Georges Bigot and Japan, 1882-1899: Satirist, Illustrator and Artist Extraordinaire 9781898823766

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GEORGES BIGOT

AND

JAPAN, 1882–1899

Bigot’s self-caricature, c. 1889

Georges Bigot and

Japan, 1882–1899 SATIRIST, ILLUSTRATOR AND

ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE [ COMPILED AND EDITED

BY

CHRISTIAN POLAK WITH

HUGH CORTAZZI ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY HUGH CORTAZZI

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 SATIRIST, ILLUSTRATOR AND ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE Compiled and edited by Christian Polak with Hugh Cortazzi First published 2018 by RENAISSANCE BOOKS PO Box 219 Folkestone Kent CT20 2WP www.renaissancebooks.co.uk Renaissance Books is an imprint of Global Books Ltd ISBN 978-1-898823-75-9 ISBN 978-1-898823-76-6 (eBook) © Renaissance Books 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library

Set in Stone 9.0 on 10.5 by Dataworks Printed and bound in England by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wilts

CONTENTS [ FOREWORD by Sir Hugh Cortazzi

vii PART I : TWO BIOGRAPHIES

INTRODUCTION: GEORGES BIGOT – SATIRIST OF MEIJI JAPAN AND ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE by Christian Polak CHARLES WIRGMAN (1835–1891): ARTIST, JOURNALIST AND CARICATURIST – FORERUNNER TO GEORGES BIGOT IN JAPAN by Hugh Cortazzi

3

34

PART II : ALBUMS AND ENGRAVINGS

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘ETERNAL JAPAN’ ASA Complete album O-Ha-Yo Complete album (excluding ASA duplications) Croquis Japonais Complete album PART II Continued : OILS, WATERCOLOURS, GOUACHES AND PASTELS

43 45 62 70 85

– PART III : FROM TO BAÉ TO THE GRAPHIC

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’ Tôbaé Tôbaé Sport La Journée d’une Guesha à Tokio Complete album Le Potin Potins de Yoko La Vie Japonaise Scénes de la Vie Japonaise Twelve dinner plates Sketches from Siberia Selection of Georges Bigot’s illustrations for The Graphic

117 119 128 131 141 152 158 172 178 180

PART IV : FROM LA VIE EN ROSE TO TRADITIONAL PATTERNS

GEORGES BIGOT’S NEW LIFE IN FRANCE La Vie en Rose Images d’Epinal L’Illustration Dans l’Oreille de Bouddha Shocking au Japan Journal des Voyages L’Indiscret

197 201 204 205 207 210 213 214

v

vi

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

Le Petit Parisien ‘Le chemin de la gloire’ L’Album Marian Coup de Balai Villegiatures Draft sketches for Bigot’s Almanach des Postes et des Télégraphes series Proposed illustrations for Pierre Loti’s Les Derniers Jours de Pékin Traditional design patterns ‘The assignation’

215 216 217 218 219 221 222 224 225

______________ BIBLIOGRAPHY

227



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 DWDORJXHVRIWKHSULQFLSDOH[KLELWLRQVUHODWLQJWRWKHZRUNV & of Georges Bigot

227



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/  LVWRIDOEXPVRIFRSSHUSODWHHQJUDYLQJVDQGRIKXPRURXV or satirical journals published periodically in Japan by Georges Bigot

228



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, OOXVWUDWHGERRNVRUFRPSRVLWLRQVE\*HRUJHV%LJRWSXEOLVKHGLQ France or other countries

229

- RXUQDOVDQGUHYLHZVWRZKLFK*HRUJHV%LJRWFRQWULEXWHG published in France or outside Japan

229



‡

INDEX

231

FOREWORD by SIR HUGH CORTAZZI

[

I

had known for some time of Georges Bigot as a caricaturist for and contributor to the nineteenth-century illustrated journal The Graphic, but it was not until at a London book fair some years ago I came across a copy of Bigot’s Croquis Japonais that I realized what a fine draughtsman and artist he was. I was so impressed by his life-like drawings that I began to look for other albums drawn by him, wondering whether they might form the basis for a book devoted to his works, but I soon discovered how difficult they were to find even in the British Library. I then learnt through my friend Terry Bennett who specializes in old photographs of Japan, China and Korea that the largest collection in private hands was that of Christian Polak, an influential French businessman in Tokyo who was also a Japanese scholar. Terry kindly put me in touch with Christian Polak and we duly arranged to meet in Paris. On this occasion he showed me some of his treasures including oil paintings by Georges Bigot. I was much impressed and thought we should try to produce a book about Bigot and his works. Paul Norbury who specializes in scholarly books about the Far East was interested and in due course we put together this volume. Christian and I hope that it will show not only the breadth and depth of Georges Bigot’s work but will also demonstrate his overall skills as a great artist. So far, he has not received the acclaim he deserves in France, his home country. It may seem ironic that despite the extent of cultural relations between France and Japan this book should first appear in an English edition for which I have translated Christian’s French text into English. During his lifetime Bigot produced many thousands of paintings in oils and watercolours, as well as drawings, engravings, gouaches and lithographs. This volume can only present a selection of his life’s work. In making this selection we have tried to demonstrate the variety of his talents as revealed in his career as an artist. This centred on Japan and Japanese themes are its main focus. BIGOT’S PLACE IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY ART HISTORY

Georges Bigot, the artist whose works are celebrated in this book, is well known in Japan as a satirist and caricaturist of late-nineteenth century Japan, but he was also a painter of distinction in oils and watercolours. He was an outstanding draughtsman whose drawings and engravings were striking and memorable. His caricatures of Japanese and Westerners were exceptional and biting. He was the one Western artist who in my view truly captured the essence of traditional life of the ordinary Japanese and who exposed the absurdities caused by the rush to Westernization. Much has been written about the nineteenth-century vogue for Japan reflected in what has come to be termed Japonisme. A résumé of this movement is unnecessary to an understanding of the importance of Georges Bigot, but a few facts may help to put Bigot’s works into context. Japanese ceramics and lacquer reached Europe through the Dutch trading post at Nagasaki during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the first half of the nineteenth century. Many of these objects became so popular that European

vii

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

porcelain factories began to produce copies and imitations. Japanese woodblock prints also began to reach Europe as soon as Japan began to open to the outside world from 1854. The trade in Japanese objets d’art expanded quickly as soon as representatives of the five powers (the Americans, the Dutch, the Russians, the British and the French) which concluded Treaties of Commerce with Japan in 1858, set up missions in Japan and traders began to arrive in the treaty ports of Yokohama, Nagasaki and Hakodate. Traders and visitors wanted souvenirs and Japanese woodblock prints, which were plentiful and as cheap as postcards are today, became particularly popular. They were soon circulating among artists in Paris, which was regarded as the art capital of Europe; but as a majority of foreign merchants in Yokohama, the leading treaty port, were British London became an important centre for the trade in Japanese art. Japan at the beginning of the Meiji period in 1868 faced a serious imbalance in trade with the Western powers. Japan accordingly actively encouraged the export of Japanese objets d’art. Craftsmen who had lost their patrons as the fiefs were abolished responded quickly to foreign demand.

Oil painting of a travelling street minstrel by Georges Bigot after his return to France. (52 x 45 cm)

Rutherford Alcock, the first British minister to Japan and consul general, who arrived in Edo in 1859 was an avid traveller and collector. His memoir of his first three years in Japan, The Capital of the Tycoon, which was published in two volumes in 1863, led to a surge in interest in Japan. Charles Wirgman (see separate chapter in this book), a British artist and correspondent of The Illustrated London News (ILN), accompanied Alcock on various occasions and provided some lithographs for Alcock’s volumes. His drawings for the ILN, which were reproduced as engravings, helped to promote interest in Japan. Alcock collected Japanese products for the International Exhibition in London in 1862. Among the 623 items of Japanese art on display were ukiyo-e prints, lacquer, ceramics and books. These art objects impressed James McNeil Whistler and the artists of the Aesthetic Movement in Britain, such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones. (Alcock followed this up after his retirement by publishing in 1878 his Art and Art Industry in Japan.) Many of the Japanese objects exhibited were purchased by Farmer and Rogers for their new ‘Oriental Warehouse’, which incorporated their ‘Great Shawl and Cloak Emporium’ at 171, 172 and 173 Regent Street. In 1862 Lasenby Liberty, who worked for them, later established his own store in Regent Street, which sold many art objects imported from Japan.1 Japanese print sales in London and British interest in Japanese art were boosted by the establishment by Marcus Huisch2 of the Fine Art Society in New Bond Street in 1876. The popularity of Japanese art led to more connoisseurs collecting Japanese objects. One of these was William Anderson3 who had been a surgeon and teacher in Japan and whose collection of Japanese paintings was acquired by the British Museum in 1881. Interest in Japan was also increased in Britain in the 1880s by the publication of Isabella Bird’s Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, an account of her travels outside the treaty ports

FOREWORD

ix

to places which few, if any, foreigners had visited. Isabella Bird was an intrepid traveller and accomplished author. Her full account in two volumes was published in 1880 but was followed by an abridged edition in 1885 which became a best-seller. Interest in Japan and Japanese art stimulated a number of British painters to go to Japan to paint. They came in the footsteps of Charles Wirgman. One of the earliest was Marianne North (1830–1890).4 She spent less than two months in Japan in November and December 1875, but she managed to pay a short visit to Kyoto before there was any railway to the old capital. She had a good sense of colour and painted a number of pictures of Japan, which depicted sensitively Japanese scenery and fauna. These can be seen in the Marianne North gallery at Kew Gardens in London. British artists who visited Japan in the late nineteenth century and produced paintings of Japanese scenes included: ALFRED EAST5 (1844–1913) who spent six months there in 1889. His visit was sponsored by Marcus Huisch of the Fine Art Society, which exhibited the pictures and drawings he made in Japan in 1890. He was knighted and became a Royal Academician. His works are displayed at the Sir Alfred East Art Gallery in Kettering, Yorkshire. MORTIMER MENPES6 (1855–1938) who visited Japan in 1887. Menpes was closely associated with James McNeill Whistler (1835–1903) whose paintings were greatly influenced by Japanese art, but who never visited Japan. Menpes exhibited 137 paintings in an exhibition on his return. He visited Japan again 1897 and painted further Japanese scenes. Many of the scenes depicted showed Japan as exotic and romantic, but were executed with skill and sensitivity. ALFRED PARSONS7 (1847–1920), who spent some nine months in Japan in 1892. He was influential in promoting Western-style watercolour painting in Japan and notions of ‘nature’ and ‘landscape’ in painting. GEORGE HENRY8 (1854–1934) and E. A. HORNEL9 (1864–1933) were two painters in the group known as ‘The Glasgow Boys’ who visited Japan in 1893–4. They often used photographs as the basis for their Japanese subjects. ELLA DU CANE10 (1874–1943) who visited Japan in the late Meiji era was a book illustrator and garden enthusiast. Her painting of wisteria at Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto, which had been the frontispiece of her book The Flowers and Gardens of Japan, was used to illustrate the front cover of the official catalogue for the 1910 Japan-British Exhibition at Shepherd’s Bush in London. WALTER TYNDALE11 (1855–1943) was a watercolourist who spent almost a year in Japan in 1909, and produced a book Japan and the Japanese in 1910. Of these the most accomplished artists were probably East, Menpes, Parsons, Henry and Hornel, although none achieved more than limited fame in their home country and none showed the diversity of talents and flair of Georges Bigot. British interest in Japanese art had many other facets in addition to painting. Japanese design was an inspiration to the Arts and Crafts Movement, especially William Morris, and the group led by the designer Charles Rennie Macintosh. The visit to Japan by Christopher Dresser in 1881, which he recorded in his book Japan: Its Architecture, Art and Art Manufacture in 1882, led to a design revolution in Britain. Josiah Conder who went to Japan to teach architecture became an expert on Japanese Gardens – sai, one of the greatest Japanese artists of the Meiji era. and a friend of Kyo French artists other than Georges Bigot do not seem to have followed the same pattern. Perhaps the leading painters felt like Oscar Wilde who, after visiting the Menpes exhibition in 1887, commented:12 …do you really imagine that the Japanese people, as they are presented to us in art, have any existence? If you do, you have never understood Japanese art at all. The Japanese people are the deliberate, self-conscious creation of several individual artists… the Japanese people are, as I have said, simply a mode of style, an exquisite fancy of art. And so if you desire to see a Japanese effect, you will not behave like a tourist and go to Tokyo. On the contrary, you will stay at home and steep yourself in the work of certain Japanese artists…’

French artists may have been reluctant to go to Japan, because at that time Japan was only accessible after a sea journey of many weeks, but Japonisme centred on Paris at least as much as London. French interest in Japanese art was stimulated by the studies of French art experts such as Louis Gonse whose monumental L’Art Japonais was published in two volumes in Paris in 1883 and Émile Guimet’s Promenades Japonaises Tokyo-Nikko which was published in Paris in 1878 with watercolour illustrations by Félix Régamey, a French artist who actually got to Japan. Émile Guimet established the Musée Guimet

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

originally in Lyons in 1879, later transferring to Paris in 1889, specializing in oriental art. Siegfried Bing, a dealer in oriental art objects in Paris, was also influential in promoting interest in Japanese art, publishing an illustrated monthly journal Le Japon Artistique from 1888. French painters who produced paintings in Japan during the Meiji period included: FÉLIX RÉGAMEY (1844–1907) who had gone there originally with Émile Guimet went to Japan once again in 1898 and published thereafter many books on Japan containing his drawings and watercolours. The most important of his books is Le Japon, published in 1903. ABEL JEAN-LOUIS GUÉRINEAU (1841–1929), employed by the Japanese Government at the Imperial Army Academy (Rikugun shikan gakkô) as professor of architecture design and drawing from 1874 to 1880, painted many oils and watercolours in Japan. His work Ornements Japonais was published in 1889. LOUIS-JULES DUMOULIN (1860–1924) who travelled to the Far East and Japan in 1888 at the behest of the French Ministry of Education painted many oil paintings of Japan which were acclaimed when they were exhibited in Paris.

Félix Régamey’s most important book, published in 1903

* Georges Bigot is remembered in Japan primarily as a caricaturist and satirist. He was an outstanding artist and his biting cartoons added a new dimension to the caricaturist art. Japan had a rich tradition of making fun of the powerful and Japanese welcomed his innovative style and humour. Georges Bigot took the title of his periodical Tôbaé, which followed on from Wirgman’s Japan Punch in 1887, from the famous medieval Toba So–jo– emaki, as described by Christian Polak in his biographical portrait of Georges Bigot in this volume. The kyo–gen, comic interludes played between stately and serious Noh dramas, whose tradition developed in the fourteenth century, frequently made fun of daimyo and samurai. Japanese novels13 and stories produced in the Edo period often satirized Japanese people of all the four classes of Tokugawa society, namely the samurai, the farmers, the artisans and, the lowest of all, the merchants (summed up in Japanese as the shi-no–-ko–-sho–). They were often humorous and belie the prejudice of some Westerners that the Japanese lack a sense of humour. Great Japanese artists such as Hokusai14 contributed significantly to this genre, which continued into the Meiji era. Japanese print artists found the ‘red-headed barbarians’, as Westerners were sometimes termed, intriguing subjects for colour woodblock prints. These prints, which are generally known as Yokohama-e, were produced in large numbers in the years between 1861 and 1875 before the development and

FOREWORD

xi

popularity of photographs made them redundant. The dress, manners, customs and behaviour of the foreigners were duly satirized. Wirgman’s Japan Punch and Bigot’s satirical albums especially Tôbaé popularized Western-style caricatures. The Japanese authorities of the time who took themselves very seriously resented any unfavourable depiction of Japan and contemporary foibles. They tried to censor Bigot’s satires, as Christian Polak’s biographical portrait describes. Official hostility contributed to Bigot’s decision to return to France in 1899. But Bigot’s influence lived on as Asai Chu’s To–sei Fu–zoku uta-awase15 published in 1908 shows. Japan has developed Manga into an art form and Japanese magazines and journals publish many effective and pointed satirical cartoons. Britain and France contributed much to Japan’s modernization in the Meiji era. The achievements and lives of British and French officials, engineers. scholars, missionaries and businessmen in Japan have been celebrated in publications, which Christian Polak and I have written or edited. But we are aware that our fellow countrymen also had their foibles and are amused by the way Georges Bigot made fun of their occasional pomposity, greed, lust and arrogance. His sharp eye found expression in his unsparing satire of both Westerners and Japanese alike. He fought against censorship and for freedom of expression. ENDNOTES 1

2

3

4

5 6

7

8 9 10

11

12

13

14

15

See ‘Lasenby Liberty (1843–1917) and Japan’ by Sonia Ashmore in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, volume IV, 2002. See ‘Marcus Huisch (1843–19210 and Japan’ by Hideko Numata in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits volume V, 2004. See biographical portrait of William Anderson, 1842–1900 by James Rawlins in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, volume V, 2004. See biographical portrait by Karato Tadashi and Hugh Cortazzi in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, volume X, 2016. See A British Artist in Meiji Japan, Sir Alfred East, ed. Hugh Cortazzi, In Print Publishing, 1991. See biographical portrait of Mortimer Luddington Menpes (1855–1938) by Sonia Ashmore in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, volume VIII, 2013. Menpes book Japan: A Record in Colour was published in 1901. See biographical portrait of ‘Alfred Parsons, RA, PRWS (1847–1920) and the Japanese Watercolour Movement’ by Toshio Watanabe in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, Volume IX, 2015. Parsons wrote an account of his visit to Japan which was published in 1896 under the title Notes in Japan. See biographical portrait by Ayako Ono in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, volume VIII, 2013. See biographical portrait by Ayako Ono in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, volume VIII, 2013. See biographical portrait of ‘Ella Du Cane (1874–1943) – Watercolourist, by Toni Huberman in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, volume IX, 2015. See biographical portrait by Toni Huberman in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, volume VIII, 2013. Quoted by Ayako Ono in her book Japonisme in Britain, Routledge, 2003. This book includes valuable comments on Japonisme in the works of Whistler, as well as on Mortimer Menpes, George Henry and Edward Hornel. One of the most famous humorous stories was Hizakurige by Jippensha Ikku (ॱ䘄㠾а – – ҍ, 1765–1831) about the misadventures of two travellers on the To kaido , the main road between Kyoto and Edo during the Edo period. The book was published in twelve parts between 1802 and 1822. Among other famous humorous novels of the late Edo period were Ukiyoburo [The ‘Floating world’ bathhouse] and Ukiyodoko [The ‘floating world’ barber’s shop] by Shikitei Samba. As a good deal of contemporary slang and knowledge of contemporary events is needed to interpret them they present particular difficulties for the translator. Katsuchika Hokusai, one of Japan’s greatest artists, published many humorous illustrated stories and drawings including his notebooks which he entitled Manga. In all, 15 volumes were published between 1814 and 1878. For examples see Hugh Cortazzi’s A Miscellany of Japanese Sketch Books and Print Albums (1840–1908), Sainsbury Institute, Norwich, 2013.

INTRODUCTION

GEORGES BIGOT – SATIRIST OF MEIJI JAPAN AND ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE By

CHRISTIAN POLAK

[ A FRENCH OBSERVER OF MEIJI JAPAN

G

eorges Ferdinand Bigot (1860–1927) was one of the most remarkable foreigners to have lived in Japan. With his independence of mind and the sharp eye with which he viewed his contemporaries, French, British and Japanese alike, his works provide an incomparable picture of Japan in the Meiji era which began some 150 years ago. Painter and watercolourist, copperplate engraver, illustrator, caricaturist, war correspondent, photographer, editor and humorist, Bigot was in all his different qualities a fascinating character. Almost unknown in France where he was born he has been immortalised in Japanese school textbooks, which reprint unaltered his caricatures of Japanese society at the end of the nineteenth century. Thanks to the help of Madame Odile Émery, a former French resident in Tokyo, his vast archive was discovered in Paris on 21 September 1981 in the keeping of Raphael Loison, the great grandson of Georges Bigot who was in charge of a workshop producing artistic engravings in the Rue de Mouffetard in the centre of Paris (1). 1

Christian Polak with Raphael Loison, a descendant of Georges Bigot. Paris, 21 September 1981

3

INTRODUCTION

GEORGES BIGOT – SATIRIST OF MEIJI JAPAN AND ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE By

CHRISTIAN POLAK

[ A FRENCH OBSERVER OF MEIJI JAPAN

G

eorges Ferdinand Bigot (1860–1927) was one of the most remarkable foreigners to have lived in Japan. With his independence of mind and the sharp eye with which he viewed his contemporaries, French, British and Japanese alike, his works provide an incomparable picture of Japan in the Meiji era which began some 150 years ago. Painter and watercolourist, copperplate engraver, illustrator, caricaturist, war correspondent, photographer, editor and humorist, Bigot was in all his different qualities a fascinating character. Almost unknown in France where he was born he has been immortalised in Japanese school textbooks, which reprint unaltered his caricatures of Japanese society at the end of the nineteenth century. Thanks to the help of Madame Odile Émery, a former French resident in Tokyo, his vast archive was discovered in Paris on 21 September 1981 in the keeping of Raphael Loison, the great grandson of Georges Bigot who was in charge of a workshop producing artistic engravings in the Rue de Mouffetard in the centre of Paris (1). 1

Christian Polak with Raphael Loison, a descendant of Georges Bigot. Paris, 21 September 1981

3

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

The Loison family had kept numerous documents relating to their ancestor including personal papers, letters sent to his mother, travel documents, sketches, drawings, watercolours, copperplates, photographs and various canvases. All these documents, which the artist had put away in filing cabinets before his death, had not been moved from his little house and studio in Bièvres, a small village south of Paris (2). 2

Georges Bigot’s house and garden (his studio is on the right) in Bièvres. Author’s photo, September 1981

This extraordinary discovery filled many of the gaps in the story of Bigot’s life in Japan and elsewhere. It also provided the material for an exhibition in Yokohama six months later of these hitherto unknown and unpublished papers. More than 250 items for exhibition had to be transported as hand baggage from Paris to Yokohama. These items were displayed at the museum of the Archives of History at Yokohama between April and July 1982 in an exhibition entitled ‘Georges Bigot: in commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of his arrival in Japan’ (3, 4). This was also the inaugural exhibition of the 3

Poster for the exhibition ‘Georges Bigot’ at the Archives of History, Yokohama, 1882

museum. Some of these items were re-exhibited at the Sogo Museum in Yokohama in 1987 (5) and then at the town hall of the sixth arrondissement in Paris in the same year and at the Shoto Art Museum of Shibuya in Tokyo also in the same year (6). Bigot’s descendants, astounded by their ancestor’s fame, decided to sell all their family archives for a high price. These items were unfortunately then dispersed. Some went to the Museum of Fine Arts at Utsunomiya and were exhibited in 1998 (7) while other items were divided between the Kawasaki Municipal Museum, Shimizu Isao, a collector who specialised in works by Bigot, and other private buyers. The items which had come from Bigot’s studio/workshop were brought together again at the Kawasaki Municipal Museum from 7 September to 29 October 2002 for an exhibition entitled ‘Images of the Meiji era: The World of Georges Bigot –

INTRODUCTION

4

5

Flyer for 1982 Bigot exhibition, Archives of History, Yokohama

5

6

Flyer for 1987 Bigot exhibition, Sogo Museum, Yokohama

Flyer for 1987 Bigot exhibition, Shoto Art Museum, Shibuya

A French Artist in Japan’ (8) and also about half of the items at the Liberty and People’s Rights Museum in Kochi (9) the following year in 2003. The exhibition about Bigot at the Tokyo Photography Museum in 2009 (10) presented the copperplates brought back to France by Bigot and owned now by a private collector. In 2011, the Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art, Nikko, mounted a Bigot exhibition entitled ‘Georges Bigot et Nikko’ (11). 7

8

Flyer for 1998 Bigot exhibition, Fine Arts, Museum, Utsunomiya

9

Flyer for 2002 Bigot exhibition, Kawasaki Municipal Museum

Flyer for 2003 Bigot exhibition, Liberty & People’s Rights Museum

I am grateful to Madame Odile Émery for her discovery of the Bigot descendant who kept the Bigot archives which has made it possible to write a detailed life of Bigot based on first-hand sources and to find so many unpublished works, watercolours, and in particular, canvases. 10

Flyer for 2009 Bigot exhibition, Tokyo Photography Museum

11

Flyer for 2011 Bigot exhibition, Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art, Nikkô

6

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

THE LIFE OF GEORGES FERDINAND BIGOT (1860–1927)

Georges Ferdinand Bigot was born on 7 April 1860, at number 6 rue des Noyers (this street has since disappeared) in the fifth arrondissement in Paris. His father (12) died suddenly in 1868; he was only 33 years old. His mother Désirée Jenny Lesage (1838–1908), (13) who was a painter assumed sole responsibility for bringing up her son and daughter Jeanne, who had been born 12

13

Portrait of Auguste Bigot, Georges Bigot’s father (copperplate, 11 x 8 cm) c. 1878

Portrait of Désirée Jenny Lesage, Georges Bigot’s mother (copperplate, 14 x 10 cm), c.1878

in 1864. To provide for her family she gave him his first lessons in drawing while he was still very young (14) and encouraged him at the age of twelve to study at the School of Fine Arts in Paris where he was taught by masters such as Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904) and then Carolus Duran (1837–1917). Bigot frequented artistic circles in Paris and became acquainted with Philippe Burty (1830–1890), art critic and collector of Japanese works of art. He later met Félix Buhot (1847–1898) who taught him copperplate engraving and dry point techniques at Rollin Collège. Léon Hennique (1850–1935), painter and later novelist, introduced him to Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896). Thanks to these introductions Bigot came to know connoisseurs of Japanese art and his interest in Japan grew. He met the Régamey brothers. The younger brother Félix (1844–1907) (15), who had returned from a six-month stay in Japan with Émile Guimet, told him about the arts of ‘the Land of the Rising Sun’. 14

15

Georges Bigot aged about 10, sepia photograph (8.5 x 5 cm)

Portrait of Félix Régamey before his trip to Japan in 1876

THE CALL OF JAPAN

At sixteen Bigot left the School of Fine Arts and with other artist friends exhibited his first works. He began to earn his living working as an illustrator for various journals, reviews and publishing houses. Buhot suggested to him that he work on the illustrations for Louis Gonse’s L’Art Japonais (Édition A. Quentin, Paris, 1883). In 1878, Bigot visited the Japanese pavilion at the Exposition Universelle [World Exhibition] in Paris. He became an enthusiast for Japonisme which had gripped the artistic world. In 1881, Bigot, attracted more and more by the arts of Japan, decided to leave for the country of his dreams. There, in particular, he wanted to study woodblock printing, which had become famous as a result of the popularity

INTRODUCTION

7

of Japanese ukiyo-e images of the floating world. He worked tirelessly to earn enough to pay for his voyage to Japan. He was one of the illustrators for Arène’s La vraie tentation de Saint Antoine [The true temptation of St Anthony], published by Charpentier in 1880 (16, 17), Henri Demesse’s Les récits du Père Lalouette, published by Paul Ollendorff, 1882 (18, 19), Émile Zola’s famous novel Nana, published by Matron and Flammarion, with 14 etchings from Bigot (20, 21). He also worked as illustrator for the journals La Vie Moderne (22), Le Monde Parisien and Le 16

Title page of the book La vraie tentation de Saint-Antoine, illustrated by Bigot, 1880 17

One of Bigot’s illustrations in La vraie tentation de Saint-Antoine 19

18

Title page of the book Les récits du Père Lalouette, illustrated partly by Bigot, 1882

One of Bigot’s illustrations in Les récits du Père Lalouette

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

20

Title page of the book Nana illustrated partly by Bigot, 1882

21

One of Bigot’s illustrations in Nana

Journal Illustré. Bigot excelled in portrait painting and in images of people in ordinary life. On the occasion of the Daumier retrospective exhibition at the Durand-Ruel Gallery in 1878 he exhibited a portrait of Victor Hugo (23) and also one of his maternal grandfather Léon Lesage. 22

One of Bigot’s illustrations in La Vie Moderne, 1 November 1879

23

Portrait of Victor Hugo (copperplate, 12 x 8cm), c.1878

The golden age of Japonisme reached its apogee in the Exposition Universelle in Paris of 1878. The Japanese pavilion was a prodigious success and caused a huge demand for Japanese art objects. Impressionist painters were inspired by Japanese prints, especially by their composition and colours. Despite their fascination, which sometimes seemed delirious, none of these artists managed to get to Japan. The young Georges Bigot was the only one, together with Louis-Jules Dumoulin (1860–1924) to contemplate the long and distant voyage. (Bigot and Dumoulin will meet in Tokyo several times in 1888 during Dumoulin’s time in Japan, and also in Paris in 1900, and will remain close friends.) He followed in the footsteps of Henri Cernuschi (1821–1896) who had been accompanied by Théodore Duret (1838–1927) in the latter part of 1871 and early 1872, and of Émile Guimet who had been accompanied by Félix Régamey in the second half of 1876. In 1880, Bigot was living at number 12, Rue Servandoni in the sixth arrondissement with his mother and sister. He was summoned by the military government of Paris to perform his military service in the fourth section of nursing orderlies at the barracks at Negrier in Le Mans (24). But as the only son of a widow and as the sole provider for his family, he was exempted from military service. He took advantage of this exemption to travel along the coast of the English Channel visiting Dieppe, Le Tréport, Trouville and Grandville. He painted many canvasses during his trip and returned to the region after he returned to France from Japan in 1899. PROSPER FOUQUE, THE ARTIST’S GUARANTOR

Bigot subsequently approached the Japanese legation in Paris for a visa. As procedures for entry to Japan at that time were very difficult, the Japanese military attaché, Ikeda

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24

Bigot’s military record document

9

25

Portrait of Prosper Fortuné Fouque

Shosuke, advised him to seek a visa as a foreign correspondent as this would expedite the process and proposed as his guarantor Prosper Fortuné Fouque (1843–1906), who had been employed by the Japanese government since 1869 (25). Bigot left Marseilles for Japan on board the Pei-Ho of Messageries Maritimes on 11 November 1881 (26). At Hong Kong he transferred to the Tanais, a ship of the same company, which carried out a regular service between Hong Kong, Shanghai and Yokohama, and arrived at Yokohama on 26 January 1882. He stayed a few days in a Japanese inn in the international concession (27) before joining the household of Fouque who had been teaching French language and French civilization in different Japanese government institutions including the Kaitakushi gakko– and Shiho– sho Ho–ritsu gakko– [law school]. Just as a photographer does today, Bigot sketched what he saw around him and accordingly left for us many valuable and informative images of contemporary life. He invariably sent these with his regular letters to his mother (28, 29). Fouque lived in a grand and traditional house in Ko– jimachi (30), an official residence belonging to the War Ministry. Bigot and Fouque became friends. Fouque who had become integrated into Japanese society acted as tutor to Bigot. In addition to receiving Japanese language instruction, Bigot studied Japanese traditional painting (sumi-e and sansui) as well as woodblock engraving. Fouque also found him work at 26

27

Pei-Ho, ship of Messageries Maritimes in which Bigot travelled from Marseilles on 11 November 1881 to Hong Kong. Watercolour, 1882

‘26 January 1882, day of my arrival in Yokohama’. Watercolour

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

28

Letter from Georges Bigot to his mother, 22 February 1882

29

Portrait of Georges Bigot sent to his mother

the military college at Ichigaya where for two years, from the beginning of October 1882, he taught watercolour and drawing to officer cadets. For one session a week he received a salary of sixty yen a month. 31

30

‘Street in Kojimachi, Tokio, 19 May’. Watercolour (15 x 21 cm) c.1882

Calligraphy exercises or studies by Bigot (47 x 17cm) on Japanese paper

TRADITIONAL JAPAN WAS DISAPPEARING

Bigot found Japan a very different country from that imagined by the enthusiasts of Japonisme in Paris. The Japanese Empire had been launched into a frantic effort to catch up with the Western powers especially in industry. Traditional Japan was slowly and inexorably disappearing; this, however, was the Japan that interested Bigot so passionately. Bigot moved from Fouque’s house in Ko–jimachi to the typically Japanese house of Sano Kiyoshi at Kamirokuban-cho–, which was some minutes away from the military college where he was employed. From his arrival in Japan Bigot began to study the Japanese language and made rapid progress. He mastered the Tokyo accent and took up Japanese calligraphy (31). He was initiated into Japanese traditional music and learnt to play the shamisen (a type of Japanese lute) and became interested in Japanese Kabuki theatre. Living in a Japanese-style house he adopted a Japanese life-style often going about in kimono and geta (Japanese wooden clogs) (32). This probably explains why he concentrated on depicting Japanese traditions and daily life (33). If Japanese traditional painting and woodblock engraving disappointed Bigot, he seemed in contrast enchanted by Japanese life. He worked tirelessly painting in watercolours and oils and doing sketches. He wrote regularly to his mother letters, his letters illustrated with sketches depicting his daily life. He filled numerous portfolios, which provided ample documentation for his eventual return to Paris (34). 1882–1886: BIGOT – PAINTER AND ENGRAVER

Between 1883 and 1886 Bigot returned to Western-style engraving to depict accurately the traditional Japan that he loved so much. For the first time he experimented with the role of editor and published four high quality albums of engravings – Asa (35) in 1883, with thirty-one engravings, followed by a sequence of silhouettes depicting a Japanese dinner

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32

33

Bigot as a samurai, ‘Yokohama, 7 April, to my dear mother’. Photograph (10 x 5 cm)

Japanese room in Bigot’s house at No.13, Kami-nibancho–, 15 October 1885. Watercolour (14.5 x 21 cm)

(Dîner japonais), O-ha-yo (36) in late 1883, with thirty engravings, followed by a group of silhouettes entitled Une chasse [a hunt], Ma-ta (37) in 1884, with twenty engravings, and 34

Letter of Georges Bigot to his mother, Atami, 26 August 1887. On the right, Bigot with his dog Aka. Watercolour and ink (21 x 16.5 cm)

35

37

36

Cover of the album ASA with 31 engravings or copperplates (20 x 13 cm), 1883

Cover of the album O-HA-YO Cover of the album MA-TA with with 30 engravings or copper- 20 engravings or copperplates (19x 12 or 13 cm), 1884 plates (19 x 13 cm), 1883

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

39

38

Cover of the album Croquis Japonais with 30 engravings or copperplates of different sizes (18 x 17 cm or 20 x 30 cm, etc.), 1886.

Cover of the album Le Japon, album d’eaux-fortes, 1889 (17 x 12 cm)

40

‘Le philosophe Tokusuke Nakae dit Chômin Nakae, juillet 1881’ [The philosopher Nakae Tokusuke or Chomin]. Watercolour (13 x 14 cm)

finally Croquis Japonais (38) in 1886, with thirty engravings (there have been various editions of this album). Some editions include a collection of silhouettes entitled Le jour de l’An au Japon (New Year’s Day). There is one engraving on each page. Bigot contributed new techniques such as lithographic pencil and dry point, to the renewal of engraving in Japan. The cover of Ma-ta is a woodblock print inspired by the style of Hiroshige.

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13

Some researchers name L’Éclaireur as his first album, but as yet I have not been able to trace such an album. All these albums, printed on Japanese paper, consisted of pictures of everyday life in Japan, portraits of ordinary people such as firemen or postmen and working women. Japanese soldiers in uniform, one of Bigot’s favourite subjects dating back to his childhood, were also included. At the end of each album there were comic stories told through a series of silhouettes. Bigot did not fail to caricature the absurdities of Westernisation being carried to extremes. Bigot published a final album a little later in 1889 in Yokohama entitled Le Japon, album d’eaux-fortes par G. Bigot (39). Only a few copies were produced and it is now very rare. 41

‘Entrée de l’École de Nakaé Tokouské, 8 octobre 1885 à Go-bantcho, Tokio’. Watercolour (15 x 21 cm). [Entrance to Nakae Tokusuke’s school, 8 October 1885 at Gobantchô, Tokyo] 42

Georges Bigot’s traditional Japanese house at 16 Sanbancho– in Kojimachi, Tokyo. Watercolour and gouache (15 x 20.5 cm)

In these four albums, in Western-style engraving, Bigot depicted the ordinary tasks and everyday scenes of a Japan which was fast disappearing, but he also caricatured the excesses and ridiculousness of the Japanese mad rush to Westernise their society. Bigot also produced numerous watercolours, pastels, gouaches and oil paintings as well as innumerable drawings depicting traditional Japan and its spellbinding scenery, including entrancing landscapes, and people he had seen on the streets. All his work in this period of his life depicted the exotic Japan which so entranced him.

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

At the same time Bigot continued to teach, introducing the techniques of perspective and drawing of models. His contract with the military college having expired, he was appointed from 1 March 1884 professor of French at the Futsugaku-juku, the French lan– min (1847–1901), the celebrated thinker (40) who had guage school founded by Nakae Cho translated Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Social Contract into Japanese, having spent two years from November 1872 to March 1874 studying in France. The school was situated at Ko–jima– (41), just behind the British legation. To be near the school Bigot moved to a chi Gobancho – in Ko – jimachi (42), not far from that of his friend traditional Japanese house at 16 Sanbancho Fouque. Bigot was living with a young Japanese woman called O-Kiku who had a threeyear old daughter. In the summer of 1886 he made a trip to Nikko and then visited Kyushu. Bigot had by this time become fluent in Japanese and wore Japanese clothes. His tutor Fouque introduced him to Japanese publishers and Bigot began to illustrate Japanese novels such as Keishidan based on Boccaccio’s the Decameron (43). Between – bin Ho – chi Shimbun, March and October 1884 he worked with various journals such as Yu Dandan Shimbun and Maru Maru Shimbun. In December 1884, he became the designer of the Kaishin [progress] Shimbun for which he worked until June 1886 and which published a significant number of his engravings. 43

Cover of the Japanese book inspired by Boccaccio’s Decameron, 1886

– bin Ho – chi Shimbun in March 1885: ‘PreBigot had inserted the following notice in the Yu pares illustrations for journals or books, copperplate or woodblock engravings, still life paintings, landscapes. Ready to accept all commissions. Prices by negotiation. Also teaches – , Ko – jimachi-ku, G. Bigot, French artist.’ Western painting. Please apply to 16 Dote Sanbancho He signed this notice with his Japanese seal, Bigo, made up of two characters – bi 㖾meaning beauty and go ྭmeaning to love, in other words ‘he who loves beauty’ (44). But virulent criticism aimed at convincing him not to remain in Japan appeared in – ya Shimbun of 1 December 1886: ‘A French artist called Bigot who recently the daily Cho arrived in Japan is living in Ko–jimachi. He invites into his house rubbish collectors, street minstrels and peddlers and makes sketches of them which he sends to France. Drawings of this kind are harmful to our reputation abroad. We would like to send such people back to their homelands.’ 44

Bigot’s signature characters are shown left to right ‘bi’ for beauty, ‘ko/go’ for like/love and ‘ga’ for picture or painted by. Japanese paper (17 x 47 cm)

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45

Letter of Georges Bigot to his mother dated, Tokyo, 25 March 1886 announcing his return to France. Ink and watercolour (22 x 14 cm)

A letter sent to his mother at this time indicates that he was on the point of returning to France (45). He had sent home trunks full of Japanese objects, which he intended to use as models. He included in these consignments, watercolours, oil paintings and copperplates that he had used for his four albums of engravings. He was even thinking of establishing a Japanese studio in Paris with tatami and other items ready for his return to France.

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

46

47

Cover of the April 1880 issue of The Japan Punch, edited by Charles Wirgman and published in Yokohama (36 x 25 cm)

Cover of Tôbaé, No.6, 1 May 1887 (34 x 24.5 cm)

Tokio 25 March 1886 Dear mother, I am sending you a large crate containing my projects, some Japanese costumes and other objects which will be useful to me on my return. It measures 12 by 77 centimetres… The ship leaves Yokohama on the 27th and will carry the crate and this letter…I am sending you this first consignment of my Japanese things for my return. All my best wishes to all the family. I send you all my love and my kisses on both her cheeks to Jeanne. Your devoted son, G. Bigot

But laudatory articles in the Kaishin Shimbun urged him to remain in Japan: ‘Since his arrival in Japan Bigot has devoted himself to drawing and depicting Japanese manners and customs as well as Japanese landscapes. He is a man of refined taste. He is at present living at 13 Kami-Sanbancho– in Tokyo. He teaches drawing and French.’ On 1 October 1886 Bigot renewed his six-months contract with Nakae Cho–min’s school at a monthly salary of twenty yen while at the same time continuing to provide illustrations for the Kaishin Shimbun. He moved to number 13 Kami-Sanbancho–, living with a friend Yamamoto Masahiko. 48

‘Une partie de pêche’, [A Fishing Party] in Tôbaé, No. 1, 15 February 1887. (China and Japan are trying to catch the fish Corea [Korea] under the scrutiny of Russia on the bridge.)

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17

Nakae Cho–min also played a significant role in persuading Bigot to remain in Japan. Under his influence Bigot became interested in the beginnings of democracy in Japan – ) in which he took and in the liberty and people’s rights movement (Jiyu Minken Undo part under the aegis of Nakae. The revolutionary side of the artist came to the fore. Bigot now began his exceptional career as a satirical journalist and caricaturist. 1887–1889: TÔBAÉ, SATIRICAL JOURNAL IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF CHARLES WIRGMAN

Influenced by Charles Wirgman (1832–1891), the British caricaturist who from 1862 to 1887 had published The Japan Punch (46), an illustrated journal satirising life in the international settlement of Yokohama, Bigot at the beginning of 1887 launched Tôbaé (47), his first satirical journal. The title was inspired by the name of an eleventh-century Jap– (1053–1140) to whom a celebrated scroll the Cho – jugiga anese Buddhist priest Toba So–jo has been ascribed. In this scroll the everyday life of the Japanese people disguised as animals had been humorously depicted. The first issue of Tôbaé, containing fourteen pages printed on Japanese paper of (25 x 34 cm), was published on 15 February 1887 and appeared twice a month until December 1889 with an average of fifteen pages with one caricature on each page, making a total of 69 issues over three years. The Tobaye which had appeared in October 1884 had only had a single issue. On the cover of each number, which did not change from the first to the last issue, Bigot depicted himself as Pierrot, the independent observer of Japanese society. As a lefthanded person he appears with his palette in his right hand. Each satirical drawing or lithograph had a caption in French with a faithful translation into Japanese reflecting the humorous words of the artist. The Japanese translation was reproduced in a fine Japanese calligraphy provided by an educated Japanese collaborator. Bigot took charge of the editing, illustration, composition, printing and distribution of the journal from Yokohama. He had a small team of Japanese assistants but in order to protect them from harassment by the police he never spoke about them. Tôbaé, aimed for the first time to caricature the political figures of the Meiji government and their manoeuvres in order to achieve revision of the ‘unequal’ treaties with the major powers (48). He also made fun of the crinoline-dressed (49) Japanese women who attended ball dances at the Rokumeikan. Bigot showed through his humorous and audacious drawings his deep understanding of Japanese politics, manners and customs. He believed that in his office, number 5 at the Club Hotel in Yokohama, he was, at least in theory, protected from official censorship by the rights conferred by extraterritoriality. His caricatures, which reflected his sensitive understanding of the Japanese scene, constituted a regular critique of the new Japanese society suddenly plunged into occasionally ridiculous extremes by the rush to Westernise. The Paris weekly Le Monde Illustré (50) commissioned Bigot to send them regular reports with illustrations about Japan. He thus became the journal’s correspondent in Japan. His first report appeared in the 12 March 1887 issue with two engravings based on 49

‘Monsieur et Madame vont dans le monde’ [Sir and Madame are going out to a high society event], Tôbaé, No.6, 5 May 1887

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

51

50

Cover of Le Monde Illustré, a French weekly journal, 26 January, 1895

Cover of The Graphic weekly magazine, 5 January 1895, with a design by Georges Bigot, about the Sino-Japanese War in Korea. ‘After the battle of Pin Yang : Japanese officers interrogating Chinese prisoners’

gouaches depicting a fire at the French legation in Tokyo. In the following month it was the turn of the The Graphic (51), its British equivalent, to propose a similar arrangement. Bigot’s first contribution to the journal on 2 April consisted of 14 engraved caricatures. Bigot subsequently produced dozens of illustrations for the journal during the years 1887–1896. Bigot, who was fascinated by Japan’s beautiful scenery, continued to travel around Japan. – zenji and Atami in the Izu peninsula, In August 1887, he stayed at Hakone and then at Shu bringing back numerous sketches and watercolours from his journeys. He made a collection of these coloured drawings, including ones of his dog Aka (52). On his return from this trip he moved to a traditional area at 72 Suzaki-mura at – jima in Tokyo. Muko CENSORSHIP OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Censorship began in 1888 with the publication of the first issues that year. (He had published 12 issues in 1887.) The Japanese government were irritated by Bigot’s activities and looked on him with disfavour. In February, the governor of Kanagawa prefecture, Mori – ko, submitted a petition to the government calling for Tôbaé to be censored. Bigot perShu severed, but on the advice of his friend Fouque he decided, as an act of self-censorship, to stop inserting Japanese sub-titles after number 36, and then from number 40 to limit the subjects of his satires to foreigners in Yokohama. 52

‘Mon chien Aka, Tokio’ [My dog Aka in Tokyo]. Watercolour and pencil.

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In July 1888, Bigot travelled to the Fukushima area to report for Le Monde Illustré on the effects of the eruption of Mt. Bandai volcano (53, 54). Four engravings by him appeared in the issue of 1 December. 53

54

‘Un cataclysme au Japon. – Suites de l’éruption du Bandai-San’, [A disaster in Japan. – After the eruption of Mt Bandai]. ‘1. Une maison effondrée.– 2 Une des victimes du sinistre, entourée de sa famille.’ [‘1. Collapsed house. – 2 One of the victims of the disaster with his family]. in Le Monde Illustré, weekly French journal, No. 1653, 1 December 1888, page 344; sketches by Bigot from the site of the disaster

‘Japon. – Suites de l’éruption du Bandai-San’, [After the eruption of Bandai-San], ’1. Village Ynawachiro, station de police transformée en ambulance. – 2. La recherche des victimes’ [1. Inawachiro Village, police station transformed into a hospital. 2. Searching for those who died in the disaster] idem No.53, page 345

Charles Leroux, a member of the third French military mission to Japan and professor of music at the military academy and thus Bigot’s colleague, asked him to illustrate three instalments of a publication for piano entitled Airs Japonais et Chinois due to appear in the course of the same year (55). In 1888, 23 issues (numbers 22–44) of Tôbaé were published. In the following year Bigot concentrated on publishing Tôbaé every fifteen days, a rhythm which he found difficult to maintain. In October, he produced a supplement entitled Tôbaé Sport (56) in which he caricatured politicians as well as Westerners. One of the foreigners he satirized was the celebrated French jurist Gustave Émile Boissonade de Fontarabie (1825–1910) (57) who had been invited by the Meiji government to be their legal adviser. Another was his faithful friend Prosper Fouque. Others such as Paul Sarda, the architect, often appeared in his publications. The last issue of Tôbaé, number 69, appeared on 1 December 1889. In the previous month’s issue (68) Bigot had announced that his journal would become a monthly publication. 1890–1899 – AN OUTSTANDING CARICATURIST

At the beginning of 1890, Georges Bigot (58) returned to his former house at Ichigaya, 40 Nakanocho–, Ushigome. In January, The Graphic published a drawing by Bigot of New Year’s day in Japan. In the same month he published an album entitled Le Jour de l’An [New Year’s Day] with 33 drawings. On moving house Bigot decided to close Tôbaé. However, the heavy hand of the censors did not deter him and in February 1890 he launched a new satirical monthly periodical entitled La Vie Japonaise (25 x 34 cm) (59). This appeared regularly for six months. The second issue was published in March and the third in April. This was produced from the Club Hotel in the international concession in Yokohama. In August 1890, he began publication of Potins de Yoko [The sounds of Yoko (Yokohama)] (60). In total, eleven numbers were issued, the last appearing in 1891.

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

55

56

Cover of Airs Japonais et Chinois pour piano par Ch. Leroux, [Japanese and Chinese Songs by Ch. Leroux], c.1887; copperplate (29 x 23 cm). (Charles Leroux was professor of military music for the Japanese Army.)

Cover of Tobaé Sport, Courses d’Automne, Octobre 1889, dessins de Georges Bigot, with a self-portrait as Pierrot. Lithograph pencil (25.3 x 19.2 cm).

57

Portrait of Gustave Boissonade de Fontarabie, French jurist employed by the Japanese government over a period of 25 years, c.1890

Bigot’s caricatures, which were not softened by any sense of fellow feeling, criticized the foreigners in Yokohama and Tokyo and their bourgeois habits. In particular, he satirised his fellow countrymen such as Francois Sarazin as well as the diplomats in the French legation. At the same time Bigot edited a lengthy series of humorous albums up to the eve of his departure for France in June 1899. The first album, which appeared in 1887, was entitled Parodie des tableaux vivants ou les aventures de Monsieur Ritain, globe-trotter (appelé en Japonais Samaritain ou Ritain-Sama) et de la belle Madame Eva Pogner de Yokohama. He also published in 1890 an album entitled La journée d’un Député [Day in the life of a member of the diet] (61) comprising 28 drawings, while continuing to send regular contributions to The Graphic and Le Monde Illustré.

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58

Self-caricature of Georges Bigot in Japanese clothes and palette in his right hand. Chinese ink, pencil on calque-paper (32.3 x 25.0 cm), c.1889 59

60

Cover of the satirical magazine La Vie Japonaise [Japanese Life] by Georges Bigot, No.3, 1898 (25.4 x 18.9 cm)

Cover of the satirical magazine Potins de Yoko [Funny stories of Yokohama], published by Georges Bigot, Series 1, No. 2, 1890 (20.5 x 19.5 cm)

In June 1891, Bigot sent Le Monde Illustré an account of funeral rites in Japan together with two illustrations. From June to December The Graphic published four illustrated articles by Bigot. He also contributed to the weekly L’Illustration. 1891 saw publication of numbers 9 to 11 of Potins de Yoko and two other albums La Journée d’un Policeman à Tokyo (25 drawings) and La Journée d’une Guesha à Tokyo with 22 drawings (62). February 1891 was marked by the death of Charles Wirgman.

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

61

62

Cover of the album La Journée d’un Député [Day in the life of a member of the Japanese Diet] by Georges Bigot, 1890 (27.4 x 19.0 cm)

Cover of the album La Journée d’une Guesha, [Day in the life of a geisha] by Georges Bigot, 1891 (27.4 x 19.0 cm)

In April 1892, the first number of the Revue française du Japon, founded by the French jurist Gustave Boissonade, was published with woodblock prints by Bigot. In the following month Le Monde Illustré of 2 April carried a portrait of the Emperor Meiji together with one of the Empress Sho–ken, signed by Bigot. From April to December Bigot stayed in Kyoto. He painted a self-portrait showing himself dressed in a kimono together with a maidservant and surrounded by numerous watercolours of the ancient capital. The Graphic of 1 July published three drawings showing Japanese women being trained to shoot. Bigot contributed many engravings to the book The Great Earthquake of Japan published by Hyogo News in October 1892. In order to make numerous sketches as the basis for his engravings Bigot had in the previous year gone to Gifu, the area most affected by the catastrophe, which had been one of the most devastating earthquakes of the era. He also published in 1892 albums in English entitled Great Japan and Yokohama Ballads (63). In 1893, Bigot produced many watercolours on various themes, some of which were published in The Graphic of 15 April. In April, Bigot left for a four-month tour of Siberia 63

64

Cover of the album Yokohama Ballads illustrated by Georges Bigot, 1899 (35.4 x 26.1 cm)

Cover of the satirical magazine Le Potin, published by Georges Bigot between 1893 and 1894, Series 2, No. 1 (25.0 x 27.0 cm)

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from Nicolski to Vladivostok and brought back many drawings and watercolours. On his return to Japan he went back to live in Kyoto where he stayed from the beginning of August to January of the following year. He lived in Kiyacho– in the Matsubara area and taught drawing to Nomura Yoshimitsu with whom he became friends and who became his disciple. Bigot met his friend Inabata Katsutaro– again who had studied dyeing techniques at Lyon. 65

Portrait by Bigot of his Japanese wife. Copperplate, 1898 (21.5 x 16 cm)

In October, the Dandan Shimbun published a cartoon by Bigot about the revision of the unequal treaties. In November, following on from Potins de Yoko, the first issue of a review entitled Le Potin (64) was published in the identical format and distributed in Yokohama, Tokyo, Kyoto and Kobe. Six issues illustrated by drawings were published. The themes were based on stories inspired by popular French songs; they criticised the behaviour of French Catholic priests, particularly the Marists but did not exempt the diplomats of the French legation. The caricatures in this first issue were reprinted in the English publication Yokohama Ballads. The second issue of Le Potin appeared in December. On his return from Kyoto in January 1893 Bigot rented a small house at Inage near Chiba for a few months. He later moved back to Tokyo where he lived in Gobancho–, Shineicho– at Kyo–bashi. 66

Photograph of Maurice, son of Georges Bigot, c.1903

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

Bigot produced the third issue of Le Potin in January 1894 and the fourth in March that year together with a special number entitled Potin Sport – Robinson Crût Zoé Histoire Vraie. In July 1894, Bigot married Sano Masu (65), who was only seventeen years old. She was the youngest daughter of Sano Kiyoshi with whom he had lived some years earlier. The wedding was celebrated at Sueyoshi, a Japanese restaurant in Kagurazaka, Tokyo. Their son Gaston Maurice Napoleon Bigot (66) was born on 4 May 1895. WAR CORRESPONDENT IN THE SINO-JAPANESE WAR OF 1894–95

At the outset of the war between Japan and China on 21 August 1894 Georges Bigot was sent to Korea by The Graphic as their correspondent to report on the war. He accompanied the Japanese army. He made many sketches and took numerous photographs (67, 68), as can be seen in the album which he brought back to France and which carefully preserved his reports that with their numerous illustrations had made him famous. Together with many drawings and watercolours these were published and reprinted with other drawings by Bigot in Le Monde Illustré. Bigot returned to Japan from Korea in November 1894. Bigot also contributed to various Japanese newspapers such as the Jiji Shimbun. On return to Japan he painted various canvases and gouaches covering the war in which Japan had won an easy victory. In July, a new album of satirical drawings entitled Old England in the Far East appeared. In November 1894, Bigot travelled with his wife as far as Hiroshima. At the port of Ujina he met the already famous Western-style painter Seiki Kuroda. During this year, at a date which it has not been possible to determine precisely, a book by Fernand Ganesco, entitled Shocking au Japon, illustrated with drawings by Bigot (69) and one by Kuroda Seiki, appeared. Finally, issue number 2 in the fourth series of the Revue française du Japon appeared with three woodblock prints signed by Bigot. For a few months in 1896 Bigot returned to live at Inage. He then went to Siberia for a short stay on which he based an album of drawings entitled Croquis de Sibérie followed by another album entitled Le traité de commerce entre la France et le Japon. At the end of June 1896 Bigot went also to Iwate prefecture to cover the devastation caused in Ofunato by the tsunami which followed the severe Meiji Sanriku earthquake of 15 June. (Ofunato remembers the same devastation at the same place on 11 March 2011.) In 1897, he published five albums: in May Croquis du Bal Travesti; in June The Diamond Jubilee in Japan; in July Greece and Turkey Album; in August Le 14 à Yokohama; in October Le Japon en 1897 and in December Les Événements de l’Année 1897 and Les Aventures du Capitaine Gouzou Goudzou. 67

68

69

Fernand Ganesco’s 1894 book containing illustrations by Bigot ‘Japanese coolies or camp followers on the march’ by Georges Bigot published in The Graphic; full page, 2 March 1895

‘A Corean policeman’ by Georges Bigot, idem No. 67

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In 1898 he published the following albums: In The Far East in January, In the Far East Suite in February, number 7 in the second series La Vie Japonaise and Une Erreur Judiciaire à Coculand Laponie in June. Finally, in 1899, from January to September, the final albums appeared. The first to be issued was Mai 1899 in June; then after he had left Japan numbers 8 and 9 of La Vie Japonaise, in August and September and between January and September the six volumes in second series of Albums Humoristiques de la Vie Japonaise namely: La Journée du Soldat La Journée d’une Guesha La Journée d’une Courtisane La Journée d’une Servante Le train Tokio-Kobe La Journe· e du Pêcheur In 1899, the international concessions and extraterritoriality that had protected foreigners came to an end. Modernised Japan had lost its former charm for Georges Bigot. The agonising prospect of having to work under Japanese censorship led him finally to put an end to his life in Japan. He divorced his Japanese wife Sano Masu and embarked at Yokohama on 14 June 1899 for the voyage back to France, together with his son Maurice, who had been given the nickname Napoléon by the Japanese. Georges Bigot was never to return to Japan. 1899–1927. BIGOT RETURNS HOME: NOSTALGIA FOR JAPAN

On his arrival in Paris, Bigot, with his son Maurice, went to live with his mother. As required by French law, however, his first duty was to do a period of military service; this he did from 16 October to 12 November 1899 in the 24th section of nursing orderlies (Infirmieres Militaires). Around the same time, he met Marguerite Desprès (70), a friend of his sister who gave piano and French lessons and was the niece of the compositor Albéric Magnard. They fell in love and were married in 1900. She bore him two daughters, Yvonne and Jeanne. 70

Photograph of Georges Bigot with his French wife Marguerite Desprès, c.1925

From 3 to 29 November 1900 he had to do a further period of military service in the same unit as before. Bigot and his wife found somewhere to live in Montparnasse. However, disappointed with Parisian life and nostalgic for Japan Bigot became antisocial, introverted and even lazy. He remained like this for the rest of his days. The Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900 employed Bigot, in collaboration with Louis-Jules Dumoulin, to produce panoramas and dioramas of Japan for the round-theworld panorama for the exhibition. This was noted by the press and the minister for the colonies took him on as official painter to the ministry. His wife, however, pushed him into working as an illustrator or caricaturist for various journals and reviews as follows: L’Illustration (numerous illustrations from 1902 to 1904), Le Petit Parisien (1904 to 1906), Le Panache, Le Figaro, Le Petit Illustré, Le Rire (No. 269, 30 December 1899; No. 334, 30 March 1901; No. 339, 13 April 1901; No. 345, 15 June 1901; Nouvelle série, No. 24, 18 July 1903; No.

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

5, 19 December 1914 L’Almanach Vermot, Le Journal des Voyages (1903 to 1913), Sans Gêne (Nos. 8 and 42, 1901), Le Sourire (Nos. 98, 101, 107, (1901)), L’Indiscret (Issue of 12 March 1902), La Vie en Rose (1901–1903), Le Sourire, La Vie Pour Rire, Rabelais, Paris Municipal, Le Midi Colonial, L’Épatant, etc. (see illustrations Nos. 71–77). Bigot illustrated and signed many postcards. One series was on European political figures (78, 79), another on Japanese soldiers (80). He was chosen as one of the hundred modern artists commissioned to do a card each for the collection of the hundred artists. Bigot’s card was number 56 and depicts a Japanese seated in front of a bonsai. Bigot also resumed his routine of illustrating menus for restaurants and advertisements such as that for Badoit mineral water (82). He did more than sixty Épinal prints [popular prints in bright colours] on various subjects including Japan – its customs and legends, China, Tonkin, Annam, the uniforms of different armies in the world, the legend of Joan of Arc, etc. He signed sometimes as Hidari kiki meaning in Japanese left-handed or Shidari kiki (81) in Tokyo dialect (as Tokyoites cannot pronounce the syllable ‘hi’ turning it into ‘shi’). On numerous occasions Bigot exhibited his canvases, his paintings on wood, his watercolours and his engravings in Parisian galleries such as Georges Petit, Durand-Ruel, Bernheim, Clovis, Sagoi and others, but with limited success. However, there was one encouraging exception. Thanks to Victor Thomas and Henri Joffroy, two specialists in oriental art who admired his work, the review L’Épreuve issued a special print of his coloured engraving ‘La chanteuse japonaise sortant d’une tchaya’ [Japanese geisha leaving a tea-house] (83) which achieved a great success with the general public. In the same year he illustrated for Henry Lemoine a song by Dupont ‘Les fraises de Dupont’ [Strawberries of Dupont] (84). Le Figaro asked him to go to Japan as their correspondent to cover the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–5, but the birth of his second daughter Jeanne dissuaded him from accepting this assignment. Bigot was asked by various dailies and weekly journals to provide illustrations of the Russo-Japanese War, but after some time the press realised that his illustrations were based on those he had done of the Sino-Japanese War ten years earlier! (85). 71

72

Cover of the French satirical magazine Le Panache featuring a German official decorating the French prime minister for having downsized French Army and French Navy; 3 June 1903, (31.7 x 24,5 cm)

Cover of the Sunday special issue of the French journal Le Petit Parisien (45 x 31 cm), ‘Le Jour de l’an au Japon. – Aspect d’une rue à Tokio’ [New Year in Japan. – A street in Tokyo] 8 January 1905 (30.6 x 26.7 cm)

In 1907, Bigot decided to leave the French capital, which he found noisy and artificial, to live in a woodland area in the country. He bought a little house south of Paris. He and his family moved into number 3 Rue des Mathurins in Bièvres (86), his son Maurice being a boarder at the college of Saint-Nicolas d’Igny. In this peaceful atmosphere Bigot was able to pursue his work as a painter and as an illustrator for the ministry for the colonies, as well as for various publishing houses and French journals – mainly on Japanese themes. He set up a small studio which he named

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27

Take-yama (bamboo mountain in Japanese) and made plans to create a Japanese garden. He also designed some advertisements for the department store Au Bon Marché (87) and for Michelin as well as some calendars. Bigot produced a dozen plates for Terre de Fer HB et Cie in a series entitled Scènes de la Vie Japonaise, one set in blue and the other in pink (88). 73

74

Cover of the French weekly magazine L’Illustration, in which Georges Bigot collaborated, with many illustrations about Japan and the Russo-Japanese War, from 1902 to 1904, especially 2 January 1904

Cover of the satirical French magazine Le Rire, in which Georges Bigot collaborated, with numerous satirical pictures of Japan, 30 March 1901

75

76

Cover of the French satirical magazine À la Baionnette, No.4, (new series), 29 July 1915

Cover of the French weekly magazine Le Journal des Voyages with a picture of Georges Bigot as a Sumo wrestler. ‘Les Sumotori. - Une représentation de lutteurs, à Tokio, [Sumo wrestlers of Tokyo] – No. 351, 8 August 1903 (20.2 x 18.0 cm), in which Bigot collaborated from 1903 to 1913

He tried to keep in touch with Japanese circles in France and with Japanese people, such as the writer Kikuo Yamata (1897–1975) who often visited him and who asked him to illustrate his novel Masako (89) but this version never appeared. He also did some illustrations for insertion in the text of Pierre Loti’s novel Les derniers jours de Pékin [The last days of Peking], but he quarrelled with the author and cancelled the project (90).

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

During the First World War he drew numerous types of uniforms and scenes of military life as well as depicting the soldiers of allied countries, etc. He went to Normandy, revisited Dieppe and then to Le Tréport and painted seaside scenes. In 1917, his son Maurice, his last connection with Japan, joined the 3rd regiment of Chasseurs d’Afrique. His father was greatly relieved when after a long year without news he returned from the war safe and sound. 77

Cover of the French satirical magazine L’Indiscret, 5 March 1902, to which Georges Bigot contributed (see adjacent illustration, also page 225) from time to time, (27.0 x 18.7 cm) 78

Envelope of the series of satirical postcards about European Royalty ‘Villégiatures Royales’ by Georges Bigot (14 x 9 cm), c.1905

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79

Satirical postcard by Georges Bigot about the Russo-Japanese War, (14 x 9 cm), c.1905. (Pushed by Britain and America, Japan is attacking Russia) 80

Postcard from the series ‘Silhouettes Japonaises’ by Georges Bigot, No. 1 ‘Soldat Japonais (Garde Impériale), [Japanese silhouettes; Japanese soldier (Imperial Guard)] (14 x 9 cm), c. 1905 81

Imagerie d’Épinal by Pellerin and Co., No.4219, ‘Le Boudha’ by Georges Bigot with his signature ‘Shidari-Kiki’ (Left-handed), (19.7 x 29.6 cm). Bigot produced more than 100 illustrations for Épinal from 1906 to 1916

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

82

Menu for Saint Galmier Source Badoit, ‘Pêcheurs japonais’ (Japanese fishermen); 21.1 x 12.4 cm

In 1925, he exhibited at the Salon des Arts Décoratifs and was awarded the ‘Palmes Académiques’ decoration. In the following year, he published a satirical album about Alexandre Varenne, the minister in charge of the negotiation of the treaty between France and Tongkin. Georges Bigot died suddenly on 10 October 1927 next to the Japanese bamboos which he had planted in the Japanese garden at his house in Bièvres. His son Maurice died in 1935 after a long illness. 84

83

‘Chanteuse japonaise sortant d’une ichaya’ [Japanese geisha leaving a chaya (tea-house); copperplate and etching, hand coloured, (20 x 16 cm), in L’Épreuve, 1901 (The model in this engraving looks like Bigot’s Japanese wife Masu)

Cover of the music book Les Fraises de Dupont featuring Georges Bigot; Paris and Brussels, 1925

Bigot was an artist of many talents. He left a corpus of exceptional work mainly relating to Japan. This brought him official recognition in Japan where he was seen as an incomparable observer of the Meiji era, but his own country denied him the recognition which he so clearly deserved.

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85

‘La guerre en Extrême-Orient. – débarquement de troupes japonaises à Tchemoulpo [The war in the Far East - Landing of Japanese forces at Chemulpo] by Georges Bigot in the French weekly magazine L’Illustration , No. 3184, 5 March 1904 (21.3 x 32.0 cm)

Note: This account of the life of Georges Bigot is based on numerous documents discovered in 1981, on two unpublished texts received from Geneviève Loison, grand-daughter of Georges Bigot, entitled ‘My grandfather Georges Bigot in France before his stay in Japan’, dated 17 March 1983, and on the results of the last published researches, in particular the work of Shimizu Isao: Hommage à Georges Bigot à l’occasion du Cent Cinquantenaire de sa naissance – Le peintre original français et le Japon [Homage to Georges Bigot on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth – The original French painter and Japan], published by Rinsen Shoten in Kyoto in 2011. This work includes the most exhaustive chronology of the life of Georges Bigot and of the researches and exhibitions held up to 2011. 86

‘Le chemin creux à Bièvres. Vue depuis l’atelier de Georges Bigot’ [The sunken path at Bièvres. View from Georges Bigot’s atelier]. Blue lithography (12.5 x 18 cm), c. 1910

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

87

Publicity for the department store Au Bon Marché; wood engraving, (24 x 21 cm), c.1903 88

One of the plates from the series of twelve plates entitled ‘Scènes de la Vie Japonaise’ [Scenes of Japanese life], Terre de Fer, HB et Compagnie, No. IV, ‘Le bain en famille’, [Family bath], ’Je sens qu’il pleut, passe-moi donc un parapluie, je vais être toute mouillée’ [I think it is raining; give me an umbrella or I shall get completely soaked], (diameter 20 cm)

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89

Front page of Masako – a novel by Kikuo Yamata, illustrated by Georges Bigot, 1925

90

Les derniers jours de Pékin – a novel by Pierre Loti [The last days of Peking], illustrated by Georges Bigot, 7 April 1905, (19.3 x 11.5 cm)

91

Illustrations by Georges Bigot in Les derniers jours de Pékin, pages 94/95

CHARLES WIRGMAN (1835–1891)1 ARTIST, JOURNALIST AND CARICATURIST – FORERUNNER TO GEORGES BIGOT IN JAPAN BY

HUGH CORTAZZI

[

Obituary portrait of Charles Wirgman, Illustrated London News, 28 March 1891

C

harles Wirgman was a British artist who arrived in Japan in 1861 soon after the opening of the Treaty Ports in 1859. He settled in Yokohama where he died in 1891. Wirgman was the son of a silversmith in London of Swedish extraction. He was probably born there but spent much of his youth in France and Germany. He does not seem to have had much in the way of formal education, although it has been suggested that he may have attended a military school for a time. Between 1852 and 1855 he joined an artist’s studio in Paris and learnt to draw, although he seems otherwise to have lacked professional art training. He has been criticized for the amateurism2 of some of his early work but his skills improved with experience. He must have had an eagle eye and a talent for drawing enabling him to capture in a quick sketch the actions that he observed.

34

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35

He spoke fluent French and German3 and happily quoted phrases in other European languages as well as Latin. He quickly learnt to speak Japanese with fluency. He acted occasionally as an interpreter and achieved some competence in the written language. He was described when in his mid-twenties4 as being ‘a well-built man of average height with thick brown hair, open forehead, clever, bright eyes, laughing mouth and large nose’. He was gregarious and determined to enjoy life to the full, patronizing places of amusement including the brothels of Yokohama and Edo in the company of his English friends. He developed genuine affection for Japanese people, ‘marrying’ a Japanese girl (Ozawa Kane) and fathering a son named Ichiro in 1864. He chose to set up house in Yokohama and saw himself as a Yokohama-jin [man]. He retained till late in life the exuberance of a schoolboy, having a penchant for deadpan humour. He loved puns and aphorisms. He liked to appear as an English eccentric trying to shock the staid members of both the foreign and Japanese communities. He often wandered around in Japanese dress or would appear in informal garb without a tie.

Watercolour of travelling samurai by Charles Wirgman, c. 1860s

He first came to Japan as correspondent and draughtsman for the Illustrated London News (ILN) in April 1861.5 He went first to Nagasaki, later going on to Yokohama. At the beginning of June 1861, he joined Rutherford Alcock who had just arrived as British consul-general and minister, and other officials in their journey largely overland to Edo, which they reached on 4 July. He was thus present at the newly-opened British legation at To–zenji in Edo on 5 July 1861 when it was attacked by ronin and two members of the legation were wounded. (Wirgman escaped injury by hiding under a bed.) His eyewitness account of this incident together with three graphic engravings were included in the ILN dated 12 October 1861.6 Wirgman managed to be present and cover many of the other important events of the next few years in Japan including the British bombardment of Kagoshima in 1863 and the naval and military actions at Shimonoseki in 1864, being granted passage on British ships as if he were a government servant. He got to know well the places near Yokohama which the foreign community were allowed to frequent such as Kamakura, Enoshima and Hakone. He visited Kyoto in 1872 to report on the Kyoto exhibition. Rutherford Alcock seems to have welcomed Wirgman’s company. Wirgman made various journeys in Japan with him and Alcock’s Capital of the Tycoon, published in 1863, included twelve illustrations, based on sketches by Wirgman, some of which were close to his ILN originals. Wirgman became a close friend of Ernest Satow who arrived in Japan in September 1862 and went on to become the outstanding British scholar diplomat of the nineteenth century. Satow’s diary of the next few years shows that they also became companions at play. Wirgman, who had done the journey by land before, accompanied Satow on a trip along the Tokaido from Kyoto to Edo in 1867. Satow gave a detailed account of this

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journey not only in his diary7 but also in his memoir A Diplomat in Japan.8 During this trip Satow noted that Wirgman whom he generally referred to as ‘the poet‘, ‘made himself very popular by the sketches he threw off and gave away to the innkeepers… or to perhaps a pretty girl whose bashful pride on discovering that her features had been perpetuated on paper was a pleasant sight to contemplate’. At another point in the journey Satow recorded ‘Wirgman’s fame having preceded him, paper, brushes and ink were brought, and he executed a masterpiece representing us eating vermicelli and drinking saké from a gourd which he had been careful to get replenished at Miya.’ At an inn in the early hours of 27 May an attempt was made to attack Satow and his companions. Wirgman hid to escape injury; after the incident was over and Wirgman had been found, Satow wryly commented ‘the poet called for saké and raw fish, with which he & the bette [grooms] regaled themselves till daylight’. Wirgman also became a friend of Dr William Willis, the legation doctor, and knew all the staff at the legation and at the British consulate at Kanagawa (later Yokohama) from the minister down. The irascible and over-active Sir Harry Parkes who succeeded Alcock as minister and whom he lampooned in Japan Punch (see below) tolerated him. He became a close associate of Felice Beato, a pioneer of photography in Japan.9 Together they worked on images for The Illustrated London News (ILN) and provided in these early days of photography images and sketches of Japan for residents and visitors to send home to their friends and relatives. Wirgman suggested to Beato that the photographs, which they produced, should be hand-coloured. In the days before picture postcards were available to visitors, sketches and photographs were much sought as souvenirs of events, places and people. Wirgman led a varied life. He acted occasionally as a guide to visitors to Yokohama. He is also reputed to have acted briefly as English tutor for the navel cadet who in due course became the famous Admiral Togo. Another part of Wirgman’s life in Yokohama was teaching Western art techniques to aspiring Japanese artists. He has been regarded by some ‘as the person who introduced the fundamental techniques of Western painting to Japan’.10 Japanese artists to whom he taught Western-style drawing and painting included the ukiyo-e artist Kobayashi Kiyochika, (1847–1915), Goseda Yoshimatsu (1855–1915) who was the first Japanese artist to exhibit at a Paris salon in 1881 and Takahashi Yuichi (1828–1894). But teaching was never more than a sideline for Wirgman. Up to 1868, Wirgman concentrated on sketches and reports for the ILN. He probably continued to send contributions to the ILN off and on until perhaps 1877, but reports and illustrations that can be traced to his hand became increasingly intermittent after 1868 and freelance work began to take up most of his time. He produced paintings in both oils and watercolours, but his best works were his pen and ink sketches which were reproduced as copperplate engravings. A selection of these representing some of

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One of the sketches. Playing go

Wirgman’s typical drawings and sympathetic depictions of Japanese people appeared in his Sketchbook of Japan (see above), which was published in Yokohama between 1862 and 1887. After Wirgman ceased to provide regular reports and sketches to the ILN he had no settled employment or regular income. He was apparently happy to borrow from his friends in what sometimes was probably a hand-to-mouth existence. Although he doubtless received payments for the sketches and paintings which he was commissioned to produce, his receipts in Yokohama were unlikely to have been substantial. The Treaty Port had only a small expatriate community and in the early years there were not many visitors. It has been suggested that he acted as a spy, but no evidence has been found to support such an accusation and it is difficult to see what he could possibly achieve even if Alcock, the first British chief of mission, or Parkes, his successor, had wanted to employ him as a secret agent. He probably became involved in a limited way in trade and was certainly well known among the British merchants who formed the majority in the small, close-knit trading community in Yokohama. Like almost every foreigner in Yokohama he probably took full advantage of lucrative currency arrangements, which led to a Japanese loss of silver in the period immediately after the opening of Yokohama, and of other opportunities for making a quick profit. The members of the foreign community in Yokohama were thrown together in a limited area and must have been well aware of one another’s foibles. To travel outside the treaty-port area they required a special permit even to ride to Edo. They had to make their own amusements with limited facilities and resources. The British were inevitably pioneers in developing sports including horse racing, athletics, football, cricket and hockey as well as sailing and rowing. Clubs, both sporting and social, sprang up and most members of the community belonged to one or more. Hotels provided for visitors as well as rooms for meetings and dinners. The Gankiro, the official Japanese brothel, catered for nightlife in a community where there were very few foreign ladies. A more formal element was provided by the British legation when it was in Yokohama rather than in Edo and by the consulate with the consular court, which was responsible for the administration of extraterritoriality. There was also for some years a small British garrison and, of course, a church. Wirgman soon saw the small expatriate community of the treaty port of Yokohama as an easy target for his satirical pen and pencil. In 1862, apparently with a small loan from Rudolph Lindau, he began to produce Japan Punch,11 inspired by Punch, or the London Charivari. He published this in Yokohama between 1862 and 1887. It was published irregularly and intermittently at first but more or less regularly every month from January 1874 to the final issue in March 1887. For the first few years he used Japanese woodblock-style printing but then adopted Western-style lithography.

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In the pages of Japan Punch Wirgman depicted himself as the ‘Guardian Punch’ character who acted as the ‘uninhibited protector’ of Yokohama to which Wirgman had become the enthusiastic addict. An annotated selection of articles and cartoons from Japan Punch, edited by Jozef Rogala, has been published in The Genius of Mr. Punch: Life in Yokohama’s Foreign Settlement. Charles Wirgman and the Japan Punch, 1862–1887, (Yurindo Co. Ltd, Yokohama, 2004).

Many of the caricatures/cartoons in Japan Punch are incomprehensible to modern readers without a detailed commentary. Unfortunately, this cannot be provided because many of the stories and situations which prompted them have long been forgotten. But many making fun of the sporting pastimes of the expatriate community require little or no explanation. Some characters are easily recognizable. Sir Harry Parkes is lampooned as Sir Samuel Smiles. Wirgman’s friend, Ernest Satow, who was thin and spindly, appears quite often, as does Dr William Willis – a large, bearded man. William Henry Smith, ‘public-spirited Smith’, was depicted as a butcher and market gardener. Wirgman made fun of the foreign community, its foibles, amusements and petty jealousies. His satire was gentle rather than brutal, primarily aimed at the expatriates who were his clients and bought his magazine. It was not as biting as some of Bigot’s against foreigners and Japanese alike. Japanese depicted in Japan Punch were generally subsidiary figures. No letters have been found linking Wirgman and Georges Bigot, but they must have met frequently when Bigot, who arrived in Japan in 1882, was in Yokohama. In July 1882, Japan Punch included a drawing of Bigot (overleaf) shortly after his arrival. In December 1883, Japan Punch published a review article of works by M. Bigot: We have had the opportunity of inspecting an album containing some very clever etchings of sketches of various Japanese characters by a young French artist, M. Bigot, which are deserving of every praise for their truth and faithfulness to nature. The book would form a pleasing reminiscence of Japan to any one who has ever been here. Orders for the work may be left at the Grand Hotel. Mr.Wirgman, we understand, has also a similar project in progress. But his character sketches are to be lithographed, and no doubt will be found to sustain his well merited reputation as a clever artist and caricaturist of Japanese types with which all residents are familiar.

Bigot’s Tôbaé was launched as a regular publication on 15 February 1887. The final issue of Japan Punch dated 15 March 1887 depicted an eclipse by Tôbaé. The fifth issue of Tôbaé on 15 April 1887 (overleaf) showed Monsieur Pierrot (i.e. Bigot) bidding farewell to Mr. Punch departing by sea. In fact, Wirgman had left Yokohama on 9 April to return to Britain. He stayed there only from May to October 1887. He had left his wife and son in Japan and could

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Illustration featuring Georges Bigot in Japan Punch, July1882

Tôbaé, 15 April 1887

not settle back in England. On his return to Japan he did not, however, attempt to re-launch Japan Punch. In 1890 he became ill and he died in hospital in Yokohama in February 1891. There must surely have been close contacts between Wirgman and Bigot both before and after the demise of Japan Punch. We do not know how much rivalry may have existed between them, but it seems to have been friendly. They certainly respected one another’s work. Charles Wirgman was an important figure in the development of Western-style caricatures in Japan where there was a long tradition of making fun of the strong and powerful from the Cho–ju– giga, through Kyo–gen and the novels of the Edo era to the sketches of Hokusai. His illustrations for the ILN also did much to introduce English readers to the new Japan. He was not a great artist, but he was the first British professional artist to work in Japan and he had a talent for drawing. It is right, therefore, to remember him in relation to Georges Bigot who was the greater artist.

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ENDNOTES 1

2

3

4 5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Much of the information on which this account is based comes from the detailed research of Dr John Clark. See biographical portrait of Charles Wirgman by John Clark in Britain and Japan 1859-1991: Themes and Personalities, ed. Hugh Cortazzi and Gordon Daniels, Routledge, 1991, and the more detailed account by Clark in Japanese-British Exchanges in Art 1850s-1930s, including a chronology of Wirgman’s life and a list of known works by Wirgman, and of references to him in other sources. John Clark was contemptuous of Wirgman’s artistic competence: ‘His later work almost continuously declares a lack of interest in formal academic control, his hand is that of a Constantin Guys, the drawing technique that of a military draughtsman, the eye interested in characterizing gesture not manifesting it. His oil painting seems to have begun later in life after some period of residence in Japan and was barely competent, again indicating a lack of professional training.’ Rudolph Lindau, an Austrian diplomat and traveller, who first met Wirgman in Hakodate in November 1861 said of him ‘although born and brought up as an Englishman he spoke German like a German and French as if he came from Paris’ [Original passage in German Aus China und Japan, 1896]. Lindau in Aus China und Japan. Clark was unable to discover how Wirgman was recruited by the Illustrated London News or what his motives were. Reproduced on pages 80-82 in Japan and the Ilustrated London News , Complete Record of Reported Events 1853-1899, compiled and introduced by Terry Bennett, Global Oriental, 2006. See The Diaries of Sir Ernest Mason Satow 1861-1869 ed. Robert Morton and Ian Ruxton, Eureka Press, Kyoto, 2013. Chapter XVIII ‘Overland from Ozaka to Yedo’, Ernest Satow, A Diplomat in Japan, Seeley, Service & Co., London, 1921. Wirgman and Beato formed a partnership called: ’Beato & Wirgmam Artists and Photographers’ from 1864 to 1867. Wirgman produced illustrations derived from Beato’s photographs. Beato photographed some of Wirgman’s sketches and other works. Tsuruoka Takuro in the introduction to the exhibition of Charles Wirgman’s works at Kanagawa Museum of History in Yokohama, June 2011. Japan Punch, inspired by Punch or, The London Charivari, was a British satirical weekly established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and the engraver Ebenezer Landells. It was particularly influential; in the 1840s and 1850s. The term ‘cartoon’ was first used to refer to comic drawings in Punch in 1843.

Watercolour by Charles Wirgman of samurai with rifle, c. 1860s

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘ETERNAL JAPAN’ [

B

igot is known in Japan for his albums of satirical drawings and his humorous periodicals. His copperplate engravings and his paintings in oil, watercolour and gouache remain largely unknown, although his engravings are beginning to be appreciated by a few connoisseurs. The various exhibitions which have been held in Japan and France since the 1980s have perhaps put too much emphasis on his work as a caricaturist. His engravings deserve to be in an exhibition devoted to them alone. From the time of his arrival in Japan Bigot found and observed the Japan of his dreams. At this stage he was only interested in traditional Japan which he vividly depicted in his drawings, watercolours, oils, gouaches and copperplate engravings. This was the Japan which he hoped would last for ever. Of the five volumes of copperplate engraving which Bigot produced between 1883 and 1889, namely Asa (1883), O-ha-yo (end of 1883), Ma-ta (1884), Croquis Japonais (1886) and Le Japon (1889) only the engravings in Asa, the first volume, in O-ha-yo and in Croquis Japonais, the most well-known album, are reproduced in full here, although not necessarily in the order as originally published, and excluding images duplicated in other albums. In addition, a selection from the twelve copperplate engravings from the Georges Bigot collection are included. Bigot had brought the plates for these back from Japan and as they were the only ones discovered at his house in Bièvres, they were perhaps his favourites. At our request, Rafael Loison reprinted them on his press at his studio in the Rue Mouffetard in Paris. Bigot concentrated on portraying Japanese women and men as he saw them on the streets or country roads in Japan, such as a Japanese family in a carriage, pilgrims on their way to the temple at Narita, a butcher, a newspaper-seller, or Japanese women serving tea inside their homes, etc. Each engraving depicted an individual dressed in the usual clothes of his trade or occupation. His watercolours, sketches, drawings, gouaches, pastels and oil paintings on canvas or wood depicted the Japanese landscape and nature as he saw it, with Mt. Fuji often appearing in the background. He painted many pictures of peasants working in the paddy fields, as well as of street scenes and shop fronts and of people at tourist spots such as of geisha beside the Kamogawa river in Kyoto. During these first five years Bigot only saw what to him was the ‘real’ Japan. He tried to reproduce this on paper, canvas or copperplate like a photograph frozen in time. He was thinking of returning to France taking with him as many of the elements as possible of the Japan which he had absorbed while living as a Japanese, speaking Japanese, learning Japanese music and calligraphy, etc. These oils and watercolours reveal his love of the Japan which he wished to remain unchanged for eternity. This Part includes a selection of Bigot’s works from this period consisting of oil paintings, gouaches, watercolours and pastels, mainly from the author’s personal collection, but also from that of my collaborator Sir Hugh Cortazzi, including Croquis Japonais and O-ha-yo. C.P.

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45

1

Cover of the ASA album which comprises the following etchings:

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 2

A Japanese family in a jinrickisha (rickshaw)

3

Pilgrims on their way to Narita temple in Chiba Prefecture

4

Soba merchants (soba – traditional buckwheat noodles)

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘ETERNAL JAPAN’

47 5

Butcher

7

6

Transporting household manure known as ‘honey buckets’ to be used as fertilizer

Firemen

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

8

A storyteller

10

9

Father and his schoolboy son walking in the rain

Night watchman

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49

11

Playing go

12

New year visit

50

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 13

14

Man on his way to buy food ‘Never steal or keep what belongs to others’

15

Enjoying indoor archery

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51 16

Singing lesson

17

Roof-tilers eating obento (obento – traditional lunch box)

18

Young woman performing her ablutions in the open air

52

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

19

Singer playing the shamisen (Japanese balalaika)

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53

20

21

Newspaper-seller Man praying 23

22

Foreigner chatting with the girl’s mother

A young woman in formal dress (geisha)

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

24

Haberdasher and assistants 25

Sumo wrestlers

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55

26

A festival float

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

27

Travelling salesman

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57 29

28

An elderly teacher

Fencing practice (Japanese kendo)

30

Travelling theatre at a local festival

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

31

31

Maidservant offering tea to a foreigner

32

Fishing boat

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘ETERNAL JAPAN’

Japanese ‘dinner’ with foreign guests. A story in silhouettes

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62

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1

Cover of the album O-HA-YO (‘good morning’), 1883. Selected etchings

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘ETERNAL JAPAN’

63

2

3

Geisha performing

Hairdressing

5

4

Highschool boys in school uniform

A Japanese dandy

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High-class courtesan (oiran)

7

Taylor

9

8

Maidservant lighting a rice-cooker Actor

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65

10

Mother and child

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12

Hairdresser cleaning a wig

Policeman 13

14

Spectator Geese in flight

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‘The hunt’. A story in silhouettes

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1

Cover of the CROQUIS JAPONAIS album, 1886, featuring a woman with traditional Japanese hairstyle

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71

2

A highschool student in traditional Japanese clothes wearing a Western straw hat

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3

Three schoolchildren on their way to class

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73

4

5

Army officer Soldier 6

7

Bureaucrat Sailor

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8

Schoolboy reading

9

Koto practice (koto- Japanese lyre)

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75

10

Buddhist priest begging

11

Policeman

13

12

Geisha carrying tea-tray

Postman

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15

Hairdressing

Cashier

16

Girls playing shuttlecock and battledore (hagoita)

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77 18

17

Girl carrying water from a well Girl washing clothes 19

20

Geisha eating Itinerant medicines-seller

78

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22

Groom

Man smoking small Japanese pipe (kiseru) 23

24

Rickshaw man

Blind masseur

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79

25

Fisherman

80

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27

Fish merchant Farmer picking up rubbish 28

Geita-seller (wood sandals)

29

Street singers

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81

SELECTION OF ENGRAVINGS BIGOT BROUGHT BACK TO FRANCE 2

1

Servant carrying cooked rice

Portrait of a young woman (possibly Bigot’s Japanese wife)

4

3

Study of a woman relaxing

Woman looking out to sea

82

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

5

Japanese couple with lantern in winter clothes

6

Study of two girls looking out from a balcony

7

Hoshigaoka Lake

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’ [

A

fter his discovery of traditional Japan and following his decision in 1886 to continue to live in the Japan of his dreams, Bigot sharpened his focus and became a critic of the society developing into the so-called ‘new Japan’. While still making time for painting, Bigot henceforth concentrated on satirizing ‘modern’ Japan. He became a talented caricaturist in the wake of Charles Wirgman, but with a different approach. This is apparent from a careful look at the cover pages of Japan Punch (April 1880 edition) and of Tôbaé (1 May 1887 edition), which carried self-portraits of the two artists. Wirgman depicts himself as a samurai in hakama, the ceremonial costume of the Japanese warrior, but with the pen replacing the sword and with two cranes and a cat by his side, while Bigot disguised himself as Pierrot in a theatrical pose carrying his palette of paints in his right hand. Wirgman added long written explanations under his caricatures, while Bigot put his main emphasis on his drawings with very short captions. Thus, Wirgman was portrayed as a writer and Bigot as a painter. The two caricaturists knew one another for a brief period (see separate article about Wirgman in this volume). In the last numbers of Japan Punch Wirgman welcomed Tôbaé with some admiring comments and seemed proud to have a worthy successor in the social landscape of Meiji Japan. Influenced by Nakae Cho–min, Bigot became involved with the liberal move– Minken undo– (campaign for liberty and people’s rights) which was also ment Jiyu supported by the French jurist Boissonade. In 1884, Bigot had tried to launch a satirical journal Tobaye but it did not survive beyond its initial issue. Finally, on 15 February 1887, he launched his periodical Tôbaé, which lasted three years and had sixty-nine numbers. It was followed by La Vie Japonaise (Japanese Life) in 1890 and then by Potins de Yoko, also in 1890, and finally by Le Potin in 1893. This appeared for seven years until 1899. Bigot, therefore, produced four periodicals over a span of ten years. These were accompanied by numerous humorous albums on specific topics (see list in the Bibliography). Bigot utilized copperplate engraving and lithography in creating his caricatures. He drew a distinction between the old and the new, the traditional and the modern. He depicted everything from public spaces, streets, squares, thoroughfares, bathing beaches, schools, barracks, places of amusement and restaurants, to brothels. – yo, He also satirized politicians such as Inoue Kaoru, Kuroda Kiyotaka, Mishima Zu – – Mori Arinori, Ito Hirobumi, Yamagata Aritomo, Oyama Iwao, Saigo Tsugumichi, Enomoto Takeaki, Goto– Sho–jiro, Okuma Shigenobu and others as well as ordinary men and women, children and grandmothers. Modern elements represented by Western innovations were used to indicate the social position of people in the revolutionary changes taking place in the Meiji era. Bigot was more than a mere foreign observer; despite the censorship he took part in the contemporary political debate of his day. Foreigners were not spared from criticism. Diplomats, businessmen in the concessions (the Treaty ports) and their commercial dealings, their lust for Japanese women, their provocative habits, the tourists, their amusements, their passion for horse-racing and the theatre, their games – all were targets of Bigot’s caricatures. Likewise, Bigot deliberately targeted certain Frenchmen such as Paul Sarda, the architect and his fortune, Gustave Boissonade, the French jurist, Sarazin, the French consul, and Joseph Adam Sienkiewicz, the French Minister. He also criticized the priests of the Missions Étrangères de Paris and the Marist Fathers. Another of his targets was Émile Bertin. Even his guarantor Prosper Fouque was not spared. The Germans and the British too,

117

118

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

such as Samuel Cocking the art dealer, did not escape his censure. Bigot followed closely the political developments of the time and he described the rivalry between the foreign powers and their policies in the international concessions. Bigot sought to make Tôbaé with its captions in Japanese a bilingual publication for both the Japanese public and foreign residents while the three publications La Vie Japonaise, Potins de Yoko and Le Potin, as well as the albums of humorous cartoons that he produced, were intended for the foreign community in Japan. The satirical publications of Georges Bigot form an integral part of the social history of the Meiji era. They emphasize the interaction between politics and public information and confirm the introduction of satirical drawing into the Japanese press. C. P.

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

119

1

Cover of the fortnightly satirical journal TÔBAÉ (issue No. 6, dated 1 May 1887), with a self-portrait of Bigot as a left-handed Pierrot. Price was 0,80 Yen for a single issue or 4,50 Yen for six issues over three months. Subscriptions could be paid at the Club Hotel, no.5 Yokohama. All the cartoons (see images 2–17 below) were drawn by Georges Bigot and were of the same size: 25.4 x 17.7 cm

120

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 2

The High Life. At a fashionable photographer’s. (Issue No. 6)

3

Japanese theatre performance as authorized by the Japanese Government (Issue No. 6)

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121

4

Modern Japan. (Issue No. 41) [The young boy (New Japan) pulled by the British (left) and the Germans (right), observed by the French]

5

[At the foot of Mount Bandai volcano which erupted in 1888.] Around Bandai-san. No more trees, no more houses, only photographers! (Issue No. 36)

122

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

6

Mondays at the Rokumeikan in between two dances. (Issue No. 6) Note: The Rokumeikan (㮵㬆㤋, Deer-cry pavilion), a large two-storey building in Tokyo, completed in 1883, became a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the Meiji period. It was designed by Josiah Conder, a British architect working in Japan. Although its heyday was brief, it became famous for its parties and balls, which introduced many high-ranking Japanese to Western manners for the first time.

7

Modern Japan. After dinner. A salon in Japanese high society (Issue No. 7)

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

123

8

Pierrot (Bigot) travelling with his dog Aka looking for interesting subjects for his sketches. (Issue No. 12) Note: After travelling in the Izu peninsula in August 1887 Bigot changed the content of TÔBAÉ from No. 13 onwards. There would be no more political caricatures or satires of the society of the new Japan. Instead, perhaps reflecting the influence of Hokusai, he would concentrate on sketching daily life and the people he met in the streets. 9

Modern Japan (Flirtation) [Germany (left) and Japan (right)]. Take me my beloved Fritz! I am all yours. Do with me what you want, I belong to you! (15 February 1888, Issue No. 25)

124

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

10

Students demonstrating. (Issue No. 16) [At the window the French jurist Boissonade who gave lectures at the Law School is making a speech:] ‘My friends, moderate your ill-timed ardour; be quiet, be prudent, no demonstrations, no political economy; it is useless. But make savings, more savings and always savings; here is the question! so it has to be! [in the flag] Death to the dictators! Long live the revolution and the people’s rights, 1789!’) Note: Boissonade was criticized by Japanese politicians and the French community for receiving a salary equivalent to that of the Prime Minister. Boissonade was famous for his greed and his passion for money. 11

Salon of 1888. Portrait of our new and sympathetic collaborator (at his request): a great man of letters, distinguished grammarian, art critic, broadminded, tremendous worker, looking at anything, including what does not concern him, protector of the weak and oppressed people. Good writing, will succeed… [sign on the door] Censorship. [The bearded foreigner holds a marionette arrayed as de Boissonade] (Issue No. 17, 1888) Note: The ‘collaborator’ is Bigot’s mentor, Prosper Fortuné Fouque (1843–1906) who helped him to go to Japan, to stay and to find a job. Fouque arrived in Japan in 1870 to teach French language at various institutions including the Kaitakushi School and at the Law School of the Justice ministry.

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

125 12

The Tôbaé at the Police Department (Latest news) Journalists! Up to now there has been silence about the Tôbaé! Be careful, no opinions or comments, keep it all to yourselves. This is all I have to say to you. You can go... [Bigot as Pierrot, is looking on from the window.] (Issue No. 22) Note: The Police were very sensitive to the political caricatures appearing in Tôbaé and wished to stop them appearing. In order to avoid police censorship captions in Japanese would gradually disappear.

13

Modern Japan. English language influence in Japan. Danna-san [sir] anata [you] komban[tonight], champion, champion, yoroshii [all right] , yes... all right! (Issue No. 52) Note: This is a reference to what came to be called ‘The Yokohama dialect’ or ‘English as she is japped’.

126

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

14

Modern Japan (Latest News). (Issue No. 32, 1 June 1888) [The tree is power. On the left, representing the war party, the Japanese navy dominated by the Kagoshima clan [i.e. Satsuma]. On the right a counterweight consisting of the army and the ministry of education, led by the Yamaguchi clan [i.e. Choshu] .The Satsuma and Choshu clans, known as the Satcho oligarchy, were dominant influences in Meiji Japan] 15

Poor old man pleading for his life!!! (Issue No. 1, 15 February 1887) [The Prime Minister Itô Hirobumi and the minister of foreign affairs Inoue Kaoru killing the People’s Rights Movement personified by an oldfashioned Japanese man in traditional dress]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

127

16

Social call (15 February 1887) [On the bottle: ‘Bran’ for ‘Brandy’. The two men are smoking and sitting on chairs in Western style while the maid squats in Japanese style on the tatami.] 17

Pierrot (Bigot) travelling. How to transport your sick dog [here Bigot’s dog Aka] on the way from Shuzenji to Atami [in the Izu peninsula] at eleven o’clock at night. (31 August 1887)

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

1

Cover of the album Tobaé Sport, Courses d’automne, Octobre 1889, Dessins de Georges Bigot [Tobaé Sport, Autumn races, October 1889, drawings by Georges Bigot with a self portrait as Pierrot. Lithograph pencil (25.3 x 19.2 cm)]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

129

2

3

4

5

130

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

6

7

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

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1

Cover of the album La Journée d’une Guesha, A Day in the Life of a Geisha, 1891. Complete album. (27.4 x 19.0 cm). Price: 2 Yen.

132

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 2

3

A man for whom work is a pleasure!

Just a little more white perhaps?

4

The dancing lesson.

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

133

5

Triumph of the plutocracy

6

Courtesy… ‘Buy this little pin for me, my dear!’

7

Drink this ice cream, it has melted

134

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 8

Collecting shells at Shinagawa [in Tokyo] 9

Sea-bathing season 10

Japanese ladies enjoying the theatre

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135 11

Backstage, a lover’s visit

12

Ready to sail away on the ocean wave...

13

River festival (Kawabiraki)

136

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 14

15

Love is money

Has a new man arrived?

16

Pay attention to the overture

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

137 17

Toutes voiles dehors! [‘All sails aloft!’ or ‘no holds barred!’]

138

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 18

Love and money! 19

Stop it, you are tickling me.... 20

The little present or the best moment of the day... [a small envelope with money]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

139 21

Zehiirasshaiyo! [You are very welcome!]

140

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 22

Does the blind masseur feel happy with his eyes at the end of his fingers? 23

Back to port but not without some regrets!

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

141

1

Cover of the satirical magazine Le Potin published by Georges Bigot between 1893 and 1894. No. 1, 2nd series (25.0 x 27.0 cm), price 1.50 Yen, available at Andreis, 62 Yokohama, Hôtel des Colonies, 56 Kobe, Oriental Hôtel, 80 Kobe, at Union Club in Osaka, at Kioto Hôtel in Kioto, at Tokio Hôtel in Tokio and G. Bigot home, Ichigaya, Nakanocho, 46 Tokio. [The magazine was produced in Bigot’s studio in Yokohama]

142

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 2

The Spanish minister is returning finally to his homeland. Adios!

3

Goodbye to Fontainebleau! [The French doctor, like Napoléon, is leaving finally for France, with a Moet et Chandon Champagne farewell drink presented to him by French army officers and the French Minister at the French legation in Tokyo.]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

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4

Well, little mother, what do you want today? Please try these leeks, they are exquisite... What a surprise! [The little mother, right, is Father Évrard and left is the French chancellor of the French legation, PierreMarie-François-Jules Sarazin, as kitchen-gardener]

144

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 5

Ladies and Gentlemen, ask for the Revue Noire, magazine of Vaugirard... [On the table, left, is the head of Sarazin, in the middle the head of Boissonade. Father Évrard with a trumpet is on the floor] Note: The Revue de Vaugirard was dedicated to the handicapped people of Vaugirard hospital in Paris which sought charitable donations, but Sarazin and Boissonade did not want to contribute. Bigot aimed in this caricature to show how greedy such rich people were.] 6

Torchlight procession on the 13th of July on the Bluff (Yokohama) [Such processions on the eve of Bastille Day are a French tradition]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

145

1

Cover of the satirical magazine Le Potin published by Georges Bigot. No. 1, 2nd series. How to drive away hunger which is always recurring... See overleaf for selected caricatures from various other Le Potin series.

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

2

One pound of Gruyère cheese, please Mister.....Excuse my clothes Madame, I am riding a horse, you know the daily promenade, but have you forgotten...? [This caricature shows an elegant French grocer flirting with every lady coming to his shop] 3

As his business is not flourishing, Fagasse (right) a French merchant and Bérard a tailor go out at night in search of game that they might be able to sell on the following day and earn some money so that they could live.

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

147

4

Fagasse hunting. [V. Faga was an employee of Jardine and Matheson and Co, No. 1 Ichibancho, Yokohama. The company, which had established its offices in Yokohama as soon as the port was opened to foreign trade in 1859, was a leading British merchant house in the foreign concession. In French the suffix ‘asse’ is attached to a name to show that the person named is stupid]

148

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 5

(European naval armaments) Albion is out shopping [The Queen is buying warships, watched by a German, a Spaniard, a Frenchman and an Italian]

6

Perfidious Albion is trying to seduce Japan [while China looks on at the door]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

149

7

Perfidious Albion is trying to seduce China

8

(England) Please eat up, I will be the gainer. [If Japan and China go to war, England will be the gainer while Korea looks on with concern]

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

9

A fishing party. The Korean question. [China, Japan and Russia, all trying to catch the Korean fish!]

10

The revised Treaties have just been signed. The foreigner is now subject to Japanese Jurisdiction.

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

151

11

New Attraction . . . Bicycles for amateurs for hire at two sen per hour

12

At Shakespeare’s home, after the match is over (with a Moet et Chandon champagne bottle) Gentlemen the champagne is finished. [In this cartoon Bigot is poking fun at the English community in Yokohama with their love of sport and drinking]

152

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

1

Cover of the satirical magazine Potins de Yoko (Funny Stories of Yokohama), published by Georges Bigot, Series 1, No. 2, 1890 (20.0 x 34.0 cm) (irregular issues)

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

153 2

The Grand Hôtel manager. How chic he is… How handsome he is….. [The Grand Hotel on the waterfront at No.18, 19 and 20 Yokohama] 3

Yes it is rather a bore at forty sen an hour

154

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 4

The barkeeper

5

The accountant [at the Grand Hotel Yokohama]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

155 6

Cook-san watakushi no tabéru takusan arimasska ??? [Foreigner trying to speak Japanese: Hi, Cook do you have lots for me to eat???] Futatsu, nitchi, dadjobu arimasse anata [Foreigner’s Japanese; two, two, ok, you}. Ah! Anata cook-san takusan yoroshii shto, watakushi, anata takusan skimasse, dozo, dozo scoshi champagne…..shinjo [Foreigner attempting Japanese: Hi, please give me lots, put it here, please give me some champagne….] 7

I love cats, I cultivate rabbits, I do not like tails, guess who I am ???

156

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 8

The breaker of hearts !!! [The foreigner is V. Faga (see p. 147 No.4)]

9

Time for a drink. [The man on the right is F. Biagioni of Dell’Oro and Co., 91 and 76-A The Bluff]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

157 10

The doctor G. overwhelmed by the smell of camelia oil when he passed in front of a merchant of Japanese coiffures…just as the artist saw it 11

Anatomy lesson after Rembrandt. [The doctor is Eugen von der Heyde, working at Carl Rohde and Co., agent for Hamburg Bremen Fire Insurance Co. at Aka-mon – corner of Satsuma and Musashi-cho -, and home at The Bluff No. 172]

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

1

The new tripart axis. Cover of the satirical magazine La Vie Japonaise (Japanese Life) by Georges Bigot. Album No. 3, 1898 (25.0 x 34.0 cm)

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

159 2

To your Health John Bull

3

By the sea

160

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 4

Japanese girl at the seaside in European clothes

5

High life by the sea

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

161

6

They are too green - the United States declining the Philippines

7

Old England at work….business is business

162

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 8

The village boss

9

Children of fishermen

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

163

10

The washerman question. Foreigner - Kono sock kleen kirei okane??? [Foreigner trying to ask the laundryman a question meaning: How much to wash this sock clean? Reply; two yen, fifty sen, five rin] 11

First Japanese Swiss-style mountain railway. (Monsieur sodeska [Mister Is-that-so]. Finally, we shall also have our small ‘Jungfrau’ in Japan. It will be a change from the Anglo-American locomotives… God save Switzerland!!

164

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 12

Inagé-on-sea. High life by the sea. [Inage is a small village near Chiba, where Bigot was living at the time]

13

At the mercy of the anti-foreign spirit…. Hey! Let us make fun of them!!!

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

165

14

On the Upper Nile......Dear....There’s already someone else fishing in this pond… 15

The Ginter case. Beating up Japanese-style

166

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

16

(The Ginter case) It is not him.... there has been a mistake…you can go home

17

Japan at the end of the century. Some ladies from Shimbashi enjoying cycling

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

167 18

New Year’s Day at the New Year bazaar. Cover of La Vie Japonaise album No.7, July 1899

19

[Two foreigners out for a walk watched by a Japanese policeman]

20

Treaty revision or the beginning of equality

168

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 21

The day after the Revision of the treaties 22

It’s we Japanese who have to pay for all this. [The figures in the background are those of a soldier and a sailor]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

169 23

Cover of album No. 8 of La Vie Japonaise, August 1899. Foreigner before a Japanese Court. [Under the revised treaties foreigners became subject to Japanese jurisdiction.] 24

New Year toy, a Japanese puppet

170

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 25

Triumphal entry into Tokyo of Lord Beresford

26

Lord Beresford making his short speech and preparing the Anglo-Japanese Alliance [concluded in 1902] [Note: Lord Charles Beresford 1846-1918 was a British admiral and conservative Member of Parliament. He was in China in 1898 representing the Associated Chambers of Commerce. He had previously visited Japan first in 1869.]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

171 27

Hurrah! Hurrah! 28

Her Britannic Majesty’s new recruits

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

Twelve Dinner Plates [“Scenes of the Japanese Life”] By Georges Bigot Specially commissioned circa 1902, produced by the French HB and Cie, for Hautin Boulenger et Cie (Faience of Choisy-le-Roi, Earthenware of Choisy-le-Roi, near Paris, 1805-1930), in the series Terre de Feu, two sets of 12 plates, one pink set and one blue set, with a diameter of 20 cm.

I

Macaroni is popular everywhere in every country. – Off with you, you bad dog. My macaroni [Japanese noodles] is ready for delivery

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

173

II

The great Kankoba bazaar. A shop which is always successful everywhere

III

The fishing season on the Sumida river. (Japan) – What a pity ! I have forgotten my worms in the pocket of my frock-coat

IV

The smart Japanese man. I can now take a picture of an Englishman; only they (the British) can dress so slovenly

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GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

V

The family bath. – I feel it is raining. Give me an umbrella otherwise I shall become wet through!

VI

New Year wishes. Permit my unworthy self to offer this cod to your august gluttony.

VII

Young lady about to be married. Madame Prune takes her daughter to her first ball

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

175

VIII

Excursion train. The Europeans are always praising their locomotives, but they will never have an ‘Excursion train’ like ours

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IX

Have you a match? The countries and types change, but the formula is always the same

X

The glutton at the restaurant. – And with his rice brandy, what does he want? –‘ I would like to eat two small Chinese!’

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XI

Different times, different customs. – Is your cousin always a rickshaw-puller? – No, being a horse is no longer his cup of tea, he is now the chauffeur of a motor car

XII

The white peril (c.f the yellow peril). It seems that we shall enjoy the same privileges as the European employees. – I hope they will not start by suppressing our tea break at 4 o’clock in the afternoon!

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Selected watercolour sketches by Georges Bigot produced during his trip to Siberia in 1893 1

Sketches from Siberia. Nikolski. Watercolour (24.0 x 34.5 cm) 2

Russian soldiers working on the Trans-Siberian railway. Watercolour (22.0 x 33.0 cm) 3

Diligence. Sketch of Siberia. Watercolour (19.0 x 12.6 cm)

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

179 4

(right) Nikolski. Vladivostok. (left) Russian Soldiers. Watercolour (26.0 x 19.0 cm) 5

Korean farmer. Watercolour (25.5 x 17.0 cm) 6

Funeral of a soldier’s child, Nikolski, Siberia, June 1893, Watercolour (24.0 x 23.0 cm).

Selection from Georges Bigot’s illustrations commissioned by The Graphic [In the period 1891–1896]

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

OCTOBER 1891

, 1891

181

182

OCTOBER 1891

OCTOBER 1891

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GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’ 26 DECEMBER 1891

183

184

16 JULY 1892

16 JULY 1892

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

185

186

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 27 OCTOBER 1894

1894

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’ OCTOBER 1894

OCTOBER 1894

187

188

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GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

MARCH 1895

189

190

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’ APRIL 1895

APRIL 1895

191

192

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

1895 MARCH SUPPLEMENT ‘JAPANESE OFFICER IN COMMAND OF ABATTERY OF ARTILLERY IN MARCHING ORDER; JAPANESE PRIVATE OF THE 19TH INFANTRY REGIMENT IN MARCHING ORDER. DRAWN FROM LIFE BY OUR SPECIAL ARTIST [GEORGES BIGOT] WITH THE JAPANESE FORCES.’

GEORGES BIGOT’S ‘MODERN JAPAN’

20 APRIL 1895

26 SEPTEMBER 1896

193

194 26 SEPTEMBER 1896

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

GEORGES BIGOT’S NEW LIFE IN FRANCE [

O

n his return to France in the summer of 1899 Bigot suffered some kind of reverse culture shock, that is to say he found it very difficult to settle again into the life of his home country after an absence of seventeen years. Unfortunately, he was soon facing financial problems providing for his new family. In order to make ends meet he had to work for the general press in France as well as publishers of children’s magazines and some of the satirical journals of his day (see Bibliography). He produced illustrations for numerous novels. He also considered doing illustrations for special editions of Yamada Kiku’s novel Masako and for Pierre Loti’s Les derniers jours de Pékin, but these projects were never realized. A selection of the illustrations he prepared for the latter book which were found recently are reproduced here for the first time. Soon after his return to Paris Bigot exhibited his oil paintings and engravings. Sadly, however, the enthusiasm of the art critics who called him ‘The Paris Japanese’ did not redound to his success and fame – worsening his mood and sense of cultural alienation. In the caricatures that he drew for the satirical journals Bigot gave in to their wish to pander to the prejudices of the French public towards Japan, including criticizing the ways and customs of his beloved Japan, which had become for France a country of ‘Japonoiseries’. He contributed to the Epinal series of popular colour prints, produced illustrations for menus, postcards of contemporary political figures and events, calendars, advertisements and posters etc. Fortunately for posterity, the artist took up his painter’s palette again and to the end of his life continued to paint in oil, watercolour and gouache, recording places he had visited during his travels in France. He also produced engravings on a variety of subjects. He never lost his nostalgia for Japan but he died forgotten.

197

GEORGES BIGOT’S NEW LIFE IN FRANCE

199

Still life on canvas. Shamisen (Japanese balalaika) with fan (uchiwa). Oil on canvas, early 1900 (80 x 44 cm)

200

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

Poster ‘Paris-Tokyo’ produced for the Paris World Exhibition of 1900. Woodblock print. (32.0 x 24.5 cm)

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201

1

Cover of the satirical magazine La Vie en Rose, No.10 (February 1902)

202

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

2

Family meeting

GEORGES BIGOT’S NEW LIFE IN FRANCE

203

3

Sentô, public bath - women’s section 4

The place of execution

204

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1

Cover of Album No. 8 of Images d’Épinal comprising 20 woodblock prints in colour, published by Pellerin and Co. 2

Vérité japonaise. (Japanese truth). Imagerie d’Épinal No. 4231. ‘At New Year Madame Prune received many presents, but wishing to save money, she took one present she had received to her best friend, a basket which seemed to contain something rather nice. Oh the horror! It was a rotten radish !...What does this mean? asked Madame Fleur de Pêcher? But Madame Prune had made a quick exit, suddenly remembering that a neighbour was very ill !’ Bigot signed twice, in Japanese characters, image 6 and Hidari kiki (left-handed) in image 7.

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1

Cover of the weekly magazine L’Illustration, Saturday, May 10th, 1902.

2

The way electoral candidates conduct their business in Japan

206

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899

3

New Year’s Day in Japan. Exchanging greetings in the street. L’Illustration, 2 January, 1904, etching, in colour (22 x 31 cm)

4

New Year’s day. A civil servant makes an official call. L’Illustration, 2 January 1904, etching in colour (22 x 31 cm)

GEORGES BIGOT’S NEW LIFE IN FRANCE

207

1

Dans l’oreille de Bouddha (In the Bouddha’s ear) by A. de Gériolles, Paris Delagrave, 1913, illustrated by Georges Bigot. 2

Oh! but this is marvellous!

208

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 3

Everywhere they are flying kites 4

Two travellers

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209

5

‘Harakiri’. [Seppuku= Ritual suicide] 6

Resting behind the brow of a hill...

210

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 1

Shocking au Japon by Fernando Ganesco, Evolution of the arts in the Japanese Empire. 15 sketches by Georges Bigot, 1895. (22.9 x 15.6 cm) 2

M. Kuroda’s Nude. (8.0 x 15.5 cm) [Kuroda Seiki (1866-1924), a famous painter who leant to paint in the Western style in France, exhibited a nude for the first time in Japan, attracting much attention.]

GEORGES BIGOT’S NEW LIFE IN FRANCE

211

3

(Page 13). [The dog in front is Bigot’s dog, Aka]

4

..reporters who appeared to be writing and artists who appeared to be drawing....

212

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 5

(Page 35). An exciting job! 6

Rain in Tokyo

GEORGES BIGOT’S NEW LIFE IN FRANCE

213

Cover of the weekly magazine Journal des Voyages, No.766, Sunday, 6 August 1911 featuring Binzuru revered as a saint and healer in Japan. Price 15 centimes. [The pieces of cloth affixed to Binzuru’s image represent the prayers of his followers who seek his help in finding a cure to their ailments. Binzuru is reputed to have been one of the 16 Rakan (disciples of Shaka, the Buddha), but to have been excluded from among them for having taken note of the beauty of a woman] (Illustration : 23.1 x 19.3 cm)

214

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 1

Cover of the weekly satirical magazine L’Indiscret, [The Indiscreet]. No.8, 12 March 1902.Price 20 centimes. 2

(page 28) Consequences of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Bath in Japan. The father: ‘From now on we shall not need to wash our dirty linen at home: we shall launder it in London’.

GEORGES BIGOT’S NEW LIFE IN FRANCE

215

Cover of the Sunday illustrated and literary supplement of the daily newspaper Le Petit Parisien, 17th year, No. 831, 8 pages, price : 5 centimes, Sunday 8 January 1905. New Year’s Day in Japan – street scene in Tokyo. [Bigot’s Japanese signature at bottom left] ( 45 x 31 cm)

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‘Le chemin de la gloire’. The path to glory. Gouache (40 x 25 cm). Circa 1904-1905, during the Russo-Japanese War

GEORGES BIGOT’S NEW LIFE IN FRANCE

Whoever has not drunk the Mariani wine, has missed a good drink. Mariani Banzai !!...). Drawingby G. Bigot, oriental painter, for the Mariani Album. [Bigot signed twice in Japanese on the left. Dated 12 October. His normal signature followed by the date, 1905, are above his Japanese seal. Postcard (14.0 x 9.0 cm).]

217

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1

Wrapper of a series of postcards entitled ‘Sweep up’ by G. Bigot. Colour lithography (9 x 14 cm). [The French Republic is depicted as Marianne sweeping up before the French Parliament] 2

The new steering wheel ‘Cléopold‘ copyrighted S.G.D.G. for royal chauffeurs! [‘The driver (chauffeur) is King Leopold of the Belgians and the image in the steering wheel is meant to be Cleopatra, representing Africa where the King was exploiting the Congo as if it were his personal property.’] Postcard (9 x 14 cm)

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1

Wrapper of a series of postcards : ‘Villégiatures royales par G. Bigot’. [‘Royal sojourns in the countryside by G. Bigot’. Colour lithography (9 x 14 cm)

‘Hope that the rajahs’ diamonds will pay my debts!’ [King Edward VII drinking Moet et Chandon champagne and looking at the rajah’s diamonds]

2

220

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3

The coronation of Edward VII [with a skull on which ‘Transvaal’ is inscribed. This is a reference to the Boer War. There were many Boer sympathizers in Europe.] 4

The Scottish bagpipes. [They were known to be Chamberlain’s prefered musical instrument. Joseph Chamberlain was the leading imperialist in the British cabinet]

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1

Calendar project No.3 for the year 1909 for the Almanach of Posts and Telegraphs, with four pencil and gouache drawings, illustrating aspects of the Japanese Postal Service (yubin): three postmen in different situations and two girls reading the letters delivered to them in the post. On the bottom right is the address of G. Bigot : 6 rue Vercingétorix, Paris) (25 x 33 cm)] 2

Calendar project No.4 for the same calendar 1909 – see above. Top: an officer and two marines; centre: ‘Leisure time on board a warship: Japanese fencing (kendô) ; bottom: ‘Junk’ with Mount Fuji. (25 x 33 cm)

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1

At the request of the editor Ferrand who wished to publish an illustrated version of Pierre Loti’s novel Les Derniers jours de Pékin, Bigot designed 37 illustrations on Hollande paper for this special issue, No.11, and sent them to the editor on 7 April 1905 with the above covering letter. Pierre Loti was not satisfied with the Bigot’s illustrations and they were never published. Below are selected illustrations from the original (and only) copy containing 37 unique illustrations by Georges Bigot, gouache. (19.3 x 11.5 cm).

2

Idem. Illustrations pages 44 and 45, gouache

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3

Idem. Illustrations page 71, gouache 4

Idem. Illustrations pages 94 and 95, gouache

224

GEORGES BIGOT AND JAPAN, 1882–1899 1

2

Japanese figurative designs and patterns painted by Georges Bigot, contained in three separate folders: The third collection contains a handwritten dedication

3

4

‘À mon vieux Tomodatchi Raymond Tournon, un vieux camarade G. Bigot, 1913, Bièvres’. [‘To my old tomodatchi (friend in Japanese) Raymond Tournon, an old comrade. G. Bigot, 1913, Bièvres”]. ‘Dessins Japon, G.Bigot’. Unique exemplars, gouache.

GEORGES BIGOT’S NEW LIFE IN FRANCE

From L’Indiscret, same issue as page 214, [Rendez-vous at night!]

225

BIBLIOGRAHY [ 1. CATALOGUES OF THE PRINCIPAL EXHIBITIONS RELATING TO THE WORKS OF GEORGES BIGOT Georges Bigot, caricaturiste de Meiji, Musée Suntory, 1972. Georges Bigot, en commémoration du centième anniversaire de son arrivée au Japon. Held at the Sogo department store in Yokohama (March 1987) and at the Mairie of the sixth arrondissement in Paris (October 1987). (Ed. Alliance of Japanese museums and the Yomiuri Shimbun). Retrospective Bigot at the Utsunomiya Art Museum (6 January to 15 February 1998) Exhibition included numerous watercolours and most of the letters which Bigot had sent to his mother. Images de l’Ère Meiji-Le Monde de Georges Bigot, un Artiste Français au Japon (7 September to October 2002) the municipal museum of Kawasaki which holds numerous canvases, watercolours and drawings from the artist’s personal collection. Georges Bigot, le Japon de Meiji par l’oeil d’un graveur (11 July to 23 August 2009 at The Tokyo Museum of Photography. Georges Bigot et Nikkô, 130th anniversary of his arrival in Japan, Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art, Nikkô, with the collection of the Museum of Art of Utsunomiya, from December 10th 2011 to January 29th 2012. 2. PUBLICATIONS ABOUT GEORGES BIGOT Thomas, Victor, Un Japonais de Paris : Georges Bigot, L’Épreuve, 1901. Joffroy, Henri, L’oeuvre japonaise de Georges Bigot, L’Épreuve, 1901. Moss, E.J., 1866–1909, Japan Gazette’s Yokohama Semi- Centennial, 1909. Ronsay, Jeanne, Un peintre français au Japon, in the review La revue France-Japon, No. 11, 15 September 1935. Suzuki, Hidesaburo, Georges F. Bigot, a French caricaturist in Japan in Meiji Era, in Occidental Papers of the Kansai Asiatic Society, No. 6, June 1958. Shimizu, Isao, Meiji no fushi-gaka Bigot, Un caricaturiste de l’ère Meiji, Shinchôsha,Tokyo 1978. Shimizu, Isao and Polak, Christian, Bigot Nihon sogaki shû, (Receuil des oeuvres principales de Bigot sur le Japon), Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 1986. Cornevin, Hélène, Du japonisme au journalisme in Bulletin de la société franco-japonaise d’art et d’archéologie, No.4, 1984. idem, Georges Bigot (1860–1927), Hommes et destins, Tome VI (Asie), Académie des Sciences d’Outremer, Paris, 1985. idem, De la gravure à la caricature le Japon de Meiji vu par Georges Bigot, in L’ethnographie, No. 108, 1990. Shimizu, Isao, Zoku Bigot Nihon sobyô shû, (Suite du Recueil des oeuvres principales de Bigot sur le Japon), Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 1992. Oïkawa, Shigeru, Furansu ukiyoe-shi bigo (Le graveur français Bigot, Bigot en France et les images d’Épinal ), Tokyo, 1998. Conrath, Soizic, mémoire de maîtrise d’histoire Caricatures du Japon de l’ère Meiji, un journal humoristique de Georges Bigot, le ‘Tôbaé’, mars 1887–janvier 1890, unpublished, Université de Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, June 1998. Shimizu, Isao, Bigot ga mita Nihonjin (Les Japonais vus par Bigot), Kodansha, Tokyo, 2001. Oikawa, Shigeru, Georges Bigot’ Secret Life as Épinal Print Artist, in Daruma No. 33, Winter 2002, pp. 37 to 46. Ikeda, Tamio, Georges Bigot’s Passion for Japan, in Daruma No. 35, Summer 2002, pp. 38 à 45. Shimizu, Isao, Bigot ga mita Meiji-Nihon (Le Japon de Meiji vu par Bigot) Kodansha, Tokyo, 2006. (see the bibliography of the works of the same author, pages 246, 247 and 248). idem, Bigot ga mita Meiji shokugyô jijyô ( Les nouveaux métiers de l’ère Meiji vus par Bigot), Kodansha, Tokyo, 2009. idem, Hommage à Georges Bigot à l’occasion du Cent Cinquantenaire de sa naissance – Le peintre original français et le Japon, Rinsen shoten, Kyoto, 2011. idem, Bigot wo yomu (Lire Bigot), Rinsen shoten, Kyoto, 2014.

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idem, L’intégralité des dessins de Bigot publiés dans Tôbaé, le Japon de Meiji à travers ses caricatures, only in Japanese, Iwanami-shoten, Tokyo, 2017. 3. LIST OF ALBUMS OF COPPER PLATE ENGRAVINGS AND OF HUMOROUS OR SATIRICAL JOURNALS PUBLISHED PERIODICALLY IN JAPAN BY BIGOT L’Éclaireur, August 1882 (14 pages). Asa, 31 engravings followed by Dîner japonais in a series of silhouettes, 1883. O-ha-yo with 30 engravings followed by a story in silhouettes entitled Une chasse,1883 Ma-ta with 30 engravings, 1884. Tôbaye, single issue, October 1884. Croquis japonais, 20 engravings followed by Le Jour de l’An au Japon [New year’s Day in Japan] in silhouettes, 1886, numerous new editions in subsequent years. Parodie des Tableaux Vivants 12 March 1887. Tôbaé, from 15 February 1887 to 15 December 1889, bimonthly numbers 1 to 69. Le Japon, Album d’eaux-fortes, Yokohama, 1889. Tobaé Sport, courses d’automne, October 1889, a single issue. La Vie Japonaise, February1890, bimonthly, first series in six numbers? (25 x 34 cm) Le Jour de l’An, 1890. La Journée d’un Député, 1890. La Journée d’une Guesha à Tokio, 1891. La Journée d’un Policeman à Tokio, 1891. Potins de Yoko, August 1890 to June 1891, monthly, 11 numbers, (25 x 34 cm). Le Potin, November 1893 – June 1894, monthly, first series number 1 to 8, second series numbers 1to 67. Potin Sport, Robinson crût Zoe , histoire vraie, special number of Le Potin, 1894. Dai-Nippon, Great Japan, 1892. Old England in the Far East, July, 1895. Traité de Commerce entre la France et le Japon, Signé à PARIS le 4 août 1896, 1896. Croquis de Sibérie 1896. Croquis du Bal Travesti Par le Pompier de Service, 14 May 1897. The Diamond Jubilee in Japan, June 1897, Album, June 1897. Greece and Turkey Album, 1897. Le 14 à Yokohama, 1897. Les Événements de l’Année 1897, October 1897. Le Japon en 1897, Faits divers, October 1897. Les Aventures du Capitaine Goudzou Goudzou, October 1897. In the Far East, monthly, May 1898–1899, twelve numbers. In The Far East, Suite, February 1898. En Chine, March 1898. Old England in China, April 1898. Une Erreur Judiciaire à Coculand Laponie, 1898 La Vie Japonaise, June 1898 to September 1899, monthly, second series numbers 1 to 9 (25 x 34 cm). Mai 1899, May1899. Albums Humoristiques de la Vie Japonaise new series, 1899, numbers 1 to 6. Numéro 1 : Le train de Tokio-Kobé Numéro 2 : La Journée du Soldat Numéro 3 : La Journée d’une Guesha Numéro 4 : La Journée d’une Courtisane Numéro 5 : La Journée d’une Servante Numéro 6 : La Journée du Pêcheur 4. JOURNALS AND REVIEWS TO WHICH BIGOT CONTRIBUTED IN JAPAN – bin Ho–chi shimbun Yu Dandan shimbun Maru Maru shimbun Kaishin shimbun The Japan Echo

5. BOOKS ILLUSTRATED BY BIGOT PUBLISHED IN JAPAN Leroux, Charles, Airs japonais et Chinois, 3 books of musical parts, with a single engraving on the cover, Tokyo, 1886. Hyogo News, The Great Earthquake in Japan, 1891 (4 engravings). Ganesco, Fernand, Shocking au Japon, de l’évolution de l’art dans l’Empire du Soleil Levant, drawings by Georges Bigot, Tokyo, 1895. Yokohama Ballads, illustrated by G. Bigot, 1899.

BIBLIOGRAHY

229

Dessins Japonais, Tokyo or Paris ?, 1900. Ganesco, Fernand, Japonettes, 1905.. 6. ILLUSTRATED BOOKS OR COMPOSITIONS BY BIGOT PUBLISHED IN FRANCE OR OTHER COUNTRIES Arène, La vraie tentation du grand Saint Antoine, Charpentier, Paris, 1880. Lemay, Gaston, À bord de la Junon, Charpentier, Paris, 1881 (with 6 engravings in pencil lithography) Zola, Émile, Nana, Matron et Flammarion, Paris, 1882, (with 17 engravings). Demesse, Henri, Les récits du Père Lalouette, Paul Ollendorff, Paris, 1882. Gonse,Louis, L’Art Japonais, Édition, A.Quentin, Paris, 1883. Exner, A.H., Japan, Skizzen von Land und Leuten, Leipzig, T.O. Weigel Nachfolger, 1891, (13 lithographs), Japan as I saw it , English version, London, 1913. Essebac, Achille, Dédé, L’Édition Moderne, Librairie Ambert, Paris (illustrated by Bigot), 1902. Gériolles, de A., Dans l’oreille de Bouddha, Librairie CH, Delagrave, Paris, 1904. Donnet, Gaston, Histoire de la Guerre Russo-Japonaise, documentaire illustré, Charles Delagrave, Paris, 1904–1905. Le Livre des Têtes de Bois, Paris, 1884 (with 3 engravings). Grandmaison, de M., Les Jeudis de Tante Caroline, Alcide Picard et fils, éditeur, Paris, 1907.. Les Romans de la Jeunesse, Les petits chanteurs de Hamptown-square Nos. 1 to 43, 1912–1913. Société Amicale les Abeilles: cover page, Paris, 1921. La Revue Française hebdomadaire, cover page of number 37, 16 September 1923. Lemoine, Henry, Les fraises de Dupont, cover page, Paris and Brussels, 1925. Bigot, Georges, Varenne, Alexandre, Imperator, Éditions du Midi Colonial et Maritime, 1926, (18 drawings). 7. JOURNALS AND REVIEWS TO WHICH BIGOT CONTRIBUTED AND WHICH WERE PUBLISHED IN FRANCE OR OUTSIDE JAPAN Le Monde illustré The Graphic L’Illustration L’Univers illustré Le Rire Sans gêne La vie en rose Le Sourire L’assiette au beurre L’Indiscret Journal des Voyages Le Petit Parisien L’Écolier illustré La Semaine de Suzette L’Épatant Admsterdam Telegraph Midi Colonial Le Panache La Vie Moderne Le Monde Parisien Le Journal illustré Le Figaro Le Petit illustré L’Almanach Vermot La vie pour rire Paris Municipal À la baillonnette

INDEX [

East, Alfred, ix Edo, viii, 35, 37 Émery, Madame Odile, 3, 5 English Channel, 8 Enoshima, 35 Exposition Universelle (World Exhibition), Paris, 6, 8

1910 Japan-British Exhibition, ix Alcock, Rutherford, viii, 35, 36, 37 Anderson, William, viii Annam, 26 Archives of History museum, Yokohama, 4 Arinori, Mori, 117 Atami, 18

Farmer and Rogers, viii Fine Art Society, viii, ix Fontarabie, Gustave Émile Boissonade de, 19 Fouque, Prosper Fortuné, 8-10, 14, 18, 19, 117 France, vii, xi, 3, 5, 8, 14, 15, 20, 24, 25-33, 34, 43, 197 Futsugaku-juku [French language school], 14

Beato, Felice, 36 Bennett, Terry, vii Bernheim, 26 Bertin, Émile, 117 Bièvres, 4, 26, 30, 43 Bigot, Auguste, 6 Bigot, Gaston Maurice Napoleon, 24 Bigot, Thérèse Lesage, 6 Bing, Siegfried, x Bird, Isabella, viii, ix Boccaccio, 14 British Library, vii British Museum, viii Buhot, Félix, 6 Burne-Jones, Edward, viii Burty, Philippe, 6

Ganesco, Fernand, 24 Gankiro, 37 Germany, 34 Gérôme, Jean-Léon, 6 Gobancho–, Shineicho–, Kyo–bashi, 14, 23 Goncourt, Edmond de, 6 Gonse, Louis, ix Goto–, 117 Grandville, 8 Guérineau, Abel Jean-Louis, x Guimet, Émile, ix, x, 6, 8

Cane, Ella du, ix Cernuschi, Henri, 8 Chiba, 23 China, vii, 24, 26 Cho–min, Nakae, 14, 16, 17, 117 Chu, Asai, xi Clark, Dr John, 40 Clovis, 26 Club Hotel, Yokohama, 17, 19 Cocking, Samuel, 118 Conder, Josiah, ix

Hakodate, viii, 40 Hakone, 18, 35 Hennique, Léon, 6 Henry, George, ix Hirobumi, Ito–, 117 Hiroshige, 12 Hiroshima, 24 Hokusai, x, xi, 39 Hong Kong, 9 Hornel, E. A., ix Hugo, Victor, 8 Huisch, Marcus, viii, ix

Demessé, Henri, 7 Desprès, Marguerite, 25 Dieppe, 8, 28 Dresser, Christopher, ix Dumoulin, Louis-Jules, x, 8, 25 Dupont, 26 Duran, Carolus, 6 Durand-Ruel Gallery, 8 Durand-Ruel, 26 Duret, Théodore, 8

Ichigaya, Nakanocho, Ushigome, 10, 19 Imperial Army Academy (Rikugun shikan gakko–), x Inage, Chiba, 23, 24 Isao, Shimizu, 4, 31 Izu peninsula, 18

231

Joffroy, Henri, 26 Kaitakushi gakko–, 9 Kamakura, 35 Kami-nibancho, 10, 13 Kanagawa, 36 Kane, Ozawa, 35 Kaoru, Inoue, 117 –, Inabata, 23 Katsutaro Kawasaki, 4 Kew Gardens, ix Kiku, Yamada, 197 Kiyacho–, Matsubara, 23 Kiyochika, Kobayashi, 36 Kiyoshi, Sano, 10, 24 Kiyotaka, Kuroda, 117 Kobe, 23 –jimachi, 9, 10, 14 Ko Korea, vii, 24 Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art, Nikko, 5 Kuroda, Seiki, 24 Kyo–bashi, 23 Kyo–sai, ix Kyoto, ix, 22, 23, 31, 35, 43 Kyushu, 14 Landells, Ebenezer, 40 Le Mans, 8 Le Tréport, 8, 28 Lemoine, Henry, 26 Leroux, Charles, 19 Lesage, Desirée Jenny, 6 Lesage, Léon, 8 Liberty and People’s Rights Museum, Kochi, 5 Liberty, Lasenby, viii Lindau, Rudolph, 37 Loison family, 4 Loison, Geneviève, 31 Loison, Raphael, 3, 43 Loti, Pierre, 27, 197 Lyons, x Macintosh, Charles Rennie, ix Magnard, Albéric, 25 Marseilles, 9 Masahiko, Yamamoto, 16 Masu, Sano, 24, 25 Matsubara, 23 Mayhew, Henry, 40 Meiji Sanriku earthquake, 24 Menpes, Mortimer, ix Montparnasse, 25 Morris, William, ix Muko–jima, 18 Musée Guimet, ix Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, 4

Nagasaki, vii, viii, 35 Narita, 43 Negrier, Le Mans, 8 New Bond Street, viii Nicolski, Siberia, 23 Normandy, 28 North, Marianne, ix Ofunato, 24 Paris, vii, viii, ix, x, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, 25, 26, 34, 36, 43, 197 Parkes, Sir Harry, 36, 37, 38 Parsons, Alfred, ix, i Petit, Georges, 26 Régamey brothers, 6 Régamey, Félix, ix, x, 8 Rollin College, 6 Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, viii Rue de Mouffetard, Paris, 3, 43 Rue des Mathurins, Bièvres, 26 Sagoi, 26 Saint-Nicolas d’Igny, 26 Salon des Arts Décoratifs, 30 Sanbancho–, Ko–jimachi, 14, 16 Sarazin, Francois, 20, 117 Sarda, Paul, 19, 117 Satow, Ernest, 35-36, 38 Shanghai, 9 Shepherd’s Bush, ix Shigenobu, Okuma, 117 Shiho–sho Ho–ritsu gakko– [law school], 9 Shimonoseki, 35 Sho–jiro, 117 Shosuke, Ikeda, 8-9 Shoto Art Museum, Shibuya, Tokyo, 4 Shu–zenji, 18 Siberia, 22, 24 Sienkiewicz, Joseph Adam, 117 Smith, William Henry, 38 Sogo Museum, Yokohama, 4 –, Toba, 17 So–jo Suzaki-mura, Muko–jima, Tokyo, 18 Takeaki, Enomoto, 117 Thomas, Victor, 26 Togo, Admiral, 36 Tokaido, 35 Tokyo Photography Museum, 5 Tongkin, 30 Tonkin, 26 To–zenji, 35 Trouville, 8 Tsugumichi, Saigo–, 117 Tyndale, Walter, ix

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Ushigome, 19 Varenne, Alexandre, 30 Vladivostok, 23 War Ministry, 9 Whistler, James McNeil, viii Wilde, Oscar, ix Willis, Dr William, 36, 38 Wirgman, Charles, viii, ix, x, I, 17, 34-40, 117 Wirgman, Ichiro, 35

Yamata, Kikuo, 27 Yokohama, viii, 4, 9, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 25, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39 Yoshimatsu, Goseda, 36 Yoshimitsu, Nomura, 23 Yuichi, Takahashi, 36 Zola, Émile, 7 Zu–yo, Mishima, 117

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