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130Years of Japanese Oil Paintings: A Selection of Masterpieces

May 31 [Thu.]-July 21 [Sun.]. 2025

Shigeru AOKI Two Garls  c.1909 Oil painting, Canvas  Kasama Nichido Museum of Art

In the great historical movement of the Meiji Restoration, modern Western-style painting in Japan began to take off in earnest. Fascinated by the authenticity of the Western paintings he saw for the first time, Yuichi Takahashi paved the way for modern Western-style painting in Japan, and artists such as Yoshimatsu Goseda, Seiki Kuroda, and Takeji Fujishima went to Europe to study Western painting and laid its foundation. During the Taisho period, when liberalism was on the rise, artists such as Tetsugoro Yorozu and Ryusei Kishida produced original works. Ryuzaburo Umehara and Sotaro Yasui, who returned to Japan after being exposed to avant-garde art in France, established Japanese-style oil paintings with difficulty. This exhibition traces 130 years of Japanese Western-style painting history, from Charles Wirgman, under whom Yuichi Takahashi studied, to Hiroshi Okutani, who stands at the pinnacle of contemporary Western-style painting in Japan, along with the memories of Kasama Nichido Museum of Art's director and deputy director.

Tetsugoro YOROZU, Self portrait with Red Mantle, 1912

Sousuke MORIMOTO, Dozing Time, 1984