Special Exhibition：
Yamatane Museum of Art NIHONGA AWARD: Seed 2024
― Meet the Future of Nihonga ―

　

17 February (Sat.) 2024 – 3 March (Sun.)
(Closed on 19 and 26 February.)

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

Admission Fees: Adults: 700 yen; Students and preschoolers: free of charge; Disability ID holders and one accompanying person: 500 yen each
*Discount for those who are wearing kimono: Discount of 200 yen for adults

Free admission for Shibuya residents　* Please show proof of address
* Discount for those who are wearing kimono: Discount of 200 yen for adults

Organized by: Yamatane Museum of Art

With support from the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Shibuya City and The Asahi Shimbun Company
Sponsored by Seiko Group Corporation and Orient Corporation
With corporation from Yanaka Tokuouken and PIGMENT TOKYO

Highlights of the Exhibition

Yamatane Museum of Art NIHONGA AWARD: Seed 2024 prize-winning works: 45 paintings, including the winners of the Grand Prize, Prize for Excellence (one painting each), the Special Prize (Presented by Seiko Group Corporation/ Presented by Orient Corporation), and the Encouragement Prize (six paintings).

Joint exhibit: 5 works

Kawai Gyokudō, Cormorant Fishing, Color on Silk, Meiji Period, 1895; Yamatane Museum of Art

Kawabata Ryūshi, Lion and Peonies, Color on Paper, Showa Period, 1928; Yamatane Museum of Art

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

Hayami Gyoshū, Two Themes on Insect Life: Spider's Trap Beneath the Leaves and Moths Dancing Around the Light, Color on Silk, Taisho Period, 1926; Yamatane Museum of Art

Okumura Togyū, Poetic Rain, Color on Silk, Showa Period, 1928; Yamatane Museum of Art

Approximately 50 works in total are to be displayed.

Exhibition Overview

The Yamatane Museum of Art is delighted to present Yamatane Museum of Art NIHONGA AWARD: Seed 2024, a juried public-entry exhibition aimed at discovering and encouraging excellent artists working in new creative directions in nihonga. Since this exhibition was delayed for two years due to the covid-19 pandemic, the upper age limit of entrants was raised for our third Seed exhibition.

In 1971, the Yamatane Museum of Art, which opened its doors in 1966 as the first museum in Japan specializing in nihonga, instituted the Yamatane Museum of Art Prize as part of its efforts to encourage and promote nihonga, modern Japanese painting. The Contemporary Nihonga: Yamatane Museum of Art Prize Exhibition was held fourteen times, every other year between 1971 and 1997. In 2016, to celebrate the fiftieth year since our museum’s founding, we restarted the Yamatane Museum of Art Prize exhibitions as Yamatane Museum of Art NIHONGA AWARD: Seed. This third Seed exhibition will be, counting the fourteen Yamatane Museum of Art Prize exhibitions, our seventeenth award exhibition.

For this exhibition, we received 153 entries from people living all over Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, and from a wide range of ages, from 20 to 47 years old. Their works presented a rich collection of subjects and a variety of styles based on highly skilled technique, telling us that members of the next generation of artists are addressing nihonga quite ambitiously.

For the judging, we shift from carrying out the preliminary judging on the basis of images of the works, as we did for the first and second Seed awards, to having all members of the jury see all the works in person. This strict judging process resulting in awarding the Grand Prize to Kitagawa Akiko for Whispers—Connecting Lives, the Prize for Excellence to Shigemasa Shuhei for Wintersweet, the Special Prize (Presented by Seiko Holdings Corporation) to Hayakawa Miki for Pages, and the Special Prize (Presented by Orient Corporation) to Maeda Akane for Yamasakura. In addition, six entrants were elected for Encouragement Prizes: Ōmura Mirei for Orion's Belt, Kawamura Katsuki for Evening Cherry Blossoms, Kotani Rina for The Other Side, Kobari Asuka for Coral Wind, Nakamura Utena for Cinnabar, andHachiya Mayumi for Harvest Time.

This exhibition presents the forty-five works that were nominated for awards, including these prize-winning works. We hope that you will sense the infinite possibilities of nihonga from these energy-packed, compelling works by up-and-coming artists.

During the exhibition, works from our collection that are superb examples of modern nihonga will also be displayed, including Murakami Kagaku’s Nude (Important Cultural Property), Hayami Gyoshū’s Two Themes on Insect Life: Spider's Trap Beneath the Leaves and Moths Dancing Around the Light, and Kawabata Ryūshi’s Lion and Peonies. These legends, artists who have made their mark on history, created these works when they were in their twenties to their forties, just like those who submitted work for this public-entry exhibition. Please enjoy comparing their paintings with this year’s award-winning works.

In conclusion, we will to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to all the artists who submitted work and to all those whose generous cooperation made this juried public-entry exhibition possible.

Yamatane Museum of Art NIHONGA AWARD: Seed 2024 ― Meet the Future of Nihonga ―
― Works Selected for Awards －

Kitagawa Akiko

Shigemasa Shuhei

Hayakawa Miki

Maeda Akane

Omura Mirei

Kawamura Katsuki

Kotani Rina

Kobari Asuka

Nakamura Utena

Hachiya Mayumi

The five winners of the Encouragement Prize are listed by the name of the artist, in alphabetical order.
The works on display and their exhibition periods are subject to change.
The copyrights of the images included here have not expired, but the museum has received permission from the rights holders for their use in introducing the exhibition; these images can be used only for the purpose of disseminating information about this exhibition.