PIGMENT TOKYO is honored to announce that Japanese painting materials including pigments and Iwa-enogu (mineral pigments) from our store are now displayed as a part of the exhibition “Shin Japanese Painting: Revolutionary Nihonga” held in the gallery rooms of the Pola Museum of Art in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture.

In the Atrium Gallery, one of the exhibition spaces, paintbrushes and pigment bottles that are the main displays of PIGMENT TOKYO are installed under the title "Materials: A Cabinet of Japanese Painting Supplies."

"Materials: A Cabinet of Japanese Painting Supplies" in the Atrium Gallery at the Exhibition “Shin Japanese Painting: Revolutionary Nihonga”  

The term "Nihonga” (Japanese painting) was coined in the late 19th century as a new form of expression when traditional Japanese two-dimensional works such as scrolls and folding screen paintings met oil painting and other forms of painting that were mainstream in the European art scene back in the time.

However, the contrasting concepts of the West and the East have become no longer relevant to the contemporary art scene, therefore, it is difficult to classify art genres by mediums.

Today, since the number of Nihonga artists who use synthetic binders and pigments instead of animal glue and mineral pigments is increasing, defining paintings as Nihonga only from the material used written on the exhibit labels is impossible.

This exhibition traces the transition of Nihonga from its beginning to the postwar and contemporary world to reveal the beauty and potential that have been cultivated in the art of Nihonga.

 

Installation view of Natsunosuke Mise’s artworks in Gallery 1

According to the curator, this exhibition is composed based on the painting “Jihikō” (Divine Light) by Yasushi Sugiyama and the phrase of Ernest Francisco Fenollosa in the first chapter.

Although its large scale is definitely different from traditional Japanese scroll and sliding door paintings which are more commonly considered as a “painting,” many elements such as the fine lines drawn by tiny brushes on the silk canvas, colors of Ezumi (color ink) and Gofun (white pigment made of oyster shells) connect back to the concept of Nihonga paintings.

The quiet painting style with lines on the white Gofun background seems to foretell the appearance of the milky white ground by Leonard Fujita.

A Japanese novelist, Ryunosuke Akutagawa wrote “We are simply satisfied with a portrait of a woman even with no color other than black and white, just as in Japanese painting” in his short story “Cogwheels (Haguruma).”

The minimal colors based on monochrome would be reminiscent of Nihonga.

“Jihikō” (Divine Light) by Yasushi Sugiyama exhibited at the entrance of  Galley 1

 “Jihikō” (Divine Light), Yasushi Sugiyama, 1936 (Showa 11) , Fukuda Art Museum

Through the postmodernist era, Nihonga has diversified and made evolutionary changes.

Makoto Fujimura is the artist who explores the aesthetic philosophy of Nihonga materials from the perspective of contemporary art, as he explained to us in the interview of PIGMENT TOKYO ARTICLES.

On the other hand, Motoi Yamamoto creates his installations with salt and paintings with primitive motifs such as whirlpools.

Installation view of "Walking on Water-Glaciers" by Makoto Fujimura  (left) and "Shrouded in Time" and "Floating Garden" by Motoi Yamamoto at the same exhibition.

Courtesy of Pola Museum of Art

It is not easy to define what "Nihonga" means through the context of these artworks.

However, the beauty of materials and formats that Japanese art has cultivated and passed down through generations is what makes Nihonga the Nihonga.

For example, these mineral pigments are made by grinding natural minerals, lead glass, etc., and classified into grades according to particle sizes. Our lab has 10 grades ranging from No. 5 to No. byaku (white) and we displayed many colors in the gradation.

＊No.5 is the roughest while No. byaku is the finest. The greater the number goes, the finer the particle of pigment is. 

The textures and hues that are not found in pigments used in oil and acrylic paints create a palette unique to Nihonga.

Atrium Gallery
Materials: A Cabinet of Japanese Painting Supplies (partial)

Moreover, the designs of calligraphy and painting supplies such as ink sticks and inkstones are also unique to Asian art.

Perhaps finding beauty in the design and decoration of painting materials rather than just using them as tools is one of the things you can learn to appreciate Japanese and other Asian arts.

Atrium Gallery

Materials: A Cabinet of Japanese Painting Supplies (partial)

The paint brushes used in Nihonga have changed over time.

Most brushes are basically made of goat hair which is the same type of bristle that is used for painting flat surfaces with acrylic paints.

You can also find other brushes like a combination of horse hair, deer hair, weasel hair, and recently nylon bristles depending on the purpose of use. These brushes come in a variety of designs and sizes, such as Renpitsu (combined brush) which looks like several round brushes are connected together; and short bristle brushes for rubbing paints.

Atrium Gallery

Materials: A Cabinet of Japanese Painting Supplies (partial)

It would be impractical to define paintings that use these materials and tools as Nihonga.

However, it is also impossible to talk about them by separating them from the Nihonga, furthermore, these materials and tools have long histories that cannot be overlooked. 

It can be said that Nihonga is a legacy of history developed by Taikan Yokoyama and others based on the arguments presented by Fenollosa while inheriting pre-Meiji culture. 

In “Nippon Ga No Teni,” art critic Noriaki Kitazawa uses the term "another lifetime" to criticize the state of Nihonga in the latter half of the 20th century, after noting that Nihonga is attracting attention as part of the study of pluralistic art in order to break through the limits of postmodernism.

Viewing how this exhibition is composed, starting with Yasushi Sugiyama’s “Jihikō” (Divine Light) and the unfolding existence of Japanese Art is just like walking through reincarnation to "another lifetime." 

Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge that this exhibition is titled "Shin Japanese Painting" rather than "Shin Nihonga". 

This exhibition includes not only Nihonga paintings but also oil paintings by Japanese artists such as Ryusei Kishida and Yuichi Takahashi. In other words, by using the term "Japanese Painting," it is possible to weave those artworks together even if they cannot be defined as Nihonga. This pendulum movement of beauty among Japanese and Western painting and contemporary art in a cross-section of media questions what is Japanese art in our contemporary era.

(Photographs without citation are taken by Akira Oya)

References

Ryunosuke Akutagawa, “Kappa, The Life of a Stupid Man ” (Shinchosha, 1968)

Noriaki Kitazawa, “Nippon Ga No Teni,” (Brucke. 2003)

Exhibition Information

Shin Japanese Painting: Revolutionary Nihonga

-  From Taikan Yokoyama and Yasushi Sugiyama to Contemporary Artists

Dates: July 15 - December 3, 2023

Venue: Pola Museum of Art

Address: 1285 Kozukayama, Sengokuhara, Hakone-cho, Ashigarashita-gun, Kanagawa

Contact: 0460-84-2111

Hours: 9:00-17:00 *entry until 30 minutes before closing

Closed: Open daily during the exhibition period

Admission: Adults 1800 yen / High school and university students 1300 yen / Free for junior high school students and younger

Exhibition website: https://www.polamuseum.or.jp/sp/shinjapanesepainting/





Translated by Atsumi Okano and Nelson Hor Ee Herng
PIGMENT TOKYO Art Materials Experts