Kuroda Seiki: Master Western-style Painter of Modern Japan Exhibition held at the Shimane Prefectural Iwami Art Museum

The site of Kuroda Seiki Exhibition held at the Shimane Prefectural Iwami Art Museum

 To commemorate the achievements of Kuroda Seiki and contribute to the development of regional culture, we have jointly held the Kuroda Seiki: Master Western-style Painter of Modern Japan exhibition with the host museum every year since 1977. This year, the exhibition is being held at the Shimane Prefectural Iwami Art Museum from July 18 (Saturday) to August 31 (Monday). 147 oil paintings and drawings including designated Important Cultural Properties “Lakeside” and “Wisdom, Impression, Sentiment”, a sketch block, and letters are to be exhibited. The paintings of Kuroda Seiki can be tracked from his early to later years.
 Iwami is the birthplace of Mori Ogai, a great literary figure in the Meiji Period. Ogai went to Germany to study hygiene as an Army doctor and stayed there from 1884 to 1888. During this time, he frequently visited art museums and theaters and became familiar with arts. After returning to Japan, he added art criticism to his literary activities. When Kuroda Seiki submitted “Wisdom, Impression, Sentiment” to the Second Hakubakai during a debate about nude drawings, and received bad press, Ogai stated that he himself admired this work. Later in life, Ogai became the first Director of Teikoku Bijutsuin (Imperial Art Academy), and when he died in 1922, Kuroda was his successor: Thus, the two had various points of contact.
 The Iwami Art Museum exhibits materials related to Ogai in the regular exhibition room along with the Kuroda Seiki exhibition. The works of Kuroda and his teacher Raphael Collin and the works of western painter/chirographer Nakamura Fusetsu, who wrote Ogai’s epitaph, are exhibited together so that visitors can learn about the friendship of cultural figures in the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) Periods.

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