Tosa school founder Tosa Mitsunobu (1434–1525) painted for temples, palaces and the imperial court. He and his disciples specialised in yamato-e (literally, pictures of Japan), such as this finely painted seasonal landscape Pair of six‑fold screens with pine trees c.1650 (illustrated), that were highly favoured by Japan’s imperial court and aristocracy. The stylistic conventions of yamato-e, and use of the term, had emerged centuries before as Japan distinguished itself aesthetically from the mainland of China, and it was due to artists such as those of the Tosa school that it saw a revival. This pair of screens is consistent with the yamato-e tradition of showing the change of seasons. The painting depicts winter changing into spring with its inclusion of symbolic elements such as the evergreen pine, often associated with winter and New Year; bamboo, seen along the lower edge; and a plum tree in bloom, seen late in the season signalling early spring. The screens also depict a range of birdlife, including pheasants — often associated with spring — and a textured pattern using the moriage (raised decoration) technique for the golden fence of dried and bundled twigs in the foreground. Behind the largest pine, a silver moon, now blackened with age, can also be seen. Delve deeper into the Collection

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (24 November 1864-1901) moved to Montmartre, Paris in 1882 and was instantly drawn to the city’s demi-monde — famous for its cabarets where people would go to enjoy music, dance, and shows; the cafes and circuses; the racetrack; a place for escape, pleasure, entertainment, and sexual freedom. Montmartre became a part of Paris in 1860, it was an area populated by artists who mostly could not afford the rents of Quartier Latin, but also attracted writers, poets, and performers. Toulouse-Lautrec found his subjects in the fleeting crowds and urban spectacle with the opening of the Moulin Rouge in 1889. Montmartre c.1890 Already passionately fond of drawing, Toulouse-Lautrec was an astute observer of life and a talented drafter. His career coincided with the emergence of modern printmaking and poster production, as well as the emergence of Parisian nightlife and entertainment when the young provincial aristocrat launched himself into the bohemian world of Montmartre. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec ‘Tete de fille (Head of a girl)’ 1892 In a brief and brilliant career of just over a decade, he produced some of the best-known images of Paris and its nightlife in the form of lithographic posters and prints, inspired by the formal elements of traditional Japanese print-making: flat colour surfaces; asymmetrical, cropped compositions; and pronounced outlines. Working en plein air in the manner of the Impressionists, the artist was drawn to the people on the fringes of so-called respectable society. Toulouse-Lautrec rejected the conventional cliché of fallen women, he frequented the brothels and clubs, befriended the women who worked there, and produced a sensitive and profoundly human portrait of their world in a series of lithographs known as ‘Elles’. This oval portrait Tete de fille (Head of a girl) 1892 (illustrated) is one of fifteen the artist made of women who worked at a brothel on the Rue Amboise. Prostitution was a way of life in the ninetheenth century and like Toulouse-Lautrec, the theme was utilised by a number of artists including Edgar Degas (19 July 1834–1917). Toulouse-Lautrec regularly took up residence in brothels, he commented: ‘Brothel. Well, what of it? Nowhere else do I feel more at home…’.

The collaborative research of curator and conservator can deeply enhance our understanding and evaluation of works of art. The curator seeks to define a works’ art historical and other contexts, provide a reading of its iconography and a description of its stylistic character, while the conservator focuses on the material analysis of the work, interpreting both the seen and unseen evidence of its physical development. Cristo risorgente (The risen Christ) (illustrated) by Jacopo Tintoretto (1518-94) depicts Christ rising from his tomb, triumphant over death and illuminated by a rising sun. The staff in Christ’s left hand holds up a banner celebrating the resurrection, while his right hand delivers a gesture of blessing or benediction to the awakening soldier. In its original church setting — likely as an altarpiece placed above the faithful — the foreshortened figure of Christ would have delivered an even more dramatic sense of the miracle of life defeating death. Tintoretto is one of the masters of the Venetian Renaissance, although he painted portraits of eminent Venetians, he was best known for his religious works, many of which were commissioned by churches. Tintoretto ‘Cristo risorgente’ c.1555 Tintoretto is a prominent figure within the history of sixteenth-century art. Principally self-taught, he is said to have spent a short time under Titian (1488–1576) and, later, Schiavone (1510/15–1563). One of the earliest critical commentaries on Tintoretto occurs in a letter from Pietro Aretino (1492-1556). Aretino admonished Tintoretto for his fa presto (his speed of execution) and his lack of ‘finish’. The biographer, Ridolfi (1594–1658), who published a life of Tintoretto in 1642, described the artist’s working method in considerable detail, noting that he kept a motto fixed to his easel: II disegno di Michaelangelo ed il colorito di Tiziano (The design of Michaelangelo and the colour of Titian), one to which he evidently held fast as he worked on Cristo risorgente (The risen Christ). We know from Ridolfi that Tintoretto: ‘trained himself also by concocting in wax and clay small figures which he dressed in scraps of cloth, attentively studying the folds of the cloth on the outlines of the limbs. He also placed some of the figures in little houses, and in perspective scenes made of wood and cardboard, and, by means of little lamps, he contrived for the windows he introduced therein lights and shadows.’ Tintoretto chose to work in a studio that admitted little natural light studying, drawing and painting from these small and dramatically illuminated modellos. Ridolfi continues: ‘He also hung some models by threads to the roof beams to study the appearance they made when seen from below, and, to get the foreshortening of figures for ceilings, creating by such methods bizarre effects, or capricci (capricious effects). Through such means Tintoretto was able to build the dramatic narrative and theatrical force of his paintings. The original size of the composition can be reconstructed by closely examining an X-radiograph of the painting (illustrated). The structure of the current wooden stretcher can be seen in the X-radiograph, which probably dates from when the painting was last lined during the nineteenth century. Two sets of handmade tacks suggests that the painting has been lined twice on this stretcher. A row of 1cm diameter holes, spaced about every 10-12cm down the left edge of the painting, relate to the original method of stretching, probably by means of lacing. X-radiograph of ‘Cristo risorgente’ An impression of the original stretcher can also be seen from the X- radiograph, showing a structure with corner braces. Extrapolating from these impressions assists conjecture on the original size of the painting. It seems apparent that the work has been trimmed, losing approximately 2cm from the left and bottom edges (about the amount one might expect to lose in the course of a glue lining), approximately 4 to 5cm from the top edge and as much as 8 to 9cm from the right. The painting’s original dimensions would, therefore, have been approximately 206cm high x 148cm wide. Ridolfi also delineates the role of drawing in Tintoretto’s work: ‘He set himself to draw the living model in all sorts of attitudes which he endowed with the grace of movement, drawing from them an endless variety of foreshortenings. Sometimes he dissected corpses in order to study the arrangement of the muscles, so as to combine his observation of sculpture with his study of nature. Taking from the first its formal beauty and from the second unity and delicacy.’ X-radiography, infrared examination and cross-sectional analysis have revealed that Cristo risorgente underwent numerous changes in its compositional structure. Drawing played an important role throughout, from charcoal drawing on white gesso, lead white on brown imprimatura, to lines drawn in the final surface. Pigments bound in (presumably) linseed oil were also used inventively. For example, very large clusters of lead white were bound in the azurite and ultramarine blues of the sky. These would catch the flickering candlelight in the painting’s chapel setting, to create a shimmering, silvery dawn sky. Pigments used in The Resurrection were consistent with the sixteenth-century palette and included lead white, azurite, ultramarine, (probably) ultramarine ash, copper resinate-type green glazes, green earth, various red lake pigments such as cochineal, red lead, red and yellow ochres, charcoal black and bone black. From the six cross- sections analysed, no lead-tin yellow was found. Evidence of the initial idea for the composition can be seen in infrared where the charcoal drawing on gesso suggests an initial tomb position in the mid-ground, perhaps similar to a version of this theme by Domenico Tintoretto (Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice). This original tomb position was actually painted in brown before having the background landscape painted over it, and this shows through in many areas. The brown used in this area is comprised of palette scrapings. It is suggested that this general brown underpaint is the imprimatura on some of Tintoretto’s later works, produced by scraping off the...

For the Impressionists, Japan represented a departure from ‘the West’ and all that was familiar when in 1854 it reopened to the world after more than 200 years of near isolation. Creative exchange between France and Japan had a profound effect on art and design — and sparked the development of entirely new aesthetic movements. Artists were captivated by woodblock prints known as ukiyo-e, meaning ‘pictures of the floating world’, characterised by flat areas of colour, defined outlines, cropped, asymmetrical compositions and a lack of horizon lines, these prints often featured everyday scenes. Artists such as Edgar Degas (19 July 1834–1917) and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (24 November 1864–1901) pioneered a new artistic language to record the world around them, drawing inspiration on the rapidly modernising city of Paris, with its opera and ballet, dance halls, cafes, theatres and brothels, depicting singers, dancers, and cabaret performers. By the end of the nineteenth century, Paris was a vibrant cultural centre to which artists, writers, publishers and art dealers flocked, adding to the energy of the city. The Paris of Edgar Degas Favouring indoor scenes, Degas looked to the leisure activities of the bourgeoisie or middle class, subjects which were often ordinary scenes from contemporary life. In Trois danseuses a la classe de danse (Three dancers at a dance class) c.1888-90 (illustrated) the artist vividly captures dancers in their quieter moments. Degas produced numerous works of ballerinas — both on the auditorium stage performing or behind the scenes in rehearsal rooms, and preparing to dance — and what fascinated the artist was exploring the human figure in movement and the lovely soft hues of the dancers’ costumes. Edgar Degas ‘Trois danseuses a la classe de danse’ c.1888-90 Degas was obsessed with the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet, the company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera, both artistic forms important to the cultural life that contributed to the modern image of the city. The lavish new 1,979-seat opera house, the venue that played a leading role in the artist’s practice, opened in 1875 (illustrated) — named the Salle des Capucines — because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement, however later became known as — the Palais Garnier — in recognition of its opulence and its architect, Charles Garnier. Rehearsal rooms, Paris Opera Ballet c.1905 Paris Opera House Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA