Special Exhibition Commemorating a Decade since the Yamatane Museum of Art Opened in Hiroo:
Uemura Shōen and World of Bijinga, Paintings of Beautiful Women

3 January (Fri.) – 1 March (Sun.) 2020
(Closed on 14 January, 25 February and on Mondays except for 13 January and 24 February.)

Hours:10 am - 5 pm (Last admission at 4:30 pm)

Admission Fees: Adults: 1,200 [1,000] yen; university and high school students: 900 [800] yen; middle school and younger children: free of charge
*Figures in brackets are for groups of 20 or more, advance tickets, repeaters with used tickets, those who are wearing kimono.
*Disability ID holders and one person accompanying them are admitted free of charge.

Organized by: Yamatane Museum of Art and Nikkei Inc.

Highlights of the Exhibition

Uemura Shōen, Firefly, Color on Silk, Taishō Period, 1913, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, The Evening Glow, Color on Silk, Taishō Period, c. 1912-26, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Cherry-Blossom Viewing, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, c. 1926-29, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Firefly, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1929, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Dancing People, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, c. 1934, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Evening, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1935, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Dressed for Spring, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, c. 1936, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Scene from the Noh Play Kinuta, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1938, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Fragrance of Spring, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1940, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Spring Breeze, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1940, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Girls Folding Paper Cranes, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, c. 1940, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Tedious Hours, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1941, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Composing a Poem, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1942, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Young Lady, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1942, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, A Beauty in Summer, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, c. 1942, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Feathered Snow, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1944, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Snowy Day, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1948, Yamatane Museum of Art

Uemura Shōen, Listening to a Cuckoo's Call, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1948, Yamatane Museum of Art

Kaburaki Kiyokata, Agalloch Pillow, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1936, Yamatane Museum of Art

Kobayashi Kokei, River Breeze, Color on Silk, Taishō Period, 1915, Yamatane Museum of Art

Ikeda Terukata, Evening Shower, Color on Silk, Taishō Period, 1916, Yamatane Museum of Art

Murakami Kagaku, Nude [Important Cultural Property], Color on Silk, Taishō Period, 1920, Yamatane Museum of Art

Ogura Yuki, Dancing (Maiko, Apprentice Geisha), Color on Gold-Leafed Paper, Shōwa Period, 1971, Yamatane Museum of Art

Ogura Yuki, Dancing (Geisha), Color on Gold-Leafed Paper, Shōwa Period, 1972, Yamatane Museum of Art

Itō Shinsui, A Lady in Autumn, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, c. 1947, Yamatane Museum of Art

Itō Shinsui, Beauty in the Snow, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, c. 1949, Yamatane Museum of Art

Itō Shinsui, The Courtesan Yoshino Tayū, Color on Paper, Shōwa Period, 1966, Yamatane Museum of Art

Hashimoto Meiji, Dance, Color on Paper, Shōwa Period, 1966, Yamatane Museum of Art

Hashimoto Meiji, Maiko, Apprentice Geisha, in Autumn, Color on Paper, Shōwa Period, 1976, Yamatane Museum of Art

Approximately 60 works in total are to be displayed.

Exhibition Overview

Uemura Shōen (1875-1949) painted bijinga, paintings of beautiful women, throughout her life. To commemorate a decade since the Yamatane Museum of Art opened in Hiroo, we present a special exhibition of the entire group of Shōen’s paintings in our collection. Our museum’s founder and first director, Yamazaki Taneji (1893-1983) was on friendly terms with Shōen and collected her works. These eighteen works, including the masterpieces Firefly, Scene from the Noh Play Kinuta, and Feathered Snow, comprise what is regarded as the foremost of Shōen collections.

Born and raised in Kyoto, Shōen attended the Kyoto Prefectural Art School, where she was taught by Suzuki Shōnen, then studied with Kōno Bairei and Takeuchi Seihō, working to master painting techniques. She quickly distinguished herself and showed her paintings of women with themes taken from Edo- and Meiji-period manners and customs and the Chinese and Japanese classics in many exhibitions, including the Bunten (Ministry of Education Exhibition) and Teiten (Imperial Art Exhibition).  Highly regarded for her bijinga, she became, in 1948, the first woman to be awarded the Order of Culture. Shōen, who wrote, “My earnest hope is that all my works are like fragrant jewels, always with a sense of fresh purity, never with even an iota of the vulgar,” continued to create the elegant bijinga beloved by many today.

This exhibition also introduces nihonga by Kaburaki Kiyokata, her contemporary and peer: “Shōen in the west, Kiyokata in the east,” as the saying goes. It also includes bijinga by his pupil Itō Shinsui and a bevy of paintings of women by nihonga artists such as Murakami Kagaku, Ogura Yuki, and Hashimoto Meiji. While appreciating the images of women by many modern and contemporary artists along with Shōen’s bijinga, please enjoy experiencing the richness of the bijinga world, its breadth, and stylistic developments.

Uemura Shōen, Firefly

Uemura Shōen, Firefly

Uemura Shōen, Scene from the Noh Play Kinuta

Uemura Shōen, Feathered Snow

Uemura Shōen, Snowy Day

Murakami Kagaku, Nude [Important Cultural Property]

Ikeda Terukata, Evening Shower

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