With postwar Nihonga’s departure from traditional historical narrative and beautiful nature paintings came artists trying their hands at vital expressions of emotion for a new age, work never seen before. Paintings fully conveying Romantic sensibility and personal reflection evidence the postwar generation’s intense emphasis on individuality. Featured artists are Nobutaka Oka, Keigo Kimura, Yukihiko Kurihara, Shigeaki Kuromitsu, Hitoshi Kobayashi, Masaki Sai, Kazuho Hieda, Hirohiko Hiraiwa, Reiji Hiramatsu, Ikuyo Yasuda, and Kazuo Yoshizawa.

Women started to advance in postwar Nihonga and society, with the notable emergence of many pioneering women artists who were active in their genres. Works created with a woman’s perspective and sensitivity brought something of a rebirth to Nihonga. We present for your viewing pleasure an exhibit of representative works by the following women and men artists who lead contemporary Nihonga: Koichi Ishiodori, Toshio Tabuchi, Yuji Tezuka, Yoshiyuki Nakano, Fumiko Hori, Toshihiko Maemoto, Susumu Maki, Rieko Morita, and Masato Yanagisawa.

Success as a Nihonga artist is ascribed to being attained usually after middle age. There are those talented few, however, who pass away at an early age before achieving a goal recognized by society or those who don’t seek fame but spiritual truth, fully sticking to a personal aesthetic. On exhibit are representative works by the following deceased artists who reached high, for a new Nihonga: Takashi Asada, Sho Ishimoto, Takeshi Ushio, Shigeki Kuromitsu, Junsaku Koizumi, Komei Kondo, Yuki Sekiguchi, Tatsuo Takayama, Takehiko Mori, and Choji Yatani.

Shown are works by stellar Nihonga artists who left their names and influence in the annals of Japanese art and who received the Order of Cultural Merit. These works are timeless masterpieces by the following modern and contemporary giants: Yasuo Ueno, Masataka Oyabu, Togyu Okumura, Kazuo Kakurai, Matazo Kayama, Yasushi Sugiyama, Ikuo Hirayama, Kohei Morita, Jun Yamagishi, Kyujin Yamamoto, Kenji Yoshioka, and Yoshihiko Yoshida.