gate of Nanzenji Temple with the Higashiyama mountain range in the background.

In recent years, due to global warming, it has become rare to see such a scene, but for some reason, snowy landscapes suit Zen temples, which are considered to have strict precepts.

 I have been told by some of my fans that there is something warm about seeing my work in the snow.One American who saw and liked Masao Ido's work shortly after he began his creative career and became a collector liked the unique green used in his work, describing it as "IDO green.

However, looking at the production process, it is clear that he actually creates his own unique colors not only in green but also in other colors.

 Reds, yellows, greens, and browns squeezed out on the palette are scooped up by the brush and mixed together with seemingly effortless ease, creating complex shades of green and brown that could never be expressed with a single color, but which have a tangy.　This may be a special sensitivity given to Masao Ido that cannot be achieved even by calculation.

 When I see his snowy landscapes, I remember that when he was painting in his studio in a thatched-roof farmhouse in Iwate, Masao Ido said happily, "I like the cold better," without worrying about the snow blowing in through the torn holes in the shoji screens.

株式会社 雅堂

京都市北区平野宮屋敷町27

TEL 075-464-1655

FAX 075-464-0747

mokuhanga@gado.jp