[Essay] Art Theory, and a Salty Art Exhibition

During my university days, I audited a lecture called "Art Theory" as a general education course in the Faculty of Liberal Arts.

The art criticism professor spoke calmly in the lecture about how Impressionist painter Monet was an artist who liberated painting from traditional religious art—which had previously been considered valuable for depicting religious figures or episodes—and instead vividly captured landscapes woven by nature and the environment, such as the sky, light, water surfaces, clouds, and water lilies. He also explained how, through series like the Haystacks and the Rouen Cathedral, Monet expressed in painting how a single subject changes moment by moment due to light and shadow.

It was a lecture that didn't just cover art history, but also discussed how to view paintings and the philosophy behind them. I remember learning that the relationship between the frame that defines a painting and the subject of the painting is like a window connecting the viewer's world to the world of the painting, and that it also represents the painter's perspective. I recall how interesting and enjoyable the lectures were, covering topics I had never heard of coming from a rural high school—such as how the composition of a still life, like a plate piled with apples and pears, is constructed through overlapping, and how the existence of the parts not drawn due to that overlapping is what makes the painting stand out, or how a subject is formed by its background and one should pay more attention to the context of the painting.

Inspired by the lectures, and having had little experience viewing paintings until high school, I actually started visiting art museums. The professor had said that when you look at a painting from a distance, you can understand the overall composition, but when you look up close, it is just a mass of paint, the artist's rough brushstrokes, or precise dots of pointillism, which can even convey emotion. He told us that both are the truth of the painting, so we should move closer and further away to appreciate it thoroughly. I think I spent quite a long time looking at them carefully, moving closer and further away just as he said.

Now, around that same time, I was walking through the streets of Shibuya when a young woman called out to me, "We are holding an art exhibition. It's free, would you like to come and see it?" Since I was interested from the classes I had taken, I wondered what kind of paintings I would see and followed the woman without any suspicion. We went down an escalator in a building to a gallery where several large paintings were on display.

When the woman asked, "What kind of paintings do you like?" and I replied, "I like Impressionist paintings and the like," she continued the conversation. "I see. Today is an exhibition of contemporary paintings, and these are works by world-class artists. This piece has won awards all over the world," she said, guiding me in front of a large painting. It was a painting scattered with colorful hues.

"Do you understand the value of this painting? Actually, between us, it costs several million yen. Don't you think that's amazing? But you really love paintings and have an eye for appreciating masterpieces. Today, I want to offer it to you specially for several hundred thousand yen. This is just between us. Don't you think that's a great deal?"

No matter how much I liked paintings, as a poor student, I didn't have that kind of money, and the woman's story didn't make sense. I realized this wasn't an art exhibition but some kind of scam-like business, and I regretted having followed her so naively.

"I think it's a lovely painting. However, I'm still a student and don't have any money, so it's a bit difficult for me to buy it."

"Don't you have any money? It's worth buying even if you take out a loan. If you hold it as an asset, you can fully expect a capital gain. Even if you don't have money now, it's the time to buy."

"Um, my room is a shabby six-mat apartment. A painting that covers an entire wall like this wouldn't even fit in my room to begin with."

"Why don't you move to a new apartment and rent a room where the painting will fit? It is absolutely worth buying even if you go that far. I guarantee it."

I thought this was turning into something outrageous. No matter what I said, the woman wouldn't back down, and this back-and-forth continued for several tens of minutes. Finally, I said, "Please, just give me a break," and forcibly ran to the escalator, running up it to escape. When I glanced back, the woman was glaring at me. It was very scary.

Of course, the university art theory lectures and the experience of confronting masterpieces at art museums have enriched my life. As an adult, I was deeply moved when I saw Monet's Water Lilies covering an entire wall at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris. If I visit France again someday, I would also like to visit the village of Giverny, where Monet spent his later years.

This was a story that came with a slightly bitter memory as a bonus.

(The End)
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