TRONQUOIS Emmanuel (EN)

Family and Education

Born on November 18, 1855 (AP, V3E/N2155), Victor Emmanuel Virgile Tronquois was the son of architect Auguste Tronquois (1829-1885), an ardent supporter of the creation of a museum of decorative arts (Tronquois A., Lemoine H., 1880, p. 8), signer of the charter of the musée des Arts décoratifs (UCAD, A2/7), and founding member of the Union centrale des arts décoratifs in 1882. After studying at the Lycée Bonaparte (Condorcet), he was admitted in 1874 as a second-class student in the architecture section of the École nationale et spéciale des beaux-arts where he studied for several years in the studio of Émile Vaudremer (1829-1914) [Marquet C., 2002, p. 116-117]. At the same time, he took courses in anthropology at the Sorbonne and in the history of music at the Conservatory (Kashiwagi T., Kashiwagi K., 2019, p. 292). In 1880, he abandoned architecture for painting, which he had already studied with Jules Valadon (1826-1900), and joined the studio of the history painter Diogène Maillart (1840-1926). It would be his younger brother, Alfred (1866-1938) who would follow their father’s footsteps into the profession of architecture (Penanrun, Roux, and Delaire, 1907, p. 416). From his formative years, his family environment was close to Japanese intellectuals and artists, notably through his brother-in-law, the art critic François Thiebault-Sisson (1856-1944), first director of the magazine Art et Décoration in 1897, and art critic at Temps.

Study of the Chinese and Japanese Languages and the Collector's First Purchases

From 1887 (or 1888), he simultaneously studied Chinese with Gabriel Dévéria (1844-1899) and Japanese with Léon de Rosny (1837-1914) at the École nationale des langues orientales vivantes ​​[Marquet C., 2002, p. 118-119]. In a few years, he reached a level high enough to be a candidate in 1893 for the chair of "Chinese and Tartar-Manchurian languages ​​and literature" at the Collège de France and to be appointed by the art critic and collector Théodore Duret (1838- 1927) to classify and catalog his collection of Japanese prints and books, begun during his trip to Japan in the company of Henri Cernuschi (1821-1896) in 1871-1872. This was subsequently sold to Drouot in 1897 and to the Bibliothèque nationale in 1899. At the same time he was acquiring his linguistic skills, Tronquois began to build up a collection of Japanese art and a working library at auctions. In March 1891 he bought 85 objects at the sale of the collection of art critic Philippe Burty (1830-1890), then between 1891 and 1893 he acquired other works at the sales of Michael Martin Baer, ​​F. T. Piggott, Georges Appert and Edmond Taigny (1828-1906), among others (Kashiwagi T., Kashiwagi K., 2019, p. 285-289). Received into the Société asiatique de Paris on December 9, 1892 (Société asiatique [Paris], 1892, p. 319), he was in the same year also introduced, perhaps by Théodore Duret, into the the Société des amis de l’art japonais. Founded in 1892 by the merchant Siegfried Bing (1838-1905), this association brought together among others the painter Félix Régamey (1844-1907), the jeweller Henri Vever (1854-1954) [both former students at the Beaux-Arts, the latter the year before Tronquois], the Louvre curator Gaston Migeon (1861-1930), the dealer Hayashi Tadamasa (1853-1906) (Japon japonismes, 2018, p. 100) and even Edmond de Goncourt (1822-1896) who recounts in his Journal, dated July 1, 1892: "Dinner of Japonisants at Véfour [...] at this dinner was an interesting young man, a certain M. Tronquoy [sic], who devotes himself to the serious study of the Chinese and Japanese languages, with the idea of ​​giving his life to the thorough knowledge of these languages, and going to Japan…” (Goncourt E. de, 1956, p. 210).

First Stay in Japan

In early 1894, Emmanuel Tronquois left for Japan to continue his linguistic studies and deepen his knowledge of art history. On March 18, he embarked on the Natal at the same time as Pierre Barboutau (1862-1916). The future author of Peintres populaires du Japon (1914) was then departing for his second stay in Japan (Kashiwagi, T., Kashiwagi K., 2019, p. 293). Tronquois arrived in Yokohama on April 27 with a recommendation from his friend, the painter Raphaël Collin (1850-1916), collector of tsuba and ceramics, to one of his former students at the académie Colarossi, Kuroda Seiki (1866-1924), a painter in the European tradition (yoga), like many of the Japanese who attended his studio (Marquet C., 2005). Subsequently, Tronquois befriended another of Collin’s students and one of the greatest Japanese artists of this movement, Kume Keiichiro (1866-1934). Together with them, he made efforts to promote modern Japanese painting. In his lectures at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1895, he defended the idea that the lessons of European art could help Japanese art to renew itself, in the same way that exposure to Japanese art had helped transform European art (Marquet C., 2002, p. 124-125). At the beginning of 1899, he presented the painters of the yoga school to Félix Régamey, then inspector of drawing education, who was staying in Tokyo for a survey on "the teaching of Fine Arts in Japan” (Marquet C., 2002, p. 123). Tronquois also defended the artists of the European school in articles he published from 1895 in the Revue française du Japon (Futsubun zasshi), where he was editor-in-chief between 1896 and 1897. From 1895 to 1906 he was a member of the Société de langue française from which this publication originated, and thereafter of the Société franco-japonaise which followed in 1909.

In 1895, he published in this journal his "Notes d'un collector japonisant", a veritable vade-mecum for lovers of Japanese books (Société de langue française [Tokyo], 1895, p. 121-125 and 276-279). Between October 5, 1895 and March 1, 1896, Tronquois was an auxiliary interpreter at the French delegation in Tokyo and, at the same time, held a position as professor of French at the School of Artillery and Engineering of the the Army Rikugun hôkô gakkô, the School of Advanced Business Studies Kôtô shôgyô gakkô, and the Tokyo School of Foreign Languages ​​Tôkyô gaikokugo gakkô. From 1899 he taught French at the Institute for the Study of Western Painting of the White Horse Society Hakuba-kai yôga kenkyûjo, a small school based in the engraving workshop of Goda Kiyoshi (1862-1938), trained in Paris by Charles Barbant (1844-1921) and member of the publication committee of the Revue française du Japon. Finally, in July 1900, he was appointed second-class interpreter at the French consulate in Yokohama, then was responsible for the management of the chancellery of this consulate. In 1903, he was promoted to second interpreter at the Tokyo legation. Alongside his professional activities, he translated numerous historical and literary works, such as the Taketori monogatori, the Kaidan botan dôrô, and the first six volumes of the Nihon gaishi, as well as more didactic texts, such as Chamberlain's Handbook of colloquial Japanese. His translation work was accompanied by a Japanese-French dictionary project. He began his own before 1900, then around 1901 the widow of the ethnologist Lindor Serrurier (1846-1901) suggested that he continue the one started by her husband. These ambitions were interrupted by two publications: that in 1899 of the Dictionnaire japonais-français des mots les plus usités de la langue japonaise under the direction of Arthur Arrivet, then in 1904 of the dictionary of Lemaréchal (Marquet C., 2002, p. 143). Tronquois' draft dictionary represented sixteen boxes of index cards at his death. The translation between 1897 and 1899 of L’Histoire de l’art du Japon published under the direction of Okakura Tenshin (1862-1913) was his major contribution. The quality of Tronquois' work and his linguistic expertise were praised by Hayashi Tadamasa, Commissioner General of Japan, in the "Notice to Readers" of the book published by the Tokyo Imperial Museum to accompany the retrospective exhibition of Japanese art on the occasion of the Exposition universelle in 1900. It was François Thiébault-Sisson who completed his brother-in-law's work in Paris by putting into shape what is considered to be the first real history of Japanese art. In November 1903, the doctor of the French delegation diagnosed Emmanuel Tronquois with neurasthenia. He was forced to return to France at the beginning of 1904 (for this entire chapter, see Marquet C., 2002, p. 120-144).

Return to France: Exhibition Loans and Sale of his Collection

Little is known about the activities of Emmanuel Tronquois between 1904 and 1907. Returning with an important collection of books, kakemono, prints and Japanese objects, he made loans to two exhibitions at the Musée des arts decoratifs in 1906. The first, in May and June, was entitled Dentelles, broderies et éventails anciens et modernes (Ancient and Modern Laces, Embroideries and Fans). In the archive file is a note mentioning “7 unmounted Tronquoy fans, in Mr. Metman’s office. Collection of screens (Tronquoy)" (UCAD, D1/35). The second, from July to November, on ancient Japanese fabrics, was the first exhibition of Japanese art organised by the Musée des arts decoratifs. A brief description appears in the 1906 guide (Guide du musée des Arts décoratifs, 1906, p. 14-15). The Tronquois collection is mentioned for all sorts of objects in the exhibition: kakemono, fans, books, prints and "stencilled cotton fabrics". On this occasion, the Union centrale des Arts décoratifs bought from Emmanuel Tronquois for 250 francs a "pinned silk velvet, Japanese work" (UCAD, C4/40). Tronquois returned to Japan in November 1906. In the meantime, he had sold his collection, probably for financial reasons, to Robert Lebaudy (1862-1931), heir to a family of sugar industrialists. In 1907, it was divided by Gaston Migeon between the Bibliothèque nationale (illustrated books and albums), the Louvre (prints and objects deposited in October 1907 at the musée de l’hôtel Sandelin in Saint-Omer), the Musée Guimet (paintings), the École des beaux-arts (illustrated books, kakemono, prints) [Kashiwagi T., 2019, p. 227)) and the Union centrale des Arts décoratifs. For the museum, the selection was made up of the works exhibited in 1906, i.e. nearly 80 items. For the library, 240 books and 415 katagami were chosen with the collaboration of Ulrich Odin (18..-19..) and Prosper-Alphonse Isaac (1858-1924) [UCAD, 1908, p. 157 and 168].

Second stay in Japan

During this stay, Tronquois, appointed first class interpreter to the French delegation in Tokyo on July 1, 1906 (Marquet C., 2002, p. 145), was authorised by the ministry to reside in Yokohama and to engage in his linguistics and art studies instead of working as an interpreter. But in February 1909, having been asked by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to resume normal service, he requested permission to accept the assignment and remained in Japan until the spring of 1910. During this stay, he composed a second collection consisting of works of art, paintings, prints, illustrated books and various documents.

Definitive Return to France

Emmanuel Tronquois returned to France for good in 1910 and settled in Palaiseau. After his return, the links created with UCAD in 1906 were maintained and, in 1911, he loaned prints for the exhibition Kiyonaga, Buncho, Sharaku (Vignier C., 1911, p. 29 and 33). Then, in 1912, a new donation of 21 books was made to the library through Robert Lebaudy. Shortly after, he collaborated with Félicien Challaye (1875-1967) on Japon illustré, published by Larousse Editions between 1913 and 1914. The two men had met in 1901, when the the latter, a philosophy student and a future journalist and writer, was residing in Japan through an allowance from the Albert Kahn Foundation as part of the “Around the World” program (Kashiwagi T., 2016, p. 300). In the preface to the book, Challaye explains the importance of the contribution of Tronquois, who revised and corrected the text and Japanese expressions and lent his collection of prints, books and paintings to illustrate it (Challaye F., 1915 , p. IV). This collaboration is particularly visible in the importance of the cultural aspects that occupy half of the book and the quality of the two chapters "Literature" and "Painting and Engraving", which, according to Takao Kashiwagi (Kashiwagi T., 2016, p. 305), Tronquois may have partially written. Le Japon illustré would then give an idea of ​​the collection’s fate: to provide the documentary basis for a history of Japanese art (p. 309). In the same year, 1914, he was one of the translators of the catalog for the Turettini sale (March 17 and 18 in Paris). Finally, in 1916, he drew up a methodical catalog by date, genre and illustrator of the books donated in 1907 to the Bibliothèque nationale (Marquet C., 2002, p. 154-155). Emmanuel Tronquois died in 1918 in Bourg-la-Reine (Le Temps, 1918, p. 3). The rest of his collections were dispersed after his death at the Hôtel Drouot in three sales and six auctions on February 28 and March 1, March 9 and 10 and October 17 and 18, 1921. Only the third sale was the subject of a catalog drawn up by the expert André Portier. 110 books in his working library were donated to the Oriental Languages ​​Library (now BULAC).

The collection

Emmanuel Tronquois started to collect at Paris auctions in the early 1890s. In March 1891, he acquired 60 books, a painting, and 24 objects at the sale of Philippe Burty's collection. He then made purchases at the Michael Martin Baer sale, the brother-in-law of Siegfried Bing (June 15-18), then at another sale of a connoisseur from June 19 to 22. In 1892, he made acquisitions at sales from F.T. Piggott (February 1-3), Georges Appert, a former professor at the Tokyo Faculty of Law (February 8-9), and at a sale on December 16. In 1893, he was a buyer at the sale of Edmond Taigny (February 6-7) as well as at an anonymous sale on May 24 (Kashiwagi T., Kashiwagi K., 2019, p. 285-289). What makes the Tronquois collection particularly interesting is that it was bought for the most part in Japan, by a person who had perfectly mastered the language and knew the particularities of the various arts, in particular that of books. This was divided into two collections sold in 1907 and then in 1921. The first was formed with two objectives: to document Tronquois' research on culture and the arts in the Edo period and to show the diversity of image making from that period. It covered the three categories of ukiyo-e: woodcuts illustrating books, freestanding woodcuts, and brush paintings (Kashiwagi T., Kashiwagi K., 2019, p. 232 and 239). Made up of 813 books and collections of prints, 162 kakemono, several dozen prints and nearly 180 objects, it was purchased before 1907 by Robert Lebaudy, who then acted as a patron to Emmanuel Tronquois, as well as to the five Parisian institutions to which the collection was eventually donated. This gesture allowed for it to remain preserved almost in its entirety. On October 10, 1907, the Bibliothèque nationale received 507 books dating from the first third of the 17th to the end of the 19th century. This selection was made up of scholarly books and recreational literature, illustrated and published in Kyoto, Osaka and Edo, as well as some reprints of old Korean and Chinese books. In 2002, Christophe Marquet consecrated his habilitation thesis to the description of this collection (see also Marquet C., 2014). The Union centrale des Arts décoratifs received two donations on May 31, 1907. The museum thus obtained nearly 80 items: 33 kakemonos, 4 painted wooden masks, 17 prints, and 14 pieces of cotton canvas, painted in colour (UCAD, 1908, p. 157). On March 11, 1908, two "Japanese dresses" were donated by Robert Lebaudy (UCAD, 1909, p. 154). The Bibliothèque nationale received 240 illustrated works: stories, educational books, monographs of famous sites, and printed paint albums intended to serve as models for artists, collections of patterns and decorative motifs. Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and his school occupy an important place (Marquet C., 2002, p. 153-156). Four hundred and fifteen katagami completed the gift. In 1912, 21 additional books were donated to the national library. Finally, 17 surimono and 31 prints of One Hundred Views of Osaka by Nansuitei Yoshiyuki (1835-1879) were donated by Lebaudy at an unknown date. The handwritten manuscript of the Kinsei kiseki-kô (Reflections on Curiosities of Recent Times), written by Santô Kyôden (1761-1816), was the subject of two articles by Christophe Marquet, in 2006 and 2016. On September 30, 1907, the École des beaux-arts received 70 paintings, 42 books and 3 collections of reproductions of prints. The books were the subject of a piece by Christophe Marquet in 2012, while the "screen with straw sandals" was the subject of articles by Kayoko Kasiwagi (Ishige Y., Kashiwagi T. and Kobayashi N., 2016, p . 272-287) and by Marjorie Williams (Kashiwagi T., Kashiwagi K., 2019, p. 255-264). The Musée Guimet in Paris received 59 paintings in October 1907 (Yamashita, S., Hackin J., 1908, p. 72-77), of which only 21 have been identified in the current collections.

A large part of the donation was deposited at the Musée Guimet in Lyon in 1912, then at the Musée du Havre and the Musée d'Orbigny-Bernon in La Rochelle in 1929 (Marquet C., 2002, p. 151). On June 1, 1907, the Musée du Louvre received a selection of sixteen prints from the end of the 17th and 18th centuries (Marquet C., 2002, p. 148-150), passed on to the Musée Guimet in 1945, and 66 netsuke, 71 tsuba, 9 sculptures, 5 masks, 5 ceramics. In October 1907 the Musée de l’hôtel Sandelin in Saint-Omer received 4 other objects (Kashiwagi T., Kashiwagi K., 2019, p. 278-281). In 2013-2015, Kayoko Kashiwagi studied paintings from the Tronquois collection (Kashiwagi K., Matsuo Y., 2016; Kashiwagi T., Kashiwagi K., 2019, p. 291-309). Most of the 117 localized paintings were signed by ukiyo-e artists: early practitioners Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-1694) and Hanabusa Itchô (1652-1724), iconic artists Kitagawa Utamaro (ca 1753-1806), Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and the Utagawa school, and finally Kawanabe Kyôsai (1831-1889) (Kashiwagi T., Kashiwagi K., 2019, p. 297-305). Only two paintings are from the Kano school, two from the Rinpa school, and a few by literate painters. These paintings, chosen to show the spirit of the Edo period, come largely from the Kanto region; those attached to the Kyoto school show Tronquois's interest in drawing from life (Kashiwagi T. , Kashiwagi K., 2019, p. 233, 236). The second collection was dispersed in 1921 during three sales at the Hôtel Drouot (Marquet C., 2002, p. 156-160). The first two are known only from commercial advertisements in La Gazette de l’hôtel Drouot (February 22, 1921, p. 3). On February 28 and March 1, "ancient and modern books from Europe and the Far East" and some kakemono were on offer, on March 9 and 10, and "works of art from China and from Japan. Porcelains, bronzes, lacquers, carved woods, inros etc. Japanese screens, fabrics and kakemono etc”. The third sale, on October 17 and 18, was the subject of a catalog drawn up by the expert André Portier. It comprised some 573 items, including 481 for Japanese illustrated books from the early 17th century to the end of the Meiji era, and a large number of 18th-century painting albums and meisho zue. The presence of two books by Hokusai that had belonged to Philippe Burty and were probably bought by Tronquois in 1891 suggests that it was made up of objects from the first collection that had not been sold to Lebaudy, and of purchases made during the second stay in Japan between 1907 and 1910. A last part of the collection of Japanese books, composed of about 110 titles, was donated after the death of Tronquois to the library of the École des langues orientales and is conserved today at the Bibliothèque universitaire des Langues et Civilisations in Paris (Marquet C, 2002, p. 141, 146).