Romain Rolland

Takada Hiroatsu lost his father soon after entering elementary school, and the bereavement led him to seek solace in his late father’s library. In junior high school he explored the works of Goethe, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky, reading them in English translation and in the original languages. After moving to Tokyo, he became acquainted with Takamura Kotaro and enrolled at the Tokyo University of Foreign Languages. At an exhibition organized by the Shirakaba school, he was profoundly moved by the sculptures of Auguste Rodin and inspired to begin studying sculpture independently. He went on to show his work in the Kokuten and Daichowaten exhibitions. At the age of 12, he had read Romain Rolland’s Jean-Christophe and developed a deep admiration for the author, which led him to form the Association des Amis de Romain Rolland and even correspond with Rolland himself. In 1931, at the age of 31, he traveled to France and met Rolland, who was impressed by his talent and commissioned a portrait sculpture. During their interaction Rolland noted with amusement, “You think with your fingers.” (A.J.)