Editorial

Letters To The Editor



  Galleries' rules irrational 

    A magnificent exhibition of sculptures by Auguste Rodin is 

currently touring Japan, and The Yomiuri Shimbun is one of the 

main sponsors. Your readers may be interested to know that some 

of the city art galleries where the exhibition is being held do 

not permit artists or students to make study sketches of the exhibits. 

    In European museums and galleries there are no such prohibitions. 

I have sketched Rodin's sculptures in London, Paris and Glasgow and 

also here in Japan after requesting permission in advance, in Sapporo . 

    However, despite consulting the Japanese Center for Contemporary 

Sculpture and submitting a written request to the Takamatsu City Art 

Museum, where the exhibition has 'just ended, I was not granted 

permission to sketch.

    Even if Rodin himself had requested permission to sketch his 

own sculptures, he would have been refused. Why does such an 

irrational and shortsighted policy exist at these art galleries? 

Was Rodin refused permission to sketch Michelangelo ' s sculptures 

in Italy? Was Cezanne prohibited to sketch Puget's sculptures in 

the Louvre? Of course not. 





Richard Field 

Osaka