Section I: Modernity and Nostalgia 

Modernization brought rapid change to Japan. Western-style brick architecture rose alongside traditional wooden buildings. Railways spread across the landscape and electric lines altered the skyline. This change was reflected in the arts.

Urban scenes of streets filled with crowds of people in Japanese and Western clothing became common. Landscapes were accented with modern elements such as automobiles. A remarkable example in this exhibition is Nakagawa Wadō’s (b. 1880) Views of Osaka. The format (handscroll) and the medium (ink painting) are traditional, but Wadō’s inclusion of Western-style structures, cars and even airplanes are strikingly modern.

The early enthusiasm for change was soon tempered by a realization of what was being lost. Japanese-style painting of the 1910s to 1920s was characterized by a deep nostalgia for rural environments and quiet moments in traditional settings, such as Kitagami Seigyū’s (1891–1970) Evening at Byakugōji Temple.

What is perhaps most interesting is that subjects celebrate nostalgia, but painting styles are thoroughly modernized. Seigyū’s depiction of sunset light, for instance, is without precedent in traditional Japanese painting, and reveals the extent to which artists were aware of international discourse on the arts.