In 2010, the Pola Museum of Art held an exhibition showcasing our collection of modern and contemporary Nihonga (Japanese-style painting). The upcoming exhibition focused on Nihonga, the first of its kind in 13 years, will dynamically showcase the development of the genre from its emergence in modern times to the present day, featuring masterworks from our Nihonga collection by artists such as Taikan Yokoyama, Yasushi Sugiyama, and Tatsuo Takayama.

Changes in technique, material, and format have been crucially important to the development of Nihonga. This exhibition will focus on such advances as the invention of morotai (lit. “vague style”) which avoids the use of outlines, the use of Western and synthetic pigments rather than traditional pigments to achieve vivid palettes, and diverse changes in formats such as framing, scroll mounting, and folding screens. By shedding light on these changes, the exhibition will trace the history of innovation in Japanese painting from the Meiji Era (1868-1912) to the present day.

Any discussion of the development of modern Nihonga (Japanese-style painting) must consider the influence of Western-style painting. There are Nihonga works featuring Western themes and compositions, as well as Yoga (Japanese　Western-style painting) works that render traditional Japanese subjects in oils. Some Nihonga painters also took up Yoga to explore materials, techniques, and artistic styles.

This exhibition will highlight the characteristics of modern Nihonga by presenting the works of Meiji Era (1868-1912) Yoga painters such as Yuichi Takahashi and Chu Asai, and Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1989) Era figures such as Ryusei Kishida, Saburosuke Okada, and Léonard Foujita (Tsuguharu Fujita), alongside Nihonga paintings. Through this comparative display, visitors will gain a picture of the uniqueness and diversity of modern Nihonga.

This exhibition includes many new works by contemporary artists who continue bringing innovation to Nihonga in diverse forms. In today’s globalizing art world, less centered on the West and characterized by diverse media and styles, how do these artists engage with the Nihonga genre in creating their works? This exhibition aims to investigate the attitudes, creative practices, and works of these artists so as to investigate the current state of painting in Japan.

Ernest Fenollosa, who served as a foreign advisor to the Meiji government, referred to all the paintings he encountered in Japan as “Japanese Painting,” and the term was translated as “Nihonga” and continues to be used to this day. When traditional Japanese painting encountered Western art, Nihonga emerged as a new genre and developed through the work of artists who unceasingly grappled with questions about the nature of Japan and the state. The prologue features works by artists who explored their own directions in the intermediate zone between Nihonga and Western painting.

Major featured artists:

Gaho Hashimoto, Gyokusho Kawabata, Hogai Kano, Yuichi Takahashi, Chu Asai, Shotaro Koyama

Morotai is an innovative painting technique developed by Taikan Yokoyama and Shunso Hishida, among others, who were disciples of Tenshin Okakura. It originated from Okakura’s advice to “paint the air,” and was a deliberate departure from the traditional Japanese painting style emphasizing lines. These artists instead introduced techniques such blurring paint with brushes or applying paint in a manner similar to Western painting, rather than using lines to render subjects. This section highlights the approaches of Western-style painting contemporaries on Nihonga, and on morotai as a new stylistic innovation within Nihonga.

Major featured artists:

Taikan Yokoyama, Shunso Hishida, Kanzan Shimomura, Chu Asai, Kiyoo Kawamura, Soryu Tamura

Among the events that underpinned innovation in Japanese painting in the late Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) Eras were the development of new mineral pigments and durable washi paper. Troubled by their limited variety of colors and mixing methods, Nihonga painters succeeded in producing unprecedented chromatic effects by pursuing synthetic pigments that were more brilliant than traditional natural pigments. In addition, the development of washi paper that was smoothly textured, sturdy yet supple, captured brushwork beautifully, and preserved the vividness of colors contributed greatly to the development of Nihonga. This section focuses on relationships between techniques, materials, and expressive approaches.

Major featured artists:

Taikan Yokoyama, Shunso Hishida, Keigetsu Kikuchi, Hoan (Misei) Kosugi, Keisen Tomita, Saburosuke Okada, Ryusei Kishida, Léonard Foujita (Tsuguharu Fujita)

Yasushi Sugiyama, Kaii Higashiyama, and Tatsuo Takayama, referred to reverently as the “Three Mountains of the Nitten [Japan Fine Art Exhibition],” brought splendor to the world of Nihonga in the Showa Era (1926-1989), earning widespread admiration and respect. These leading figures in postwar Nihonga were enamored of 19th-century European art during their time at Tokyo School of Fine Arts in the 1920s and 1930s, and after World War II, they deeply immersed themselves in European art and culture. While influenced by Western abstraction, they created their own unique styles of Nihonga. Common features of their works include materiality reminiscent of oil painting, vibrant palettes derived from the natural beauty of mineral pigments, and refined compositions. This section compares their art with contemporary Nihonga so as to explore the possibilities of Japanese painting in the future.

Major featured artists:

Eikyu Matsuoka, Kyujin Yamamoto, Tatsuo Takayama, Kaii Higashiyama, Yasushi Sugiyama, Matazo Kayama, Toshimitsu Imai, Hisao Domoto

How do contemporary Nihonga painters and artists who utilize the forms and conventions of Japanese painting approach Nihonga, and what possibilities do they find in it? Building on the history of Nihonga since the modern era, these artists choose suitable materials, techniques, and modes of expression from among a range of options, gauging their distance from the framework of “Japan” as it evolves over time and putting their own ideas and novel subjects into tangible forms. This section focuses on these contemporary creators, in the hope that through the stances and creative activities of each individual artist, hints of the true nature of “Japanese painting” will emerge.

Major featured artists:

Taro Yamamoto, Reina Taniho, Tomoko Hisamatsu, Naoto Sunohara, Natsunosuke Mise, Kei Arai, Makoto Fujimura, Tetsuya Noguchi, Riusuke Fukahori, Motoi Yamamoto, Yoshitaka Amano, Lee Ufan, Cai Guo-Qiang, Hiroshi Sugimoto