Uemura Shoen: A Retrospective
2025-03-29 – 2025-06-01
Summary
This exhibition showcases over one hundred of the artist's most important works from her early period through to her latter years, including her most important works, such as the Important Cultural Properties Mother and Child (held by The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) and Jo-no-mai (Dance Performed in Noh Play, heldby Tokyo University of the Arts). It provides an opportunity to reassess the true value of the art of Uemura Shoen, who was the first woman artist to be awarded the Order of Cultural Merit, and who left an indelible mark on the history of art in the modern era.
Information about the Exhibition
| Dates | March 29 – June 1, 2025 Closed on Mondays, May 7. (except April 28, May 5) |
|---|---|
| Opening hours | 10:00 – 17:00 (last entry 16:30) |
| Venue | Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka 4F Galleries |
| Organizers | Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, Nikkei Inc., Television Osaka, Inc., The Kyoto Shimbun, KOBE SHIMBUN |
| Special cooperation | Shohaku Art Museum |
| Sponsorship | Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) |
| Admission fee | Adults 1800 yen (advance sales/groups 1600 yen) University / High school students 1500 yen (advance sales/groups 1300 yen) Junior high school/Elementary students: 500 yen (advance sales/groups 300 yen) Member privileges (free admission, discounts) are available for this exhibition * Advance ticket sales: January 15 (10:00) – March 28 (23:59) * Prices include tax. Group prices are for groups of at least 20 visitors. * Persons holding an official Disability Certificate are admitted for half the price of a same-day ticket (including one attendant). Apply at the ticket counter (2F) on the day. (No advance reservation required.) * Certification of eligibility for special rates must be presented before admission for all except regular adult rates. * For this exhibition, regular adult rates apply to Osaka residents aged 65 or older. * The museum may close without notice in the event of disasters or other circumstances beyond our control. |
| Inquiries | Osaka City General Call Center 06-4301-7285 Hours: 8:00 – 21:00 (365 days) |
Artists
Courtesy of Shohaku Art Museum.
UEMURA Shoen (1875 – 1949), who was born in Kyoto, is known as the foremost bijinga artist. While studying traditional painting, Shoen pioneered her own depiction of women, and pursued an ideal image of women throughout her life. Even today, viewers are left profoundly impressed by the many graceful and serene depiction of women she rendered. Shoen, who continued painting over the course of six decades and left an indelible mark on the history of art in the modern era, holds an important place as a pioneer for women artists in Japan.
Highlights
1. This is the first UEMURA Shoen retrospective by an Osaka art museum, and held only at a single venue.
2. National Important Cultural Properties such as Mother and Child and Jo-no-mai (Dance Performed in Noh Play) and magnificent masterpieces like Lady Komachi Washing Away a Poem and Late Autumn have been brought together in one show.
3. Over one hundred works are presented, tracing Shoen's achievements from her early period through to her latter years.
4. The show presents many preliminary sketches and drawings (held by Shohaku Art Museum) associated with completed works.
5. The show provides an opportunity to rediscover the beauty of Japanese culture.
Sections
1 Painting Life
Studying traditional genre paintings and ukiyo-e, Shoen depicted Japanese women in various stages of like differently, making fine distinctions in the details with regard to such things as hairstyle and kimono. From a young age, Shoen likened women's lives to the cyclical seasons in her painting, and focused on how they lived and the kind of people they were. This section looks at Shoen's art to closely examine her gaze as she observed women's lives.
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Mother and Child
(National Important Cultural Property)
1934, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
(on display starting May 13, 2025) -
Beautiful Women in Four Seasons
c. 1892, Hikaru Museum
2 Painting the Seasons
Throughout her life, Shoen painted women living from season to season. Rich with her characteristic grace and charm, these works have become familiar pieces to many. This section features works depicting women engaging in some of the elegant customs that mark the changing seasons, allowing viewers to appreciate Shoen's warm, nostalgic gaze.
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Young Leaves
1940, MEITO ART MUSEUM
(on display until May 11, 2025) -
Spring
1938, TABUCHI HOLDINGS Co., LTD.
(Entrusted to Shohaku Art Museum) -
Waiting for the Moon
1926, Kyoto City Museum of Art
(on display until May 11, 2025)
3 Painting the Classics
From the time she was learning to become a painter, Shoen produced studies of paintings from past eras, and used the traditional performing arts and classical literature as the subject of her work. In the first half of the Taisho Period (c. 1912–1919), the artist strove to express the inner feelings of her subjects through lyrical paintings, but steadily condensed their inner feelings, eventually attaining the essence of the highly refined classics. This section presents many masterpieces, while focusing on the method of representing images of women on silk cloth used by Shoen as she worked on traditional subjects.
-
Jo-no-mai (Dance Performed in Noh Play)
(National Important Cultural Property)
1936, Tokyo University of the Arts
(on display starting May 13, 2025) -
Drawing Brine
c. 1935, Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka -
Lady Komachi Washing Away a Poem
1937, Tokyo University of the Arts
(on display until May 11, 2025)
4 Painting the Everyday
Shoen depicted many scenes from people's daily lives. While she also paid attention to contemporary customs in works produced during the Meiji Period (c. 1868 – 1912), she imbued paintings created in the Showa Period (c. 1926 – 1989) with a sense of nostalgia for customs that were being lost due to modernization. Images of women enjoying events, putting on makeup, or working diligently around the house were brought to life in a dignified manner by Shoen's brush.
-
Preparing for a Dance
1914, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
(on display until May 11, 2025) -
Sound of Tsuzumi, a shoulder drum
1940, Shohaku Art Museum
(on display until May 11, 2025) -
Late Autumn
1943, Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts
(on display starting May 13, 2025)
Related event (Japanese language only)
Lecture: "The art of UEMURA Shoen" (provisional title)
| Speaker | NAKAMURA Reiko (Curator, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) |
|---|---|
| Date | 14:00 – 15:30 on March 29, 2025 |
| Venue | 1F Hall |
| Capacity | 150 |
| Admission fee | Free of charge *a ticket (or ticket stub) to the exhibition is required. Advance reservation not required. |
Lecture: "Changes in UEMURA Shoen's depiction of women"
| Speaker | YAMADA Satoshi (art historian) |
|---|---|
| Date | 14:00 – 15:30 on April 26, 2025 |
| Venue | 1F Hall |
| Capacity | 150 |
| Admission fee | Free of charge *a ticket (or ticket stub) to the exhibition is required. Advance reservation not required. |
Lecture and Dialogue: "The twentieth century for women painters"
| Speaker | KITAHARA Megumi (professor emeritus, Osaka University) and OGAWA Tomoko (curator, Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka) |
|---|---|
| Date | 14:00 – 15:30 on May 11, 2025 |
| Venue | 1F Hall |
| Capacity | 150 |
| Admission fee | Free of charge *a ticket (or ticket stub) to the exhibition is required. Advance reservation not required. |
Gallery talk by exhibition curator
| Date | 15:00 – 15:45 on April 16, May 22, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Venue | 4F Galleries |
| Capacity | 30（Registration is scheduled to begin in mid-March 2025.） |
| Admission fee | Free of charge *a ticket to the exhibition is required. Advance reservation is required. |
Audio guide
Actress KIMURA Tae serves as the narrator for this exhibition.
Profile
Born in Tokyo in 1971. Kimura made her debut in dramas in 1996, after having been active as a stage actress. She has appeared in many films and television dramas, demonstrating multifaceted acting skills, and garnering attention for roles played in works such as Ring and Ooku. She is currently the lead presenter for Kimura Tae no, Ima Sara Desu Ga ... on NHK Educational TV and doing the narration for Bi no Tsubo on NHK BS. Kimura is also certified as an instructor in the Matsumoto school of classical Japanese dance and as a vegetable sommelier.
Rental fee: 650 yen per person (incl. tax) *Japanese only