NAKAJIMA Kiyoshi Retrospective Opens at the YokohamaMuseum of Art on November 3rd, 2015
Exhibition:

NAKAJIMA Kiyoshi Retrospective:
Exploring the Kaleidoscopic World of an Innovative Nihonga PainterVenue:

Yokohama Museum of Art

Dates:

November 3, 2015 – January 11, 2016

Media Preview:

Monday, November 2, 13:00-14:45 pm

Have you ever heard of NAKAJIMA Kiyoshi? His name is notfamiliar to everyone and even the many people who know of him havedifficulty associating him with just one kind of painting. Kiyoshi was ahighly talented and immensely curious artist who was continually
exploring new styles and techniques. It is difficult to believe that thekaleidoscopic artistic world he created could have been produced by one
man. It is not surprising that he gained a reputation as a protean painter.
NAKAJIMA developed a great love and knowledge of Buddhist
art as a young man living in Kyoto and obtained superb painting skills
through a study of traditional painting at the “Angado” painting school inTokyo. Throughout his career, he continued to surprise his audience byabrupt changes of style as he explored new possibilities of painting with
Singer Singing Applause, 1973,

traditional Japanese mediums, beginning with a fresh approach toYokohama Museum of Art(Donated by Mr. Nakajima Kiyoshi)

traditional bird-and-flower motifs, switching to boldly deformed figures,and finally engaging with geometrical abstraction. His paintings are characterized by great freedom andopenness, often enhanced by irony and humor. A viewer who hopes to construct a unified image of the artist
may be bewildered by their incredible diversity and have the unsettling feeling of being pulled into an endlessartistic labyrinth.
This exhibition follows NAKAJIMA’s entire career from youth to old age, exploring his changing
interests in motifs and methods. It introduces studies and sketches in addition to finished works to provide a
better understanding of his unique way of developing pictorial compositions. The stylistic shifts in His
paintings reflect the times in which he lived, Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1989) period, which saw
dramatic transformations in people’s lives and values. While following the evolution of this artist
chronologically, the exhibition will also highlight the ideas and esthetic principles that he adhered to faithfully
throughout his life in spite of the seemingly drastic changes in his art.
*Some of the works are shown for a limited period. Please contact the museum for details.

Artist Profile
NAKAJIMA Kiyoshi(1899-1989)

NAKAJIMA Kiyoshi was born in Kyoto in 1899. At age 16, hemoved to Yokohama, where he worked as an office worker while studying
painting at MATSUMOTO Fuko’s “Angado” painting school. His work wasaccepted for exhibition in the “Inten” (Japan Art Institute Exhibition) for thefirst time when he was 25. In subsequent exhibitions, he won the JapanArt Institute Award four times and was elected a permanent member. Hebecame a leading figure in the “Inten” and continued to participate in theirannual exhibitions. Except for three years during World War II when herelocated to Obuse Village (today’s Obuse-cho, Kamitakai-gun, Nagano
prefecture), NAKAJIMA lived in Yokohama all his life and contributed to the
local art scene. In his later years, he was commissioned to paint the sliding
doors inside “Rinshunkaku” in “Sankeien” Garden (located in Naka-ku,At his atelier, around the age of 71.

Yokohama). These paintings, which were a synthesis of traditional and modern styles, were his culminatingachievement. He had finished the doors of five rooms when he fell ill in 1981 and left the remainder of thework to his third son, “Nihonga” painter, NAKAJIMA Chinami. After several years of recuperation, he passed
away in 1989.

Night of Hogoe Buddhist Ritual, 1950,

Flowers and Cat, 1934,

Yokohama Museum of Art(Donated by Mr. Yamaguchi Kyūzō)

Private collection (Former collection of Osaragi Jiro)

Bamboo Breeze, 1975,
Yokohama Museum of Art

Admission
Adults¥1,200 (1,000/ 1,100)

University students, High school students¥ 800 (700/ 700)

Junior high school students¥ 400 (300/ 300)

Children under 12

FreeSeniors(65 and Older)¥1,100*ID required, only available at ticket counter in the museum.
*Advance ticket is available at Museum Shop, smartphone ticket with tixee, on sale from September 25 until November 2, 2015.
*( )= Advance/ Group of 20 or more(pre-booking required)*Free Admission on November 3, 2015.
*Free admission for high school students and younger with valid IDs on Saturday.
*Visitors with disability and one person accompanying them are admitted free of charge. (Please present certificate at the entrance.)*Collection exhibition is available with this ticket.

General Information
NAKAJIMA Kiyoshi Retrospective:
Exploring the Kaleidoscopic World of an Innovative Nihonga PainterDates:

November 3, 2015 - January 11, 2016

Open hours:

10:00－18:00 (Last admission at 17:30)

Closed:Thursdays, December 29, 2015 – January 2, 2016

Venue:

Yokohama Museum of Art
3-4-1, Minatomirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama 220-0012
TEL: 045−221−0300

FAX: 045−221−0317

URL: http://yokohama.art.museum/eng
Organizers :Yokohama Museum of Art, Kanagawa Shimbun, Television Kanagawa, Inc.

Supported by:

The City of Yokohama

Grant from:The Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Cultural Foundation

In Cooperation with: Minatomirai Line, Yokohama Cable Vision Inc.,
Yokohama FM Broadcasting Co., Ltd., Metropolitan Expressway Co., Ltd.,

Yokohama Museum of Art (Donated by the artist)

Contact
Public Relations Dep., Yokohama Museum of Art
3-4-1, Minatomirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama. 220-0012 JAPAN
TEL:+81(0)45 221 0319

Street of Ginza A, 1936,

FAX:+81(0)45 221 0317

E-mail:pr-yma@yaf.or.jp