Tradition and Modernity: Japanese Art of the Early Twentieth Century

Exhibition

Exhibition Overview

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Tradition and Modernity: Japanese Art of the Early Twentieth Century
Hillary Pedersen, curator
Asia Gallery, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

In the early decades of the twentieth century, Japan experienced many changes. During the first decades of the century, in the Meiji period (1868-1912), the country rapidly adopted Western models of education, politics and industrialization, and emerged as a more modern society after a long period of international isolation. Later, in the Taisho (1912- 26) and early Showa (1926-1989) periods, modernization was no longer simply the product of Western imitation, as the country rapidly became an international, industrial and urban society in its own right. Throughout these decades, complex tensions emerged between the desire to retain traditional cultural values and the desire to be a modern society. The complexity of early twentieth century Japanese society is revealed in its art, which selectively incorporates traditional and more modern modes of creation in a variety of formats, mediums, themes, and styles. Western art techniques, a flourishing export market, and a search for a new national identity that combined both tradition and modernity were some of the factors that shaped early twentieth century Japanese art.

This selection of works from the Spencer's collection broadly illustrates Japan's changing social climate of the early twentieth century and hopes to reveal the dynamic character of this period.

Exhibition images

Works of art

Toyohara Chikanobu
1904, Meiji period (1868–1912)
Takahashi Shōtei
circa 1910s, Meiji period (1868–1912)
Ohara Shōson
circa 1910s, Meiji period (1868–1912)
Hasegawa Takejirō, Kobayashi Eijirō
1915–1920, Taisho period (1912–1926)
Yoshikawa Kanpō
1923, Taisho period (1912–1926)
Natori Shunsen
1925, Taisho period (1912–1926)
Hashiguchi Goyō
1920, Taisho period (1912–1926)
Torii Kotondo
1929, Showa period (1926–1989)
Kawase Hasui
1933, Showa period (1926–1989)
Kawase Hasui
1930, Showa period (1926–1989)
Yoshida Hiroshi
1937, Showa period (1926–1989)
Yoshida Hiroshi
1931, Showa period (1926–1989)
Meiji period (1868–1912)
Meiji period (1868–1912)
Miharu
circa 1880s, Meiji period (1868–1912)
Seishi
circa 1880s, Meiji period (1868–1912)
Hirata Jūkō VII
1905, Meiji period (1868–1912)
Yoshida Hiroshi
1938, Showa period (1926–1989)
Takahashi Shōtei
circa 1938, Showa period (1926–1989)
Itō Takashi
1932, 6th month, Showa period (1926–1989)
Kasamatsu Shirō
1932, Showa period (1926–1989)
Nakamura Daizaburō
early 1900s
Taniguchi Kōkyō
late 1800s–early 1900s, Meiji period (1868–1912) or Taisho period (1912–1926)

Events

February 10, 2005
Social
7:00–9:00PM
Gallery 317 Central Court

Resources

Documents