In the late 1930s, a time of turbulent social conditions in Japan, an art form that pursued a new type of expression in the world of “nihonga [Japanese-style painting]” occurred against the creation of traditional aesthetics. This exhibition will introduce this transition of “nihonga” as the first embodied "Avant–Garde" movement in this country.
The new type of work by the “nihonga painters” who were members of the “Rekitei Bijutsu Kyokai”, founded in 1938, brilliantly expresses the trend of "The Avant–Garde." Western style painters who influenced and associated with those “nihonga painters” should be focused on as well. However, this activity did not move forward smoothly because of the World War II. This exhibition will review the transition of the activity which became "The incomplete Avant–Garde" due to the expansion of the war, and will also follow the rebirth of the “Rekitei Bijutsu Kyokai” that was named "Pan Real" after the war.
This exhibition includes masterpieces of related painters as well as works which are being exhibited to the public for the first time.

FUNADA Gyokuju, Flowers(Image of Evening), 1938, private collection