The Pola Museum of Art collection is characterized by Western paintings and Japanese Western-stlye paintings, but it also includes sizable holdings of Nihonga (Japanese-style painting). The concept of Nihonga as a genre emerged during the Meiji Period (1868 – 1912) to distinguish traditional Japanese painting from Western style oil painting that appeared at that time in Japan . While using traditional themes, techniques, and materials (mineral pigments in a glue medium), Nihonga artists continued to question the meaning of Nihonga.

The carefully selected works on display here from the Pola Museum of Art Nihonga collection trace the path and inquiry of Nihonga artists from the Meiji period into the Showa period (1926 – 1989).