瑛九

Born on April 28, 1911 (Meiji 44) in present-day Miyazaki-shi, Miyazaki-ken as the second son of Sugita Nao and Yuki. In the early years, he worked under his real name Sugita Hideo, and from 1936 onward, under the artist name Q Ei. His father was an ophthalmologist also known locally as a haiku poet. The fact that there is a collection of books named Sugita Bunko (Sugita Collection) deriving from the Sugita family kept at Miyazaki Prefectural Library also suggests that Hideo grew up in an intellectual milieu. In 1925 (Taishō 14), Hideo left Miyazaki Prefectural Miyazaki Junior High School (present-day Miyazaki Prefectural Ōmiya Senior High School), which he had just entered, and went to Tokyo. He entered the Yōga (Western-style painting) Department of Nihon Bijutsu Gakkō (Japanese School of Art in Tokyo) and studied painting. However, in 1927, he left that college too. Around the same time, he frequently contributed to art magazines such as “Atorie” and “Mizue” under his real name. In 1930 (Shōwa 5), he entered a photography college, presumably Oriental Shashin Gakkō (Oriental School of Photography). Amid a trend for “Shinkō Shashin” (New Photography) emphasizing mechanical expressions characteristic of photography, Q Ei acquired photographic skills. Through learning about László Moholy-Nagy, Man Ray, etc., he encountered the photographic technique of photogram, on which objects are placed directly on photosensitive paper and exposed to light without using a camera. He also contributed one after another critique on photography under his real name to the photography magazine “Foto taimusu (Photo Times, published by Photo Times-sha from 1924)” which led New Photography, occasionally supplementing illustrations of his own experimental works. From the middle of 1932 onward, he once again devoted himself to oil painting. Although he kept submitting his works to exhibitions inviting entries from the public, other than an oil painting entitled “Seashore” (whereabouts unknown), which was accepted at the Chūō Bijutsu Exhibition in 1935, his works kept being rejected, and a period of groping continued. Meanwhile, in 1934, influenced by his elder brother Masaomi, Q Ei began learning Esperanto. Through this Esperanto network, he met the art critic Kubo Sadajirō, who would become his lifetime supporter. Around the same time, through socializing with art teachers and others in his hometown Miyazaki, his friendship with Yamada Kōshun, who was later to write a critical biography of Q Ei, began too. At the beginning of 1936, at his hometown Miyazaki, Q Ei produced a large number of photograms characterized by shadow-picture-like effects created with stencils and automatic loci of light employing a penlight. He went to Tokyo and took the photograms to the avant-garde artist Hasegawa Saburō. Hasegawa and the art critic Toyama Usaburō, whom Hasegawa introduced to Q Ei, both appreciated the highly pictorial character of Q Ei’s works, and following their advice, Q Ei named the works “photo-dessins.” It was also on this occasion that he assumed the art name “瑛九 read Ei Kyū” or “Q Ei.” Taking this as a turning point, that year, a collection of reproductions of ten original photo-dessins was published from Geijutsugaku Kenkyūkai, an organization run by Toyama, as “Nemuri no riyū” (Reason of sleep) (printed by Ino Kisaburō, limited edition of 40 copies, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo and other collections). Q Ei also took part in “Shinjidai Yōgaten,” a small group of young artists with Hasegawa at the center. As part of a sequence of solo exhibitions featuring members of that group, a solo exhibition of photo-dessins by Q Ei was held at Kinokuniya Gallery (Ginza, Tokyo). Solo exhibitions were also held at Sankakudō (Osaka) and Nishimura Gakki (Miyazaki). Unlike the trial photograms produced in the context of photography under the name Sugita Hideo, the photo-dessins by Q Ei were created and presented intentionally as “artworks” in the context of fine art. They are regarded, in a sense, as one of the earliest examples of the medium of photography introduced to the art scene in Japan. In early 1937, Q Ei took part in the founding of Jiyū Bijutsu Association (Free Artists Association), which was an avant-garde art group formed by combining several small groups of young artists such as “Shinjidai Yōgaten” and “Kokushoku Yōgaten.” In those days, besides photo-dessins, Q Ei worked using various media including photo collages such as the Real series (1937, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo), which he submitted to the 1st Jiyū Bijutsu Association Exhibition; abstract oil paintings employing the transfer technique such as “Traces of Match (Artwork-D)” and “Artwork-E” (both 1936, Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum); and glass paintings such as the Psychology of Drunkard series (1937, Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum), on which free brushwork and scratching were applied. Having distinguished himself as an enthusiastic avant-garde artist, as early as in the middle of 1937, Q Ei began to entertain a feeling of disappointment toward the art world. In June 1938, he withdrew from the Jiyū Bijutsu Association. Once again, he sought a course of direction by, for example, immersing himself on Okada Torajirō’s method of “seiza” (lit. quiet sitting) and starting “Suwaru-kai,” a sitting group, with his elder brother Masaomi or composing haiku under the pseudonym “Jakuon.” Although he rejoined the Jiyū Bijutsu Association as a fellow during wartime in 1940, he withdrew for the second time in criticism of the association’s operating policy the following year. Thereafter, he made a variety of attempts such as entering Dokuritsu Bijutsu Kyōkai Kenkyūjo, a painting school, with the aim of redefining painting, producing Impressionist-style oil paintings, and writing novels in Esperanto. However, due, in part, to poor health and shortage of painting materials caused by the wartime situation, World War II came to an end without Q Ei having been able to achieve much outcome. In January 1946 (Shōwa 21), Q Ei joined the Japanese Communist Party (and withdrew from it in June). He met Taniguchi Miyako at a cultural lecture held at his home in Miyazaki as part of the JCP activities, and they married in 1948. From the year after, he began producing works on a full scale and rejoined the Jiyū Bijutsu Association as a member, submitted work to its 13th exhibition, and also to the 3rd Bijutsu Dantai Rengōten. Around the same time, employing a press given to him by Kubo, he also began experimenting with etching. In 1950, he held an exhibition of works at Miyazakiken Kyōiku Kaikan and an exhibition of photo-dessins at Ueno Matsuzakaya in Tokyo. The following year, in 1951, he held exhibitions of photo-dessins at the Miyazaki Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Gallery Umeda (Osaka), and published “Dreams in the Midday” (limited edition of 100 copies, The National Museum of Art, Osaka and other collections) consisting of reproductions of original photo-dessins. Thus, his works were presented in quick succession. Working at full swing, in order to move his base to Tokyo, in September that year, he moved to Urawa-shi in Saitama. Around the same time, he planned the formation of a new group of mainly artists in Osaka and Miyazaki, which later led to the establishment of the Demokrato Artists Association (1951–1957), to which participants were admitted on condition that they would not submit their works to existing exhibitions inviting entries from the public. “Demokrato” is the Esperanto word for democracy. During just seven years of activities, this association held group exhibitions, published a magazine, and turned out many international talents of the next generation including Ay-Ō, Kawara On, Ikeda Masuo, Isobe Yukihisa, Hosoe Eikō, and Izumi Shigeru. From the point of view that Q Ei began his artistic career in full in the 1930s and brought up postwar young artists, together with Yoshihara Jirō, who ran the Gutai Art Association, and Takiguchi Shūzō, who organized Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop), he is regarded as a man who played the role of connecting the prewar avant-garde to the postwar era. In 1952, Q Ei founded Sōzō Biiku Kyōkai together with Kubo, Kitagawa Tamiji, and others aiming at new art education. Members of the Demokrato Artists Association were also involved, and they worked hard to spread their ideas through exhibitions, lectures, and seminars. In 1956, Q Ei obtained a lithography press and worked concentratedly on producing lithographs. Opportunities for Q Ei to present his works during the 1950s spread diversely from the Demokrato Exhibitions. Takemiya Gallery (Tokyo), where exhibitions were curated by Takiguchi Shūzō, was one such stage, and besides holding three solo exhibitions there, Q Ei also presented works at group shows held there. In 1953, an idea to hold a solo exhibition in the US emerged, but it was not realized. The works sent to New York were presented at “Tops-in-Photography” (New York). That year, Q Ei’s works were also presented at “The Exhibition of Contemporary Photography” and “Abstraction and Fantasy” held at the newly founded National Museum of Modern Art (Kyobashi, Tokyo, present-day National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). In 1957, he was invited to present works at the 1st International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo too. He also presented his works at department stores such as “An Exhibition of Photo-Dessins by Q Ei” held at Nihombashi Takashimaya (Tokyo) in 1955, where he showed more than seventy photo-dessins from the early years onward. He also showed his works frequently in his hometown Miyazaki and other locations with connections to artists and supporters Q Ei was close to such as Osaka, Fukui, Mōka (Tochigi), where Kubo lived, etc. Q Ei’s work after World War II employed even more diverse media than before the war and evolved intricately by connecting different media. Like photo-dessins, Q Ei’s etchings were designed automatically without underdrawings. As for his photo-dessins, in addition to images created with stencils, in “Work” (1953, Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum) etc., there are etching-like dense lines; in “Downtown” (1954, Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum) etc., a rough touch emerges; and occasionally, as in the case of “Make-up” (1954, Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum), multiple images were overlapped in layers. The line drawing and brushwork of the image resulted by drawing with ink or paint on a transparent substance such as glass or cellophane and making a contact print on photographic paper. It was a method that could be described as turning a glass painting into a photogram. The series of paintings such as “Chaos” (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo), which began circa 1957 and were produced by spraying the paint on with an air compressor, were similar to color photo-dessins in taste. Traces of the stencils were left by spraying the paint on—a method closely resembling photograms. As outlined above, the way Q Ei produced his works by intricately intertwining mediums beyond conventional domains shows how, while placing himself amid one medium and another, he was constantly aware of renewing his artistic thoughts. The series of pointillist oil paintings Q Ei created in his final years could also be regarded as an extension of his method of intricately stratifying images, which he worked on after World War II through photo-dessins, sprayed paintings, etc. He began devoting himself to this series circa 1958, and the images he produced gradually became more and more infinitesimal and multilayered. In October 1959, he was bedridden due to overwork. Being diagnosed with chronic nephritis, he was admitted to Urawa Chūō Hospital (Saitama). Although he was able to leave the hospital by the end of the year, his condition did not improve, and he was readmitted to hospital again at the beginning of the following year. In February, an exhibition of his oil paintings was held at Kabutoya Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo. Despite presenting nine major works from the pointillist series including “Afternoon (Absence of Insects)” (The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) and “Shadow” (Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum) produced in 1958; and “Wings” (Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum), “Cloud” (The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama), and “Flowing—Ending” (Urawa Art Museum) produced in 1959, he was transferred to Dōwa Hospital (Kanda, Tokyo) while the exhibition was on show and died of acute failure aged 48 on March 10. Just one month after his death, an exhibition featuring four artists was held at the National Museum of Modern Art (1960), in which Q Ei’s works were shown alongside those by Hishida Shunsō, Kōsaka Gajin, and Takamura Kōtarō. Thereafter, exhibitions featuring Q Ei have been held in Miyazaki and Saitama, to which the artist was closely related, and other locations in Japan frequently to the present day. Efforts to publicly commend his achievements were actively undertaken too. In 1965, Takiguchi Shūzō, Kubo Sadajirō, Onosato Toshinobu, Yamada Kōshun, and others founded “Ei-Q no kai,” a society in honor of the artist. In 1976, based on steady research, Yamada Kōshun published “Ei-Q: hyōden to sakuhin” (Ei-Q: A critical biography and his works) (Seiryūdō, 1976). The archives accumulated by Yamada through his friendship with Q Ei and his surveys to write a biography after Q Ei’s death are currently kept at Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. (Taniguchi Eri / Translated by Ogawa Kikuko) (Published online: 2024-10-24）