Artist Hiroki Harada Points Out Similarities to His Own "Lassen Books" in a Book Review of Setsuko Shinoda's Novel "Blue Purity," Stating, "I Hope It Was Written Under Appropriate Procedures"
Artist Hiroki Harada criticized Setsuko Shinoda's novel "Blue Purity" for closely mirroring his own research and writings on Christian Lassen, questioning the ethical procedures used.Summary
Artist Hiroki Harada wrote a book review criticizing Setsuko Shinoda's novel, *Blue Purity* (Shueisha), which features a fictional painter, Valéry, modeled after Christian Lassen. Harada pointed out that the novel's themes, the protagonist's actions in seeking to re-evaluate the artist separate from his commercialism, and even the research trips to Hawaii closely mirror his own work and position established in his multiple books on Lassen (collectively referred to as "Lassen books"). Harada noted that none of his books were cited in the novel's bibliography, despite the clear overlap. Furthermore, Harada suggested that the novel's use of the term "interior painting" might reference his deliberate introduction of the term "interior art" to categorize Lassen's work. While acknowledging the difficulty of citing sources in creative works, Harada stated his critique focused on the ethical aspects and procedures, feeling the situation was exploitative given the power imbalance between the bestselling author and himself, a niche researcher. He concluded by expressing his hope that the narrative, despite its skillful suspense, "was written under appropriate procedures."
(Source：Tokyo Art Beat)