Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Seiho’s Birth and the 65th Anniversary of Shoen’s Death, we will hold an exhibition of the two masters. Shoen was a disciple of Seiho, who was the greatest master of the Kyoto painting circle.
Seiho （1864‐1942） had studied Japanese painting since childhood, and took advantage of his extraordinary talent at an early stage. He was later impressed by Western painting when visiting Europe. Thanks to this experience, he established a new painting style. He successfully integrated the Western realism into Kyoto traditional sketching, without sacrificing the traditional techniques. Subsequently, he released numerous works mainly for the government-sponsored exhibitions. Seiho flourished for a many years as the greatest master of the Kyoto painting circle.
Meanwhile, Shoen （1875‐1949） studied under Seiho and other great masters, and produced numerous bijin‐ga works, inspired by the public morals of Kyoto and classical literature. Her works depicting women have a noble atmosphere and inner depth owing to a perspective that is unique to women. This is the reason her bijin‐ga works continue to attract people. This exhibition will display Seiho’s masterpieces, including four works by Shoen that are currently housed by the museum, and works by other painters who flourished in the Kyoto painting circle. We hope you will fully appreciate the “Kyoto paintings” for their elegance and sophistication.

Seiryu‐sha was established by Kawabata Ryushi under the notion of “establishing unyielding art.” The exhibition, in commemoration of the 85th Anniversary of Seiryu‐sha’s Establishment, will display eight works by Ryushi. We hope you will enjoy the art of Ryushi, who attained his own art world with a creative composition, strong brush strokes and rich coloring.