Exhibition/event has ended.
"Nihonga vs Yōga: Betwixt and Between Japanese and Western-Style Painting" Exhibition
Yamatane Museum of Art
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Artists
Ryusei Kishida, Sotaro Yasui, Gyoshu Hayami et al.
A Special Exhibition Commemorating the 1st Anniversary of the New Yamatane Museum of Art focuses on the two modern Japanese painting genres of Nihonga and the Japanese oil paintings known as “yōga,” literally “Western paintings.” In this side-by-side examination of the two different genres from a point in between, attention is given to the Japanese awareness of paintings from the West and how these seemingly different types of painting were deeply involved in a mutual form of influence and interaction.
During its Meiji period Japan welcomed a period of Western-style modernization and civilizing. Oil paintings entered Japan from the West during this time, and these paintings plus all those made in media and techniques of Western paintings were dubbed with the newly coined term yōga, literally Western paintings, to distinguish them from Nihonga, literally Japanese paintings, that represented Japan’s traditional and ancient painting methods and media. And yet, this did not necessarily mean that Nihonga and yōga existed as mutually exclusive art forms. Rather, at times these two genres influenced each other, at other times they drew further apart, and all while the artists of the day established new, previously unknown painting styles.
From the Taishō to the Shōwa eras, 1920s through 1930s, an even greater number of paintings from the West were introduced to Japanese audiences through the form of magazines and exhibitions. At the same time, Japanese artists traveled overseas to study Western painting methods. These painters, in turn, created yōga style paintings depicting Japanese culture and customs. Such activities greatly influenced and stimulated the Nihonga painting circles of the day, to the degree that influence from paintings from the West can be found in the works of such otherwise traditional Nihonga painters as Takeuchi Seihō, Hayami Gyoshū and Kobayashi Kokei. Conversely, there was increased interaction between Nihonga and yōga painters, with such yōga painters as Kishida Ryūsei, Ryūzaburō Umehara, and Takahashi Yūichi taking an interest in Nihonga materials and methods and actively incorporating such elements into their own works.
[Image: Hayami Gyoshū "Dancing in the Flames" (Important Cultural Property) (1925) Yamatane Museum of Art]
During its Meiji period Japan welcomed a period of Western-style modernization and civilizing. Oil paintings entered Japan from the West during this time, and these paintings plus all those made in media and techniques of Western paintings were dubbed with the newly coined term yōga, literally Western paintings, to distinguish them from Nihonga, literally Japanese paintings, that represented Japan’s traditional and ancient painting methods and media. And yet, this did not necessarily mean that Nihonga and yōga existed as mutually exclusive art forms. Rather, at times these two genres influenced each other, at other times they drew further apart, and all while the artists of the day established new, previously unknown painting styles.
From the Taishō to the Shōwa eras, 1920s through 1930s, an even greater number of paintings from the West were introduced to Japanese audiences through the form of magazines and exhibitions. At the same time, Japanese artists traveled overseas to study Western painting methods. These painters, in turn, created yōga style paintings depicting Japanese culture and customs. Such activities greatly influenced and stimulated the Nihonga painting circles of the day, to the degree that influence from paintings from the West can be found in the works of such otherwise traditional Nihonga painters as Takeuchi Seihō, Hayami Gyoshū and Kobayashi Kokei. Conversely, there was increased interaction between Nihonga and yōga painters, with such yōga painters as Kishida Ryūsei, Ryūzaburō Umehara, and Takahashi Yūichi taking an interest in Nihonga materials and methods and actively incorporating such elements into their own works.
[Image: Hayami Gyoshū "Dancing in the Flames" (Important Cultural Property) (1925) Yamatane Museum of Art]
Schedule | Sep 11 (Sat) 2010-Nov 7 (Sun) 2010 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults ¥1200, University and High School Students ¥900, Junior High School Students and under Free | ||||
| Venue | Yamatane Museum of Art https://www.yamatane-museum.jp/english/  | ||||
| Location | 3-12-36 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0012 | ||||
| Access | 10 minute walk from Ebisu Station on the Hibiya and JR line; From the West exit of JR Ebisu Station, take the bus and get off at Hiroo High School. The venue is 1 minute walk from there; From the East exit of JR Shibuta Station, take the bus and get off at Higashi 4-chome. The venue is 2 minute walk from there. | ||||
| Phone | 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial) | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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