Steve Jobs Encounter with the prints of the Japan that gave birth to MacMay 5 at 22:19
"I understand how important Steve Jobs' experience with Japan was to his life," he said,
having the opportunity to interview the best "storytellers" who unravel the deep connection to Japan that Apple founder Jobs expressed in his products. This time, we will delve into the relationship between woodblock prints = "new prints" made from the latter half of the Meiji period to the postwar period and Jobs. (World News Department, Kentaro Saeki)
Japan art in Jobs' bedroom
"When I first visited Steve's house, I was very surprised, because there was very little furniture in the room. Do you like this kind of thing? Or maybe I just don't have time to shop,' and he said, 'I like this simple life, I just need what I need.'"
John Scully, 84, said. He served as Apple's CEO for 10 years and developed a very close relationship with founder Jobs, known as the "Dynamic Duo."
Known as a virtuoso in marketing, he was enthusiastically solicited by Jobs to move from CEO of a major beverage manufacturer to CEO of Apple in April 1983.
Jobs' invitation to "do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or change the world together?" is all too famous.
Scully was also the one who expelled Jobs from the company in 1985.
During the five months leading up to becoming Apple's CEO, the two worked closely together to understand each other. Even after Scully moved to Apple, she spent almost every day late at work and at Jobs' house.
Apple was not well managed at the time, so we stayed in the same room at the hotel we went on a business trip to Japan together.
Scully revealed that Japan's contact with art was in Jobs' bedroom.
John Scully
: "There was a simple single-person bed in Steve's bedroom, and on the wall hung Japan woodcuts depicting Einstein, Gandhi and women.
Einstein and Gandhi were on the poster for Jobs' "Think Different" campaign after the return to Apple, so it's understandable as a preference.
However, there were woodcuts of Japan alongside those two...
"Didn't you think it was weird?" he asked involuntarily, and he answered without changing his expression.
Scully
: "I didn't think it was weird because I knew Steve very well, he chose what was important to him very carefully. And it was heavily influenced by Japan culture. So it was quite natural for him that Japan woodcuts were as important as Einstein and Gandhi."
20th century version of "ukiyo-e"
The woodblock prints Scully talked about are Japan's "new prints."
What was in Jobs' bedroom is believed to be "morning sleeping" (Asanegami). He purchased this work at a gallery in Ginza that he visited for the first time in March 1983.
"Shin-hanga" refers to woodblock prints made from the latter half of the Meiji period to the postwar period, and is a 20th-century version of ukiyo-e prints that were born in the Edo period.
He aimed for a high level of artistry through modern pictorial expression that incorporated new techniques into traditional carving and sliding techniques, and aimed for works that would sell particularly well to foreigners.
The aim blossomed in the United States in the 1930s. In 1930 and 1936, large exhibitions of "new prints" were held at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, culminating in its popularity abroad.
Forty years later, as a young boy, Jobs became fascinated by the "new prints."
My first encounter with Japan art
Jobs' best friend, Bill Fernandez, was born and raised in Silicon Valley near San Francisco and later became Apple's first employee. He now lives in Albuquerque in the southwestern United States.
Bill brought Jobs into the world of electronics, and the two built various things in their garage.
The garage of Jobs' house is very famous as a place in the history of personal computers, but Bill's house, which is about 2 minutes away on foot, is more senior. Jobs' computer career began here.
Bill's mother, Bambi, petted Jobs like a son as he entered the house.
Bambi Fernandez
: "Steve used to come and go from our house, and he was interested in things around us and talked a lot. So I enjoyed talking to Steve as a friend and he was a very good friend of mine."
In fact, hanging in the living room of this best friend's house was a Japan "new print". It was a collection that Bill's grandfather had bought since the 1930s.
Jobs was staring at the work behind the sofa in the living room. It was my first encounter with Japan art.
Bill
Fernandez: "Steve's aesthetic sense took shape in my home, and he seemed drawn to 'new prints.' Among them, the work of people walking along a forest path was very similar to the tall cedar forest in California. He asked, 'Is that California?' and my mom said, 'No, that's Japan.'"
Bill's family is very closely related to Japan. Bambi studied Japan art at the prestigious Stanford University.
After quitting Apple, Bill studied aikido while teaching English in Sapporo for two years from 1979 to 1981, and obtained his long-awaited black belt.
In addition, Bill's uncle spent time in Japan as a diplomat after the war, and Bambi's collection of new prints includes gifts from him.
In addition to the "new prints," simple furniture and vases with flowers were used by Bambi in Bill's house to create a simple and simple atmosphere.
Bill says that his encounter with "new prints" was the starting point for his exploration of the beauty of Jobs' "simple and elegant" Japan.
Bill
Fernandez: "It wasn't until he saw New Prints that Steve said he liked the simplicity and the neatness, the natural wood, that style of art and aesthetics. It was expressed in the Apple products he created."
Jobs was fascinated by the exquisite yet simple beauty of the "new prints." Eventually, when I started going to the Japan for work, I started collecting as well.
However, compared to the world-famous ukiyo-e, "Shin-print" is not known even among Japan people.
Stick to the ideal of "self-expression"
Scully, who aspired to become an industrial designer in college, talked a lot with Jobs about art.
In late March 10, ten months before the debut of the "Macintosh". Jobs, who had just returned from Japan, excitedly began to talk enthusiastically about "new prints."
Scully
: "Steve really liked the way he created 'new prints,' which were completely different from traditional ukiyo-e. It is a division of labor and not done by one person. What Steve liked about Shin-Hanga was that it "self-expressed" the three roles of ukiyo-e by himself. That's exactly what he was aiming for at the Macintosh. I can do everything by myself, starting with a sketch and drawing it on a computer screen to printing it on a printer."
The production of ukiyo-e was carried out in a complete division of labor by different craftsmen in each process.
Shin Print, on the other hand, aimed to go beyond ukiyo-e by layering multiple colors in an attempt to express complex colors. The painter achieved a high level of artistry by conveying his intention to the carver and the sliding master in detail.
For this reason, some works aimed at sliding more than 30 times. It's two to three times that of ukiyo-e.
The famous Hokusai's "Kaifu Kaisei" has been slid seven times.
On the other hand, Kawase Hasumi, who was active in the 1900s and is known for his exquisite style, "Snow at Zojoji Temple" is six times that number of times 6 times.
In order to create a good work, he spared no effort and manpower. Because a great deal of energy was spent on the invisible parts, only a few hundred copies of a single work were slid on.
Jobs was strongly inspired by the fact that the painters of "new prints" controlled the entire process and adhered to the ideal of "self-expression" in order to achieve a high level of artistry.
He said to Scully:
Jobs
: "The 'self-expression' that the new printmaking artists realized through their engravers and sliding masters is exactly what they are trying to do with Macintosh's technology."
What was projected on the icon that bet on the big game was
This is a promotional photo of the Macintosh released by the 28-year-old in January 1984.
As a Macintosh icon who gambled on a big game, Jobs used a picture of a woman in a yukata and projected it on the screen.
This painting is a new print of "Woman Combing Her Hair". The gloss and volume of flowing hair are expressed in detail.
The artist, Goyo Hashiguchi, is known as the first Japan artist to produce new prints.
The picture on the screen was scanned and taken from what Jobs belonged to him, and finally turned into an illustration. At the time, it was surprising that a real image could be imported into a computer.
スカリー氏
「デザインをデジタル化して、プリンターで印刷する。スティーブは、机の上で印刷でき、人々に創造的な能力を与える『デスクトップ・パブリッシング』を目指していました。それこそがマッキントッシュの存在意義でした」
ジョブズは「髪梳ける女」を、マッキントッシュ発表前後の1983年6月と1984年2月に銀座で購入している。1点は会社用に、もう1点は自身のためにということだろうか。
このときジョブズは、「コンピューターで髪を動かしてみたい」と言っていた。「髪梳ける女」は、「自己表現」を象徴する作品だったのだ。
作品を選び取る審美眼の確かさ
ジョブズは、ビジネスで日本を訪れるようになると、銀座の老舗の画廊「兜屋画廊」に姿を見せるようになった。
ジョブズは接客した松岡春夫さんに、「新版画を集めたいので、いろいろ教えてください」と言った。
しかし、松岡さんはやがて、作品を選び取るジョブズの審美眼の確かさに驚く。重要な作品をきちんとおさえていた。若かったにもかかわらず、作品を見る眼には、プロの感覚を感じたという。
Matsuoka:
"I was impressed that instead of saying, 'Please tell me,' I had already selected an art book in my head and selected works that were so important that I thought my tastes were well organized."
In the 1983 years since Jobs first visited in March 3, he has purchased at least 20 new prints from Matsuoka.
The "new print" that I loved all my life
Taken in 2004, this photo shows Jobs relaxing in his study.
If you look at the back, you can see that the "morning sleeping hair" of the Torii genjin is displayed. This is the "new print" that I bought when I visited Kabutoya Gallery for the first time in March 1983.
Jobs once said, "All you need is what you need." It must have been my favorite piece.
Jobs, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the fall of 3, called Matsuoka around this time. Unfortunately, Matsuoka was absent, and the only message left in the recording was "Hi, Haru.I am Steven Jobs."
Despite his illness, Jobs continued to make hit products such as the iPhone, and died on October 2003, 2011 at the age of 10.
The wall of the bedroom at the end of the room also had a "new print" hanging on it.
The first page of his daughter, Lisa Brennan Jobs, describes her relationship with her father in her hospital bed three months before Jobs' death.
"[In my father's room] hung a frame of prints of the twilight of the temple and the basui of dusk, with pieces of pink light stretching out on the walls."
He loved "new prints" all his life.
Jobs' "New Prints" Collection
▼ Kawase Hasui
1 "Shiobara Okaneji" (1918) 2 "Shiobara Field Descent" (1918) 3 "Shiobara Shihogama" (1918) 4 "Shiobara Arayuro" (1919) 5 "Ikaho no Natsu" (1919) 6 "Snow White Beard" (1920)
7 "Terashima Village Living in Snow" (1920) 8 "Sanjukenbori no Kureyuki" (1920) 9 "Nara Nigetsudo" (1921) 10 "Abushi no Kannon" (1922) 11 "Karatsu" (1922) 12 "Osaka Takatsu" (1924)
13 "Shin-Ohashi Bridge" (1926) 14 "After the Rain in Akashi Town" (1928) 15 "Tower of Ikegami Honmonji" (1928) 16 "Late Autumn of Ichikawa" (1930) 17 "Dawn of Lake Yamanaka" (1931)
18" Kamiju Hōshi Onsen" (1933) 19 "Kyoto Kiyomizu-dera" (1933) 20 "Snow in Koshigaya" (1935) 21 "Satsuma Pass no Fuji" (1935) * "Earth" henni "Taru" 22 "Funatsu no Fuji" (1936)
23 "Yamanakako Fudozaka"
( 1936) 24 "Akai Sunset" (1937) 25 "Nishiizuki Negative" (1937) 26 "Yoshida no Yukiharu" (1944) 27 "Fuji no Yukiharu" (1952)
▼ Torii Gento
1 "Obi" (1929) 2 "Rain" (1929) 3 "Makeup" (1929) 4 "Yuge" (1929) 5 "Hair combing" (1929) 6 "Snow" (1929) 7 "Morning Sleeping" (1930)
8 Work name unknown
▼ Goyo
Hashiguchi 1 "Woman who combs her hair" (1920) 2 "Woman who combs her hair" (1920) 3 "Kyoto Sanjo Ohashi" (1920) 4 "Snow no Ibukiyama" (1920)
5 Work name unknown
▼ Ito Shinsui
1 "Counter-mirror" (1916) 2 "After the bath" (1917) 3 "Spring" (1917) 4 "Spring" (1917)
5" Date Maki no Onna (1921) 6 "Night Ikenohata" (1921) 7 "Coolness" (1922) 8 "Oshiroi" (1923) 9 "Snowy Night" (1923) 10 "Eyebrow Ink" (1928)
11 "Snowstorm" ( 1932)
International broadcaster
Kentaro Saeki joined the station
in
Showa 62Steve JobsContinuous coverage of the influence of Japan culture. This year, we covered the testimonies of Jobs' colleagues in the United States, and made a program about the culmination of eight years.