1927 - Digital Museum of the History of Japanese in NY

1927 Japanese art exhibition
sponsored by the New York Shimpo

Fig. 53. Noboru Foujioka, "Charleston”

Fig. 54. Noboru Foujioka "American Spirit”

Fig. 55. Masaji Hiramoto, "Madame Butterfly"

Fig. 56. Masaji Hiramoto, "Musician"

Fig. 57. Kyohei Inukai "Self-portrait”

Fig. 58. Eitaro Ishigaki, "Nuns and Flappers”

Fig. 60. Kosetsu Murata, "Spring Evening"

Fig. 61. Kiyoshi Shimizu, "14th Street"

Fig. 62. Toshi Shimizu "Yokohama Night”

Fig. 63. Soichi Sunami, “Portrait of My Mother”

Fig. 64. Takashi Tsuzuki, "Landscape"

Fig. 65. Bumpei Usui, "Furniture Factory”

Fig. 66. Bumpei Usui, “Portrait of Girl”

Fig. 67. Gozo Kawamura "Frederic MacMonnis”

Fig.137 Gozo Kawamura "Truth”

Fig.138 Gozo Kawamura "Beauty”

Fig.139 Gozo Kawamura "Civic Virtue”

Fig.140 Gozo Kawamura "Authority of Law”, "Contemplation of Justice”

Fig.141. Gozo Kawamura "Authority of Law”

Fig.142 Gozo Kawamura "Contemplation of Justice”

Fig. 68. Torajiro Watanabe, "Self-Portrait"

Fig. 69. Sekido Yoshida, "East River"

Previous slide

Next slide

Japanese artists praised each other for the works they showed at the Japanese art exhibition sponsored by the New York Shimpo. However, some English-language newspapers were more critical of the exhibition’s display. The New York Shimpo translated critiques of the exhibition that appeared in leading local newspapers and reported on its reception in American society.

“The exhibition of Japanese artists living in New York, organized by the New York Shimpo, has once again brought the issue of national adherence to art. […] Of particular interest to us is the fact that the source of the works is filled with a purely Japanese taste. Although some Westernized paintings showed their assimilation to the best of their ability, their Japanese taste remained strong, and the overall impression we got from the exhibition was that their national characteristics were clearly expressed. […] The fact that the Japanese have westernized their artistic habits greatly complements us, but the fact that the Japanese remain faithful to their habits as Japanese people must be their greatest reward.”

(“Don’t Forget the ‘Japanese Taste’ of Distinctive Art Exhibitions,” Herald Tribune review,” New York Shimpo, Feb. 23, 1927)

“Many Japanese artists have abandoned the most precious gift they received from their ancestors as Japanese and are in a rush to get as close as possible to the Western mindset and its reality, thinking that they have Westernized their observation. This artistic confusion is unavoidable, but from an American’s point of view,their western method seems great but it is not suitable for them.”

(“Japanese Art Exhibitions Fail to Westernize While Abandoning Precious Japanese Traditions, The New York Times’ Kelly sharply criticizes the popularity of Japanese art exhibitions at the Art Center,” New York Shimpo Feb. 26, 1927)

The exhibition of Japanese art sponsored by the New York Shimpo in 1927 brought together works by up-and-coming Japanese painters who had already been the talk of American art exhibitions. However, even these works were seen by the American public as imitations of Western painting, with the result that there was a noticeable critical opinion that the Japanese should make use of their Eastern methods.

1927 Japanese art exhibition sponsored by the New York Shimpo

1927 Japanese art exhibition
sponsored by the New York Shimpo