Home / Events / Gyokusui Okamoto - A Life Dedicated to the Art of Ningyo From Gosho Ningyo to His Own Gyokusui Ningyo

Exhibition/event has ended.

Gyokusui Okamoto - A Life Dedicated to the Art of Ningyo From Gosho Ningyo to His Own Gyokusui Ningyo

Iwatsuki Ningyo Museum

Finished

Artists

Gyokusui Okamoto

Gyokusui Okamoto (1898-1972) was the fourth generation in a family of doll makers and is known as a master of Gosho dolls. While serving the court, in 1928 he founded the Shirasawa-kai, a doll research organization, together with Goyo Hirata (later a living national treasure), and led the doll art movement that aimed to establish dolls as an artistic form. He continued to accumulate achievements, winning the Hokuto Prize at the 10th Nitten in 1954 and serving as a judge at the Nitten the following year.

While maintaining the traditional techniques of Gosho ningyo, Okamoto strove to perfect his own unique “Gyokusui ningyo" dolls that reflected a new sense of the times, creating dolls full of charm based on classical subjects such as Kabuki and Ukiyoe. After his death, however, these works did not have many opportunities to be seen by the public.

This exhibition is the first retrospective of Gyokusui Okamoto's work in the 45 years since his posthumous exhibition was held in 1979.

Schedule

Oct 7 (Sat) 2023-Dec 3 (Sun) 2023