Modern Japanese painting executed in traditional media and formats, or nihonga, developed in the late nineteenth century as artists struggled to preserve cultural continuity in their art while searching for creative expressions to reflect Japan's new identity as a modern nation. In addition, the nihonga movement served to distinguish traditional art from Western-style oil painting. In the 1880s and following decades, as various national forums for competitive exhibition developed, Tokyo and Kyoto emerged as strong artistic centers, each characterized by its own distinct historical and cultural background.Modern Masters of Kyoto presents more than eighty examples of Kyoto nihonga -- hanging scrolls, screens, and an album -- dating from the 1860s to the 1940s. Featuring two exceptionally original artists, Tsuji Kako (1870-1931) and his pupil Tomita Keisen (1879-1936), the volume includes works by their predecessors, their contemporaries, and their successors. Collectively their works demonstrate the evolution of Kyoto nihonga in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book introduces Western readers to a range of Kyoto artists from the most famous to the talented but relatively unknown. Their often visually stunning paintings provide a window from which to glimpse both the past and the modern in Japanese art.
In the early development of nihonga, Kyoto artists incorporated some elements of Western art, but they were more anchored in tradition than artists in Tokyo. The Kyoto masters achieved true brilliance after the turn of the twentieth century. Inspired by the modern concept of individualism and influenced at times by knowledge of contemporary Western art, Kyotonihonga artists in the Taisho period (1912-26) created strikingly diverse and original expressions with fresh subjects, a daring use of color, and experimental compositions.
Authors Michiyo Morioka and Paul Berry bring to light the extraordinary achievement of Kyoto artists and introduce new perspectives on Kyoto nihonga. Their essays invite future dialogues on a range of issues varying from the fundamental definition of nihonga, the relationship between nihonga and nanga, a reexamination of the traditional polarization of Tokyo versus Kyoto nihonga, and the emergence of women artists in the field. In a catalogue section, more than forty artists are introduced with a biography, and featured paintings are discussed in the context of the artists' careers and times. Furthermore, the volume includes essays on the neglected topic of connoisseurship concerning boxes and box inscriptions, plus an appendix of seals and signatures.
