Artists related to the hometown of Gifu and left a mark in the history of Japanese art.
Domestic works in the collection, such as Yamamoto Hosui, Kawai Gyokudo, Ohashi Suiseki etc., which are related to the Gifu Prefecture, and Fujishima Takeji, Kishida Ryusei etc. who left a mark in the history of Japanese art are collected and exhibited.
Nude (c.1880) by YAMAMOTO HosuiOriginal Source: collection datebase
Nude, YAMAMOTO Hosui, c.1880 [Important Cultural Property]
It was produced by Yamamoto Hosui, one of the leading painters of Japanese Western-style painting in the Meiji era (1868-1912), during his stay in France for approximately 10 years (1878-1887). Many of Hosui's works in Europe had been lost along with the Japanese cruiser Unebi, which loaded his works.
Nude, YAMAMOTO Hosui, c.1880 [Important Cultural Property]
"Nude", which escaped the loss, was the earliest Japanese-made nude oil painting with a high degree of perfection, and the mysterious situation of a nude woman lying in the forest was combined with an academic human body expression. It is an epoch-making work. It was designated as an Important Cultural Property in 2014.
Urashima(Old Japanese Folktale) (c.1893-95) by YAMAMOTO HosuiOriginal Source: collection datebase
Urashima (Old Japanese Folktale), YAMAMOTO Hosui, c.1893-95
This work is a Western-style version of a scene from the Japanese folktale "Urashima Taro". Returning to Japan after studying Western oil painting techniques in France, Yamamoto Hosui exhibited "Urashima" at the seventh exhibition of the Meiji Fine Arts Society, Japan's first Western-style painting organization, in the midst of a wave of anti-Western painting.
Urashima(Old Japanese Folktale), YAMAMOTO Hosui, c.1893-95
This work attempts to widely publicize the charm of Western history paintings, which depicts the world of the imagination as if it had been seen in reality, with a theme familiar to Japanese people.
Old Pine Tree (1891) by KAWAI GyokudoOriginal Source: collection datebase
Old Pine Tree, KAWAI Gyokudo, 1891
This painting is from the former collection of Sugiyama Hanjiro, who was a classmate of Kawai Gyokudo at Gifu Jinjo Higher Elementary School (now Gifu City Gifu Elementary School). The previous year, he had moved to Kyoto to study painting in earnest, and had been introduced to Kono Bairei of the Shijo school.
Old Pine Tree, KAWAI Gyokudo, 1891
The trunk of the pine tree is decorated with the mogu technique, a specialty of the Shijo School, and the sharp leaves are represented by lines. It is a powerful drawing. The ambition and pride of the painter can be seen in the fact that the young Gyokudo is boldly challenging large size of the gold folding screen.
Snows in the Deep Forest (1936) by KAWAI GyokudoOriginal Source: collection datebase
Snows in the Deep Forest, KAWAI Gyokudo, 1936
In the early Showa era (1926-1989), the landscape expression by Gyokudo in his 60s was extremely mature, and masterpieces were born one after another. One of them is this work, which is a wonderful expression of a snow scene that makes use of the shades and lines of ink.
Snows in the Deep Forest, KAWAI Gyokudo, 1936
The beauty of snow, represented by the sotoguma (a technique of blurring the outside of the outline with a thin layer of ink to make the object stand out), is exceptional.
Snows in the Deep Forest, KAWAI Gyokudo, 1936
The thickets that have lost their leaves are represented by a slightly rubbed line drawing based on the sketch. A dog snuggling up to a person working in a charcoal-burning hut makes you feel a faint warmth in the winter scenery.
Tigers (right screen) (c.1938) by OHASHI SuisekiOriginal Source: collection datebase
Tigers (right screen), OHASHI Suiseki, c.1938
This is a pair of six-panel folding screens made of silk with gold leaf sealed, and the edges of the metal flame are decorated with openwork.
Tigers (right screen), OHASHI Suiseki, c.1938
Some tigers are depicted moving through a snow-capped rocky mountain. The snow and rocks are drawn easy-going with thick and quick brush strokes, and the tigers' coat are precisely represented by careful drawing.
Tigers (right screen), OHASHI Suiseki, c.1938
It can be said that the result of Suiseki's painting research appears in the composition that emphasizes the perspective and makes the depth in the space strongly conscious along the diagonal line from the upper right to the lower left.
Self-Portrait (1914) by KISHIDA RyuseiOriginal Source: collection datebase
Self-Portrait, KISHIDA Ryusei, 1914
For Kishida Ryusei, 1914 is a memorable year when the eldest daughter, Reiko, who later became an important subject for his art, was born.
Self-Portrait, KISHIDA Ryusei, 1914
Inspired by the modern Western paintings featured in the magazine "Shirakaba", and even more aware of the importance of the ego in painting, Ryusei has drawn many self-portraits of him, especially because he can face himself straight.
Self-Portrait, KISHIDA Ryusei, 1914
It coincides with the time when he began to seek detailed realist expressions. This artwork was painted when he began to search for the essence of beauty in earnest.
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Around the main gate of the Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu
