Exhibition/event has ended.
You’re Beautifulー Bijin-Ga From Fukuda Collection
Fukuda Art Museum
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In early summer 2024, the Fukuda Art Museum in Saga Arashiyama, Kyoto, will unveil its prized collection of ‘bijin-ga’, portraits of beautiful women. In collaboration with the nearby Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts & Culture, visitors will be able to fully enjoy the splendid world of Japanese paintings.
The genre of ‘bijin-ga‘ emerged in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). It was during this period that a culture emerged in which the sophisticated costumes and coordinated fashion of the same period were appreciated in the form of paintings. Ukiyo-e artists painted numerous works, and many people sought them out. During the modern era, especially after the establishment of competitive public exhibitions, bijin-ga became a popular genre. Artists were spurred to depict varied contemporary ideals of female beauty and painters strove to outdo each other in expressing the ephemeral charms of women.
Female beauty has been a perennial subject of art from the earliest times. Japanese artists evolved a distinctive way of exploring the inner and outward beauty of women in a genre known as bijin-ga, literally beautiful-woman painting. Some artists used celebrated beauties as their models. Others depicted figures from legend, stories, and drama, and some left lingering evidence of past encounters with beauty they could not forget. The artists’ diverse ideas and ways of expressing them exert a lasting fascination. Each work seems to be fired by the desire of the artist to say to the subject, “You’re beautiful.”
With this as a keyword, this exhibition brings together some 200 selected bijin-ga paintings from the Fukuda Collection from the early modern to modern periods to explore their charm. Enjoy the world of bijin-ga that the painters have depicted with attention to detail, not only in terms of appearance but also in terms of clothing and backgrounds.
Accordingly, the show’s second venue, the Fukuda Museum of Art, presents modern-period masterpieces from the Fukuda Collection. Representing the endless tug-of-war between Tokyo and Kyoto, works showing the friendly rivalry of “Kiyokata of the East and Shōen of the West” form the core of the exhibition. Kaburaki Kiyokata and Uemura Shōen, each with their own conception of female beauty and contrasting techniques, were two of the major bijin-ga artists of the 20th century. Their paintings are supplemented by the different notions and techniques of Itō Shōha, Itō Shinsui, and other masters, as well as expressions of beguiling beauty by artists such as Kainoshō Tadaoto and Okamoto Shinsō. Before each work, you may hear an inner voice murmuring, “You’re beautiful.” Which one will make you say it out loud?
Works on show in the first venue, Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts and Culture, trace the roots of bijin-ga in ukiyo-e portrayals of women. Here you can see paintings by Utagawa Hiroshige and Hokusai and other noted ukiyo-e artists. To these are added paintings of beauties by artists who were active in Kyoto in the early modern period. Each incidentally documents the hairstyles, textiles, and mode of dress that were current at the time of painting. Arranged to show how bijin-ga evolved from ukiyo-e, the exhibition includes masterful works from the 19th and 20th centuries that illustrate the changing ways artists viewed women.
Part I: April 19 (Fri.) – May 27(Mon.) 2024
Part II: March 29 (Wed.) – July 1 (Mon.) 2024
The genre of ‘bijin-ga‘ emerged in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). It was during this period that a culture emerged in which the sophisticated costumes and coordinated fashion of the same period were appreciated in the form of paintings. Ukiyo-e artists painted numerous works, and many people sought them out. During the modern era, especially after the establishment of competitive public exhibitions, bijin-ga became a popular genre. Artists were spurred to depict varied contemporary ideals of female beauty and painters strove to outdo each other in expressing the ephemeral charms of women.
Female beauty has been a perennial subject of art from the earliest times. Japanese artists evolved a distinctive way of exploring the inner and outward beauty of women in a genre known as bijin-ga, literally beautiful-woman painting. Some artists used celebrated beauties as their models. Others depicted figures from legend, stories, and drama, and some left lingering evidence of past encounters with beauty they could not forget. The artists’ diverse ideas and ways of expressing them exert a lasting fascination. Each work seems to be fired by the desire of the artist to say to the subject, “You’re beautiful.”
With this as a keyword, this exhibition brings together some 200 selected bijin-ga paintings from the Fukuda Collection from the early modern to modern periods to explore their charm. Enjoy the world of bijin-ga that the painters have depicted with attention to detail, not only in terms of appearance but also in terms of clothing and backgrounds.
Accordingly, the show’s second venue, the Fukuda Museum of Art, presents modern-period masterpieces from the Fukuda Collection. Representing the endless tug-of-war between Tokyo and Kyoto, works showing the friendly rivalry of “Kiyokata of the East and Shōen of the West” form the core of the exhibition. Kaburaki Kiyokata and Uemura Shōen, each with their own conception of female beauty and contrasting techniques, were two of the major bijin-ga artists of the 20th century. Their paintings are supplemented by the different notions and techniques of Itō Shōha, Itō Shinsui, and other masters, as well as expressions of beguiling beauty by artists such as Kainoshō Tadaoto and Okamoto Shinsō. Before each work, you may hear an inner voice murmuring, “You’re beautiful.” Which one will make you say it out loud?
Works on show in the first venue, Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts and Culture, trace the roots of bijin-ga in ukiyo-e portrayals of women. Here you can see paintings by Utagawa Hiroshige and Hokusai and other noted ukiyo-e artists. To these are added paintings of beauties by artists who were active in Kyoto in the early modern period. Each incidentally documents the hairstyles, textiles, and mode of dress that were current at the time of painting. Arranged to show how bijin-ga evolved from ukiyo-e, the exhibition includes masterful works from the 19th and 20th centuries that illustrate the changing ways artists viewed women.
Part I: April 19 (Fri.) – May 27(Mon.) 2024
Part II: March 29 (Wed.) – July 1 (Mon.) 2024
Schedule | Apr 19 (Fri) 2024-Jul 1 (Mon) 2024 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults and University Students ¥1500; High School Students, Persons with Disability Certificates + 1 Companion ¥900; Junior High and Elementary School Students ¥500 | ||||
| Website | https://fukuda-art-museum.jp/en/exhibition/202312271211 | ||||
| Venue | Fukuda Art Museum https://fukuda-art-museum.jp/en/ | ||||
| Location | 3-16 Susukino Baba-cho, Sagatenryuji, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 616-8385 | ||||
| Access | 12 minute walk from Saga-Arashiyama Station on the JR San’in Main line (Sagano line), 11 minute walk from Arashiyama Station on the Hankyu line, 4 minute walk from Arashiyama Station on the Randen Arashiyama line. | ||||
| Phone | 075-863-0606 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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