Jean Delvin(1853-1922) was born in Gent, Belgium. He studied under a Romantic in Brussels. In 1881 he was appointed a professor at Gent Art School and in 1902 he assumed the post of the presidency. He is acclaimed more highly as an educator than an artist in the Belgium art history. He helped many students o develop into impressionists and among them were Kijiro Ota[1] and Torajiro Kojima.
Delvin created traditional paintings but always kept careful eyes to the evolution of art. He was one of the founders of the Le Vingt[2] and later exhibited his paintings in the exhibitions of La Libre Esthetique[3] as well.
Delvin's forte was animal paintings and in particular, he was fond of drawing horses. The "Carriage and Pair" was painted with swift strokes on a coarse canvas with the base color having already applied in advance. The horse and the man in the front indicate his high sketching ability. The yellow and red paint blended in white used expressing bright blue sky and clouds and yellowish buildings in the far back appear to be somewhat unreal. We may assume that reflects his interests in the new emerging art while he remained in the old school of painting.
Notes:
[1] Kijiro Ota (1883-1951): A painter from Kyoto. After the graduation from Tokyo National Art School, he went to Belgium, where he learned the Neo- Impressionism at Gent Art School before returning home.
[2] Le Vingt : An art group in Brussels, Belgium, that was constituted of Anti Academism artists. They held exhibitions inviting such foreign artists as van Gough, Redon, and Seurat who were not yet well established.
[3] La Libre Esthetique: An art group that succeeded Le Vingt.
Reference:
Shincho World Art Dictionary (Tokyo: Shincho-Sha Co., Ltd. 1985) Akira Tomita, Torajiro Kojima and Belgium Art
Catalogue:
Exhibition to Commemorate the 70th anniversary of the death of Torajiro Kojima (Executive Committee of the 70th anniversary exhibition of Torajiro Kojima, 1999)
■Anecdote
Kojima was introduced to Delvin when he visited Kijiro Ota at his home in Gent, Belgium in 1909, the next year he had gone to Paris to study.
Kojima mentioned about Delvin in his memoir of art in Europe as below.
"Mr. Delvin, President of the school Kijiro Ota was attending asked me if I was interested in visiting his school. I do not like school per se, for one thing. I declined his offer, because he might be offended if I would go back to Paris after staying there for only a week. But he said he would not mind it at all and suggested I visit his school for a day. I therefore visited it. Despite my preconception, it was very different from other schools. Particularly the president was very gentle natured, kind and devoted. I was impressed by his educational philosophy, enthusiasm and personality to a point to decide to stay in Gent and enter the school. I eventually ended up staying there for an extended period of time.
- Omission of a middle part -
I was under an impression that he had submitted his artworks to exhibitions in Europe and was recognized highly, but technically he was probably not acknowledged as one of the best. However, he was among a very few who exhibited devotion and kindness in teaching young people and had keen insight to find talents in his students and helped them grow."
In addition, Delvin was impartial with every student. He provided advice to Kojima, an Oriental studying western art, that he should not just imitate western paintings. He encouraged him to recognize the difference of the cultures between the east and the west and not to lose the unique features which he had developed. He was a very open-minded teacher, which was a rare quality then.
This way Delvin positively let students try new artistic expressions and thus helped many of them to succeed in their own ways.
Kojima learned from Delvin the importance of keeping his identity molded by who he was. And probably this formed the foundation for him in selecting artworks. He screened them from oriental perceptions and looked for artworks that had been brought forth by using "new creative expressions".
Reference: Naohei Kojima, Short Biography of Torajiro Kojima: Office for Editing Biography of Torajiro Kojima
Carriage and Pair
Commentary
Jean Delvin(1853-1922) was born in Gent, Belgium. He studied under a Romantic in Brussels. In 1881 he was appointed a professor at Gent Art School and in 1902 he assumed the post of the presidency. He is acclaimed more highly as an educator than an artist in the Belgium art history. He helped many students o develop into impressionists and among them were Kijiro Ota[1] and Torajiro Kojima.
Delvin created traditional paintings but always kept careful eyes to the evolution of art. He was one of the founders of the Le Vingt[2] and later exhibited his paintings in the exhibitions of La Libre Esthetique[3] as well.
Delvin's forte was animal paintings and in particular, he was fond of drawing horses. The "Carriage and Pair" was painted with swift strokes on a coarse canvas with the base color having already applied in advance. The horse and the man in the front indicate his high sketching ability. The yellow and red paint blended in white used expressing bright blue sky and clouds and yellowish buildings in the far back appear to be somewhat unreal. We may assume that reflects his interests in the new emerging art while he remained in the old school of painting.
Notes:
[1] Kijiro Ota (1883-1951): A painter from Kyoto. After the graduation from Tokyo National Art School, he went to Belgium, where he learned the Neo- Impressionism at Gent Art School before returning home.
[2] Le Vingt : An art group in Brussels, Belgium, that was constituted of Anti Academism artists. They held exhibitions inviting such foreign artists as van Gough, Redon, and Seurat who were not yet well established.
[3] La Libre Esthetique: An art group that succeeded Le Vingt.
Reference:
Shincho World Art Dictionary (Tokyo: Shincho-Sha Co., Ltd. 1985) Akira Tomita, Torajiro Kojima and Belgium Art
Catalogue:
Exhibition to Commemorate the 70th anniversary of the death of Torajiro Kojima (Executive Committee of the 70th anniversary exhibition of Torajiro Kojima, 1999)
■Anecdote
Kojima was introduced to Delvin when he visited Kijiro Ota at his home in Gent, Belgium in 1909, the next year he had gone to Paris to study.
Kojima mentioned about Delvin in his memoir of art in Europe as below.
"Mr. Delvin, President of the school Kijiro Ota was attending asked me if I was interested in visiting his school. I do not like school per se, for one thing. I declined his offer, because he might be offended if I would go back to Paris after staying there for only a week. But he said he would not mind it at all and suggested I visit his school for a day. I therefore visited it. Despite my preconception, it was very different from other schools. Particularly the president was very gentle natured, kind and devoted. I was impressed by his educational philosophy, enthusiasm and personality to a point to decide to stay in Gent and enter the school. I eventually ended up staying there for an extended period of time.
- Omission of a middle part -
I was under an impression that he had submitted his artworks to exhibitions in Europe and was recognized highly, but technically he was probably not acknowledged as one of the best. However, he was among a very few who exhibited devotion and kindness in teaching young people and had keen insight to find talents in his students and helped them grow."
In addition, Delvin was impartial with every student. He provided advice to Kojima, an Oriental studying western art, that he should not just imitate western paintings. He encouraged him to recognize the difference of the cultures between the east and the west and not to lose the unique features which he had developed. He was a very open-minded teacher, which was a rare quality then.
This way Delvin positively let students try new artistic expressions and thus helped many of them to succeed in their own ways.
Kojima learned from Delvin the importance of keeping his identity molded by who he was. And probably this formed the foundation for him in selecting artworks. He screened them from oriental perceptions and looked for artworks that had been brought forth by using "new creative expressions".
Reference: Naohei Kojima, Short Biography of Torajiro Kojima: Office for Editing Biography of Torajiro Kojima
Painting
Apple Picking
Small Table in Evening Dusk
Song of Songs (Le Cantique des Cantiques)
Haystacks
Waterlilies
Cliff of Gréville
Coutyard at the ‘Rondest House’, Pontoise
Woman Wearing a Hat with Silk Gauze
Delightful Land (Te Nave Nave Fenua)
All Things Die, But All Will Be Resurrected through God’s Love
Wave
Carriage and Pair
Three Dancers in Red Costume
Autumn Sea
Old Horse in the Wasteland
Landscape
Festival of Venis
Hair
Winter Orchard
Beethoven
Landscape of La Ferté-Milon
Annunciation