"Yumeji Takehisa: Creator of an Era" Opens at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; "Kurofune-ya" to Be Exhibited in Tokyo for the First Time in 40 Years
A major retrospective of Yumeji Takehisa opens at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, featuring "Kurofune-ya"—his masterpiece shown in Tokyo for the first time in 40 years.Summary
The exhibition "Yumeji Takehisa: Creator of an Era" runs from October 23 to January 11, 2027, at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. This comprehensive retrospective celebrates Yumeji Takehisa (1884–1934), a multifaceted artist renowned as a painter, poet, journalist, designer, and illustrator whose work epitomized Taishō-era romanticism—particularly through his iconic "Yumeji-style" female figures and retro-modern aesthetics. The show gathers approximately 500 works—including Japanese and oil paintings, woodblock prints, sketches, diverse designs, and rare archival materials—from collections nationwide. A major highlight is the rare Tokyo presentation of "Kurofune-ya" (1919), widely regarded as Yumeji’s magnum opus, painted while he was deeply concerned for his tuberculous lover, Hikono; it exemplifies his mature synthesis of modern color sensibility, ukiyo-e traditions, and Western modernism. Organized in five thematic chapters, the exhibition begins with "The Birth of the Yumeji Style," tracing the rise of his illustration, picture books, and postcards among youth culture, the societal impact of his distinctive female figures, the success of his best-selling "Spring Volume" of the Yumeji Picture Book, and his empathetic depictions of laborers, the poor, and anti-war sentiments following the Russo-Japanese War.
(Source：美術手帖)