Plums have always been an important subject in Japanese paintings and even today are an essential motif for auspicious drawings celebrating the New Year, as seen in the beloved motifs of sho-chiku-bai (pines, bamboos, plums) and kohaku-bai (red and white plum blossoms). In this exhibition, you’ll find the presence and possibly the scent of plums in masterful contemporary Nihonga works, from traditional-styled and highly decorative folding screens and hanging scrolls to genre paintings like landscape and still life compositions. Nihonga painters evoking the scent and sight of plum blossoms include Kyujin Yamamoto, Susumu Maki, Nobutaka Oka, Kazuho Hieda, Takehiko Mori, Shigeaki Kuromitsu, Reiji Hiramatsu, Noriyuki Matsushita, and Shuo Yoshida.

Kyujin Yamamoto, leader of innovations in postwar Nihonga, was a driving force of Sozo Bijutsu (present-day Soga-kai) as a founding member. Exhibited are works ranging from depictions of flowers, somewhat mysterious and filled with characteristic lyrical sensibility, to indoor still-life paintings centering on those exhibited at Spring Sogaten exhibitions. This is a must-see exhibition where you’ll discover new aspects of a landscape master who brings his art inside, to the lively and compelling world at the heart of a still-life.

Kyujin Yamamoto 1900–1986
Born in Tokyo, graduates Tokyo School of Fine Arts (present-day Tokyo University of the Arts), and enters Eikyu Matsuoka painting school. There he submits works to Teiten, Imperial Academy Art Exhibition and Bunten Exhibition (sponsored by the education ministry). After the war, joins the launch of Sozo Bijutsu and becomes leader of a new Nihonga movement.
Pre-war works are modern, clear and bright, but his postwar perspective shifts into sturdy yet dynamic landscapes. In his later years, Yamamoto transforms his style yet again to something graceful and highly engaging on his way to building a lyrical, imagined world. Awarded Order of Cultural Merit in 1977.

Presenting works mainly on the theme of Fuji by the Nihonga artist Shinzaburo Takahashi, known for his consistently strong draftsmanship, tight and precise composition, and crisp palette of brilliant colors, all seemingly inherited from his teacher, Ikuo Hirayama. Works depicting numerous scenes with a commanding view of Mt. Fuji and seasonal perspectives of Mt. Fuji from Lake Ashi are exhibited. Representative works from early work shown at Inten exhibitions are also exhibited.

Shinzaburo Takahashi 1955–

Born in Tokyo. Graduates Nihonga Department, Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts. Studies under Ikuo Hirayama. Appeared in the Spring Nihon Bijutsuin Exhibition while an undergraduate, and in the Inten Nihon Bijutsuin Exhibition as a graduate student. Reproduction of a grad-school theme painting was bought by Taito Ward, and in 1990, other work was bought by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Active mainly in solo shows. Member of the Nihon Bijutsuin (“Japan Art Institute”).
He traveled to scenic spots in Japan, gathering information from natural settings and features like Oirase Gorge, the Mogami River, Tateyama, and Kamikochi, as well as renowned temples of Kyoto and Nara, a journey made to seriously observe and precisely depict the beauty of Japan.

Shown are masterpieces by such stellar Nihonga artists who represent postwar Japanese art and received the Order of Cultural Merit as Kaii Higashiyama, Yasushi Sugiyama, Matazo Kayama, and Ikuo Hirayama, as well as excellent works by such contemporary Nihonga artists as Takeshi Ushio, Hirohiko Hiraiwa, Hitoshi Kobayashi, Toshihiko Maemoto, and Rieko Morita, whose works are in the collection of the Narukawa Art Museum. Also exhibited are seven representative works including Blue Poppy by Fumiko Hori, who passed away in February 2019.