Japanese Garb - Shōen, Kiyokata, and Shinsui

Japanese Garb - Shōen, Kiyokata, and Shinsui -

11 February (Sat.) - 25 March (Sun.) (Closed on Mondays)

Organized by: The Yamatane Museum of Art and The Yomiuri Shimbun

Hours: 10:00 - 17:00 (Last admission at 16:30)

Admission Fees: Adults: 1,000 [800] yen, University and high school students: 800 [700] yen, Middle school and younger children: free of charge *Figures in brackets are for groups of 20 or more, and advanced. *Disability ID Holders and one person accompanying them are admitted free of charge. *Discount for visitors wearing a kimono: Visitors wearing a kimono will be charged the group admission fee (General: 800 yen, University and High School students: 700 yen). Uemura Shōen, Fragrance of Spring Kimono wearers will also receive a small gift upon entry.

Highlights of the Exhibition Uemura Shōen, Evening, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1935 Uemura Shōen, Dressed for Spring, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, c. 1936 Uemura Shōen, Fragrance of Spring, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1940 Uemura Shōen, Composition of a Poem, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1942 Uemura Shōen, Young Lady, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1942 Kaburaki Kiyokata, Agalloch Pillow, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1936 Kaburaki Kiyokata, A National Holiday, Color on Paper, Shōwa Period, c.1955 Itō Shinsui, A Lady in Autumn, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, c. 1947 Itō Shinsui, Beauty in the Snow, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, c. 1949 Itō Shinsui, Spring, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1952 Ikeda Terukata, Evening Shower, Color on Silk, Taishō Period, 1916 Kobayashi Kokei, River Breeze, Color on Silk, Taishō Period, 1915 Tsuchida Bakusen, Maiko Girl, Color on Silk, Taishō Period, c. 1924 Okumura Togyū, Maiko, Apprentice Geisha, Color on Silk, Shōwa Period Hashimoto Meiji, Maiko Girl in Autumn, Color on Paper, Shōwa Period, 1976 Kobayashi Kokei, River Breeze Ogura Yuki, Dancing (Maiko Girl, Apprentice Geisha), Color on Gold-Leafed Paper, Shōwa Period, 1971 Ogura Yuki, Dancing (Geisha), Color on Gold-Leafed Paper, Shōwa Period, 1972 Yamakawa Shūhō, Geisha, Color on Silk, Early Shōwa Period Kitazawa Eigetsu, Deep in Thought (Higuchi Ichiyō, A Meiji-period Female Novelist), Color on Paper, Shōwa Period, 1973 Kataoka Tamako, Maiko Girls, Apprentice Geisha, Color on Paper, Shōwa Period, 1982 Morita Kōhei, Playing Throwing Fans, Color on Paper, Shōwa Period, 1968 Suzuki Harunobu, Picking a Persimmon, Middle Format (Chūban) Polychrome (Nishiki-e) Woodblock Print on Paper, Edo Period, c. 1766-1767 Hayashi Takeshi, Standing Maiko Girl, Oil on Canvas, Shōwa Period, 1962 *All works are the property of the Yamatane Museum of Art.

The Japanese aesthetic, fostered amidst the changing glory of nature across the four seasons, plays out in paintings and decorative arts. The kimono, the traditional Japanese costume, is one such decorative art that involves many textile arts, from weaving to dyeing. The kimono reveals different aspects of beauty, depending on the season and their wearer, and it has become one of Japan's unique art forms. People have long been fascinated by images of kimono-clad women. They can be found in early pre-modern period and later genre paintings and ukiyo-e prints.

This exhibition features beautiful women garbed in richly individualistic kimonos, including beauty paintings by Uemura Shōen, Kaburaki Kiyokata and Itō Shinsui, along with examples of ukiyo-e and contemporary Nihonga and Western style paintings. In particular, the female painter Shōen paid close attention to all of the specific details of a kimono outfit, from the textile designs seen on the kimono and obi sash, to the accompanying hairstyle and hair ornaments. A tomboyish young girl seen in Suzuki Harunobu's Picking a Persimmon, Shōen's Snowy Day, depicting a vividly lovely young girl, the sumptuous beauty of a young married woman seen in Kiyokata's Agalloch Pillow, Shinsui's Spring with its elegantly refined modern beauty, and Ogura Yuki's adorable young geisha in Dancing (Maiko Girl, Apprentice Geisha): all reveal the various types of kimono-clad women and their beauty.

We hope that visitors will enjoy this exhibition introducing fascinating images of women clad in traditional Japanese kimono, as kimono-wearing opportunities become all the rarer in our modern world.

Itō Shinsui, Spring Kaburaki Kiyokata, Agalloch Pillow Suzuki Harunobu, Okumura Togyū, Hishida Shunsō, Picking a Persimmon Maiko, Apprentice Geisha Women Viewing Cherry Blossoms