AGBAY, ERIKA JAZREEL

B-211

ART COMMENTARY 2

 Title of Artwork: Statue of Hachikō

 Date built: In April 1934, the statue of Hachiko was sculpted by Teru Ando but later on
recycled for the war effort during World War II. In August 15, 1948, Takeshi Ando (son
of the original artist) made a second statue.

 Artist’s name: First statue was created by Teru Ando and the present statue was created
by Takeshi Ando

 Medium used: Bronze sculpture

  Short description: This statue is based from a true to life story of an Akita pet dog named
Hachikō who belongs to Professor Ueno back in the early 1920s in Tokyo. Hachiko has a
daily routine of waiting in the station for his owner to return from work. But in 1925,
Professor Ueno suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and passed away without returning to
Shibuya Station. Hachikō kept up every day for 10 years after the professor's death up
until his own. This story has captured so many hearts and even has his own movie
dedicated for the dog’s love and loyalty to his owner. Also, this is now one of Japan’s
tourist attraction in Tokyo.

 Is it representational, abstract or non- objective?  This artwork is representational because

it literally represented the face and body of Hachikō and also his action of waiting for his
owner.

 Reflect: Do you think artists have innate ability or acquired skill (or both)? I think that
both of the artist has innate abilities because they are blood related, specifically father
and son. Their love for art may be influenced at birth and their skills are also from their
genes. Also, I think that both artist have acquired skill because they represented the statue
as a look-alike of the real dog. They showed small details in the statue which brough the
artwork to life.

SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachikō
https://trulytokyo.com/hachiko-statue/