In 2023, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo received a gift of “Way Back” painted by Shoen Ikeda. During the process of our research, we discovered that a sketchbook in our museum’s collection also contained a conceptual drawing of “Way back”. Until recently, the book has been considered to be the work of Ikeda Terukata. This is because the title “Drawings by Mr. Ikeda Terukata” is affixed to the book. Terukata was Shoen’s husband, also the artist. As we turn the pages of the sketchbook, we can see that the two artists worked together on a single sketchbook, from the slightest idea to the final sketch, and that the content of the work was determined. The major part of the book is devoted to Terukata’s “Kobiki-cho Now and Then” and Shoen’s “Way back”, both of which were painted in 1915. Both were exhibited at the 9th Bunten exhibition in 1915. Shoen Ikeda’s “Way Back” and “sketchbook” are on display in the “MOMAT Collection” through September 10, 2023.

Release date : 2023.5.26