Special 150th Anniversary Exhibition:
Uemura Shōen and Splendid Women

　

17 May (Sat.) – 27 July (Sun.) 2025
(Closed 7/22 and Mondays, except for 7/21)

Hours: 10 am - 5 pm (Last admission at 4:30 pm)

Admission Fees: Adults: 1,400 yen; University and high school students: 1,100 yen; middle school and younger children: free of charge; Disability ID holders and one accompanying person: 1,200 yen each
*Discount for those who are wearing kimono: Discount of 200 yen for adults

Exhibition Online Ticket Sales

Organized by: Yamatane Museum of Art and Nikkei Inc.

Highlights of the Exhibition

Uemura Shōen

Firefly, 1913, Color on Silk; Yamatane Museum of Art

Scene from the Noh Play Kinuta, 1938, Color on Silk; Yamatane Museum of Art

Tedious Hours, 1941, Color on Silk; Yamatane Museum of Art

Fluffy Snowflakes, 1944, Color on Silk; Yamatane Museum of Art

Snowy Day, 1948, Color on Silk; Yamatane Museum of Art

Other Artists

Ogura Yuki, Dancing (Maiko, Apprentice Geisha), 1971, Color on Gold-Leafed Paper; Yamatane Museum of Art

Kataoka Tamako, Oei, Hokusai's Daughter, 1982, Color on Paper; Yamatane Museum of Art

Kaburaki Kiyokata, Agalloch Pillow, 1936, Color on Silk; Yamatane Museum of Art

Hishida Shunsō, Women Viewing Cherry Blossoms, 1894, Color on Silk; Yamatane Museum of Art

Itō Shinsui, The Courtesan Yoshino Tayū, 1966, Color on Paper; Yamatane Museum of Art

etc.

Approximately 60 works in total are to be displayed.

Exhibition Overview

The nihonga artist Uemura Shōen (1875-1949) said, “I want my paintings to resemble fragrant, precious gems with a clear, pure feeling and not a single hint of vulgarity.” True to these words, Shōen’s works, brimming with purity and elegance, continue to captivate art lovers today. In 2025, the Yamatane Museum of Art will hold a special exhibition commemorating the 150th anniversary of Shōen’s birth. This special exhibition will trace Shōen’s artistic career through many masterpieces, while also introducing paintings of women by artists spanning a full spectrum from Shōen’s contemporaries to young artists active today.

Born in Kyoto in 1875, Shōen loved drawing and painting from an early age. And she studied with artists such as Suzuki Shōnen, Kōno Bairei, and Takeuchi Seihō, all leaders in the Kyoto art world. Shōen extensively researched Edo and Meiji manners and customs, classical Chinese and Japanese paintings, and traditional performing arts. Throughout her life, she strove to create images of her ideal women that captured their spirituality as well as external beauty. Highly acclaimed as a master of bijinga (paintings of beautiful women), she was active primarily in the Bunten and Teiten official exhibitions.  At the age of 73, she became the first woman to receive the Order of Culture.

Our museum’s founder and first director, Yamazaki Taneji, was Shōen’s close friend and collected her works. These became one of Japan’s finest Shōen collections, including such masterpieces as Firefly, Scene from the Noh Play Kinuta, and Snowy Day, which epitomize Shōen’s artistic excellence

This exhibition explores the charm of Uemura Shōen, one of modern Japan’s leading female artists, through 22 masterpieces from her early career to her later years, together with letters handwritten by her. It also introduces a selection of superb works depicting beautiful women by other artists, including Ogura Yuki (1895-2000) and Kataoka Tamako (1905-2008), the 130th and 120th anniversaries of whose births will also be celebrated in 2025, as well as Kaburaki Kiyokata (1878-1972), who was active during Shōen’s time and paired with her in the saying “In the west, Shōen; in the east, Kiyokata,” and his successor Itō Shinsui (1898-1972).

*All works are from the Yamatane Museum of Art collection unless otherwise noted.