EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

Just two days after the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum premiered “The Exhibition of Three Generations: Uemura Shoen, Shoko and Atsushi,” on February 29, 2020, Japan went into a self-imposed lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, leading to the exhibition’s cancellation. The exhibition, however, has returned, this time centering on works by the Uemuras carefully selected from the bountiful collection of Shouhaku Art Museum in Nara prefecture. Shoen (1875-1949) gained recognition for her Japanese-style paintings of bijin-ga, or “beautiful women,” and later celebrated as the finest woman painter of her day dedicated to the pursuit of female beauty. Shoko was Shoen’s son and Atushi, her grandson, both of whom emerged as prominent artists in their own right, their collective body of work an artistic legacy that transcended three generations.