The Destruction and Creation of Nihonga – Hayami Gyoshu: A Retrospective

Active from the late Meiji to the early Showa eras, Nihonga (traditional Japanese painting) pioneer Gyoshu Hayami (1894-1935) had a relatively short but highly successful career. A founding member Tenshin Okakura's Nihon Bijutsuin (Japan Art Institute), Hayami was influenced by both Western painting and the Edo-era Rinpa school, and had the honour of being the first Showa painter to have a work – 1925 piece 'Dance of Flames' – recognised as an Important Cultural Property. Celebrating 50 years since its opening in 2016, the Yamatane Museum is sometimes jokingly referred to as the Hayami Museum, due to the 100-plus Hayami paintings included in its collection. This retrospective displays around 80 of them alongside a few works brought in from elsewhere, and is the first Hayami exhibition of similar scale in 23 years.