Jun. 1(mon),2020 – Nov. 3(Tue) *Temporary closure on September1-3, 2020

Gallery 5

The Pola Museum of Art collection centers on 19th century French Impressionist paintings, 20th century Western paintings, Western-style paintings produced in Japan between the Meiji and Showa periods (1868 – 1989) and Nihonga (Japanese paintings). This exhibition introduces masterpieces from the collection.

Western Painting

The Impressionist painters in late 19th century France departed from the traditions of Academism to pursue vivid colors and dazzling light. By the end of the century, Post-Impressionist painters such as Van Gogh and Cézanne were pursuing their own expression of color and form. In the early 20th century, Picasso, and Chagall broke new ground for various types of free expression.

Japanese Western-Style Painting and Nihonga

Oil paintings introduced from the West in the Meiji period (1868 -1912) were called Yōga (Western-style paintings) in Japan. Okada Saburosuke and other Japanese artists who had studied in France made great efforts to create a distinctive style of Japanese oil painting that diverged from imitation of Western conventions. At the same time, paintings using mineral pigments suspended in glue (nikawa) were distinguished from such Western-style paintings and called Nihonga (Japanese paintings). After World War II, painters such as Sugiyama Yasushi and Higashiyama Kaii created a new style of Nihonga incorporating bright colors and evoking a particular type of poetic sentiment.