臺南美術史

Misono Nobuya, Sunset on the Canal, selected into the 4th Taiten (Taiwan Art Exhibition) in 1930.

Misono Nobuya (years of birth and death unknown) was also known as Misono Gida (御園生義太). He graduated from the Western-style Painting Division at the Tokyo Fine Arts School in 1923, and began teaching at the First Girls’ Senior Middle School of Tainan County (臺南第一高女) in 1928. Misono was selected into the Taiten (Taiwan Art Exhibition) and the Futen (Taiwan Viceroy Art Exhibition) several times, and had recorded the sceneries of Tainan with his works. In 1930, his Sunset on the Canal was selected into the 4th Taiten, which portrayed a few sailboats mooring at the dock of Anping Wharf. In 1903, a flood caused the embankment breach of Tainan’s old canal. The construction of the new canal subsequently took place and was completed in 1926. The view depicted by the artist was shortly after the completion of the project. In the image, several small boats scattered along the shore. The artist enlarged these boats, almost filling the foreground with the boats, as a way to emphasize his subject. Before this painting, Ko Kin-Kan (Kao Chun-Chien; 高均鑑) was selected into the 2nd Taiten with A Morning of the Tainan Canal (臺南運河之晨). In comparison to Kao’s use of a slant angle and unrestrained brushstrokes, Misono’s brushwork appears more refined and subdued. The focal point disappears between two boats in the painting. Delineating objects as the subject through the approach of enlargement demonstrates a tendency towards flatness, which is a rather modern trait.

References:
Cheng, Shao-Yun. “Missing Pieces – The Japanese Painter Who Favors Tainan’s Landscape—Misono Nobuya.” https://www.gjtaiwan.com/new/?p=98113 (viewed on 2023.11.5)
Lee, Shu-Pei. “A Study of Landscapes of Tainan in the Catalogues of the Taiten and the Futen during the Period of Japanese Rule.” The 2022 NCAF Visual Arts Grant for Study and Research – 2nd Phase, 2023.