Artists of Shunyo-kai: Celebrating Its 100^th Anniversary

A free-spirited art society by the artists, for the artists

Shunyo-kai is an art society with a one-hundred-year-long history since its foundation. Artists who seceded from the yōga (Western-style painting) section of Nihon Bijutsuin (Japan Art Institute), the largest nongovernmental art organization, in 1920 (Taisho 8) gathered up-and-coming artists and inaugurated a new association named “Shunyo-kai.”
They did not aim at becoming a group of artists with kindred artistic principles. Instead, they favored “individualism” and considered it important to respect each artist’s originality. Unbound by the format, member artists submitted not only oil paintings but prints, drawings, ink paintings, and original works for newspaper illustrations to the group’s exhibitions. At Shunyo-kai, the artists would comment on one another’s works in order to deepen one’s studies, bring up the next generation, and solidify their foundation. It is noteworthy that there was an early tendency in the exhibited works to express the vernacular (indigenous), Japanese or oriental aspects of their inner selves.
Shunyo-kai emerged as the third yōga society competing with Teikoku Bijutsuin (the Imperial Fine Arts Academy) and the Nika Association. This exhibition introduces the strenuous efforts of the artists at Shunyo-kai with over hundred works from its establishment to the 1950s.

Founding members of Shunyo-kai

Founding Members: Adachi Gen’ichirō, Umehara Ryūzaburō, Kurata Hakuyō, Kosugi Misei (Hōan), Hasegawa Noboru, Morita Tsunetomo, Yamamoto Kanae

Founding Guest Members: Ishii Tsuruzō, Imazeki Keishi, Kishida Ryūsei, Kimura Shōhachi, Tsubaki Sadao, Nakagawa Kazumasa, Yamazaki Shōzō, Yorozu Tetsugorō

1. Variety of members who were active in the Shunyo-kai

Works by familiar and leading artists of modern Japanese art such as Kishida Ryūsei, Kimura Shōhachi, Kōno Michisei, Kosugi Hōan and so on are gathered in the exhibition room.

2. Specially selected works

Current members of Shunyo-kai, researchers, and curators of each museum holding this exhibition had gathered every month from 2020, bringing the results of their survey to select the works for this exhibition. As a result, quality works by nearly 50 artists, including many from the Shunyo-kai's first exhibition, from more than 40 different collections were carefully selected.

3. Beauty which Kishida Ryusei aimed for

11 works by Kishida Ryūsei while he was the member of the Shunyo-kai (from the first to third exhibition of Shunyo-kai) are exhibited in this exhibition. Please explore the kind of beauty which Ryūsei was trying to express at that time through the exhibition.

4. Kimura Shōhachi’s masterpieces

Kimura Shōhachi’s 12 masterpieces such as Gathering for Pan, By the River at Night (From the Play Meiji ichidai onna), the original illustrations of the novel A Strange Tale from East of the River and Other Stories by Nagai Kafū, and Ginza Miyuki-dori Street which was the cover of his Imperial Prize and the Japan Art Academy Prize awarded illustrated essay Tokyo Hanjo-ki gathered for this exhibition.

5. Numerous works by Shunyo-kai’s leading figure, Nakagawa Kazumasa and Oka Shikanosuke

Six works by Nakagawa Kazumasa are presented, including a still-life in the style of Sodosha from the time of the first exhibition, original illustrations for Ozaki Shiro’s novel Jinsei gekijyo, portraits with a strong presence, and oil paintings of mountains and sunflowers. Six oil paintings by Oka Shikanosuke, who painted landscapes and flowers with fine brushstrokes and had a strong influence on young painters are exhibited.

1. Chapter 1. The Start: The Emergence of the Third Yōga Society
2. Chapter 2. Development: Individual Views of Japan and Art
3. Chapter 3. Originality: Amidst Disquietude
4. Chapter 4. Prospects: Prominent Artists and a New Current