Exhibition/event has ended.
Kaii Higashiyama and the Four Seasons in Japan
Yamatane Museum of Art
Finished
SHARE
Artists
Kaii Higashiyama, Gyokudo Kawai, Shoko Uemura et al.
Kaii Higashiyama (1908-1999), one of the most popular painters of the Showa era, was a Nihonga artist who depicted nature and landscapes throughout Japan with rich lyricism. To commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of his death, the museum has organized an exhibition that reflects on his career and includes works by his teachers and friends.
Higashiyama launched his career as a landscape painter in the 1940s. Endeavoring to create Nihonga for a new age, he went on to produce landscapes with unique compositions and remarkable figurative beauty, such as “Tree Roots” (Meguro Museum of Art) or “White Wall” (Yamatane Museum of Art). In the course of that quest, he traveled and painted throughout Europe, as well as all around Japan.
In the 1960s, Higashiyama created two wall panels for the Imperial Palace and the Crown Prince’s Palace. Inspired by the novelist Yasunari Kawabata, he also began creating his “Four Seasons in Kyoto” series at the same time. His approach in these works returned to a traditional expression of Japan’s subtly changing four seasons and the beauties of nature. Among them, his “Dawn Tide” (Imperial Household Agency), created for the Imperial Palace, has been highly praised as a work combining the natural and decorative beauty found in Yamato-e, a genre of painting traditional to Japan. Taneji Yamazaki, the first director of the Yamatane Museum of Art, was captivated upon seeing these works at the Imperial Palace and directly commissioned the artists to create other works of a similar nature so that the public could appreciate them outside of the Palace. The resulting paintings are now the heart of the Yamatane Collection, which includes Higashiyama’s nine-meter “Rising Tide,” Meiji Hashimoto’s “Cherry Tree in Morning Sun,” and Shoko Uemura’s “Flowers and Birds of Japan.”
This exhibition presents paintings associated with works at the Imperial Palace and works from the “Four Seasons in Kyoto” series, including “End of the Year” (Yamatane Museum of Art), “Early Summer” (Ichikawa City Higashiyama Kaii Memorial Hall), and “First Snowfall in Kitayama” (Kawabata Foundation). It also includes other masterworks in which Higashiyama depicted many parts of Japan, such as “Hill Inviting Spring” (Hasegawa Machiko Art Museum). To offer a broader perspective on Higashiyama’s oeuvre and the path he followed in his life’s work, the show also includes paintings by Gyokudo Kawai and Somei Yuki, mentors who taught Higashiyama his approach to the landscape, and Shingo Yamada and Eizo Kato, classmates at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts with whom Higashiyama worked to polish his skills.
Part 1: Nov. 22 (Sat)–Dec. 21 (Sun)
Part 2: Dec. 23 (Tues, public holiday)–Feb. 1 (Sun)
The displayed works will be altered during the exhibition.
Higashiyama launched his career as a landscape painter in the 1940s. Endeavoring to create Nihonga for a new age, he went on to produce landscapes with unique compositions and remarkable figurative beauty, such as “Tree Roots” (Meguro Museum of Art) or “White Wall” (Yamatane Museum of Art). In the course of that quest, he traveled and painted throughout Europe, as well as all around Japan.
In the 1960s, Higashiyama created two wall panels for the Imperial Palace and the Crown Prince’s Palace. Inspired by the novelist Yasunari Kawabata, he also began creating his “Four Seasons in Kyoto” series at the same time. His approach in these works returned to a traditional expression of Japan’s subtly changing four seasons and the beauties of nature. Among them, his “Dawn Tide” (Imperial Household Agency), created for the Imperial Palace, has been highly praised as a work combining the natural and decorative beauty found in Yamato-e, a genre of painting traditional to Japan. Taneji Yamazaki, the first director of the Yamatane Museum of Art, was captivated upon seeing these works at the Imperial Palace and directly commissioned the artists to create other works of a similar nature so that the public could appreciate them outside of the Palace. The resulting paintings are now the heart of the Yamatane Collection, which includes Higashiyama’s nine-meter “Rising Tide,” Meiji Hashimoto’s “Cherry Tree in Morning Sun,” and Shoko Uemura’s “Flowers and Birds of Japan.”
This exhibition presents paintings associated with works at the Imperial Palace and works from the “Four Seasons in Kyoto” series, including “End of the Year” (Yamatane Museum of Art), “Early Summer” (Ichikawa City Higashiyama Kaii Memorial Hall), and “First Snowfall in Kitayama” (Kawabata Foundation). It also includes other masterworks in which Higashiyama depicted many parts of Japan, such as “Hill Inviting Spring” (Hasegawa Machiko Art Museum). To offer a broader perspective on Higashiyama’s oeuvre and the path he followed in his life’s work, the show also includes paintings by Gyokudo Kawai and Somei Yuki, mentors who taught Higashiyama his approach to the landscape, and Shingo Yamada and Eizo Kato, classmates at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts with whom Higashiyama worked to polish his skills.
Part 1: Nov. 22 (Sat)–Dec. 21 (Sun)
Part 2: Dec. 23 (Tues, public holiday)–Feb. 1 (Sun)
The displayed works will be altered during the exhibition.
Schedule | Nov 22 (Sat) 2014-Feb 1 (Sun) 2015 Opening Hours Information
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | Adults ¥1200, University and High School Students ¥900, Junior High School Students and Younger 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 |
Back to Articles
SHARE
No comments yet