This year (2024) marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Impressionism.
An Impressionist exhibition is being held at the Sompo Museum in Shinjuku.
Last month, I saw the exhibition with his wife.
Impressionist works were displayed in chronological order.
I have not liked Impressionist works since I was a student.
It seemed childish, like it was drawn by a middle school or high school art club student.
Lately, I’ve started looking at paintings more often, and I’ve come to realize something.
The fact is that the students in the art club were creating impressionist-like works.
Impressionist paintings became the standard for art education.
I liked some of the works on display at the art exhibition.
I bought the exhibition catalog at the museum shop.
At home, I opened the catalog and looked at the paintings.
The impression of the works was completely different from when I saw them at the exhibition hall.
What was Japan like 150 years ago?
150 years ago was 1874, the 7th year of the Meiji era.
The new Meiji government promoted a policy of enriching the country and strengthening the military.
Three years later, Takamori Saigo, who had retired from a key government position and was running a school in Kyushu, fought the Seinan Rebellion against the Meiji government forces.
Kuroda Seiki, the father of Western painting in Japan, went to France to study in 1884.
At first he studied law, but in 1886, under the tutelage of Raphael Conan, he began to study painting.
Raphael Conan was a traditional painter, but he also incorporated impressionist and symbolist styles to create his own unique style.