Huang Goodman · Art Forgotten

Art Forgotten

Art from public museum collections. A mismatched real Japanese law, and some other factoids.

Every object, image and description comes from the museum's own catalogue record, and every object links to its original. Japanese records are machine-translated into English; the museum's Japanese is kept beside the translation because it is the authoritative form. Each law carries its official number and links to e-Gov 法令検索, the Japanese government's statute database.

Bamboo and Rocks in Clearing Skies
{Bamboo and Rocks in Clearing Skies · Ike Taiga (Japanese, 1723–1776) · mid-1700s · Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0}

The title on this screen matches one from Taiga's Brush Methods. It portrays a scene and spirit revitalized by rain. In the screen, a torrential rainstream flows from the mountains into a river. A village lies hidden among towering bamboo in the background. A flat rock in the foreground, resembling a platform, draws us into the painting.

The title written on this screen corresponds to one on a design in Taiga’s Brush Methods (大雅堂画法). The concept conveyed is one of scenery and spirit refreshed by precipitation. In the screen, a rain-filled stream rushes from the mountains into a river. A village is nestled amid giant bamboo in the distance. A platform-like flat rock in the foreground invites us to step into the scene.

View the original at Cleveland Museum of Art →
The law
文化財保護法
Act on Protection of Cultural Properties
昭和二十五年法律第二百十四号 · Act No. 214 of 1950

Article 1 sets a purpose larger than preservation: to preserve cultural properties AND to make use of them, contributing to the cultural advancement of the people and to the progress of world culture. Article 4 turns that outward. An owner must recognise the object as a precious national asset, preserve it for the public, and make it public as far as possible. Ownership here carries a duty to show.

The cool part. "Living National Treasure" appears nowhere in the statute. Article 71 requires that when an Important Intangible Cultural Property is designated, the minister must also certify its holder or holding group. Japan does not register the pot, it registers the potter. Article 96 is the one that reaches ordinary people: if you uncover a shell mound, a dwelling site or a tumulus, you must leave it exactly as it is and notify the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs without delay, and the Commissioner can freeze the ground for up to three months.

Verify at e-Gov 法令検索 →

Use it Palette for a single-colour run: one ink, heavy stock, nothing else on the sheet.

Description source: museum curator text, translated — not generated