In 2011, the Yamatane Museum of Art celebrates the forty-fifth anniversary of its founding in 1966 as Japan's first museum specializing in Nihonga. To commemorate that milestone, the museum has selected the finest works from the approximately 1800 in its collection for a special exhibition entitled The Best of the Yamatane Collection.

The core of the collection consists of Nihonga acquired through deep relationships with illustrious artists who played leading roles in the world of painting from the Meiji through the Heisei periods, including Yokoyama Taikan, Uemura Shōen, Kobayashi Kokei, Yasuda Yukihiko, Okumura Togyū, Kayama Matazō, and Hirayama Ikuo. The museum's collection of paintings by Hayami Gyoshū, a Nihonga artist of almost mythical status, is unrivaled in quantity and quantity. The collection's range also extends beyond Nihonga to include Edo-period Rimpa and literati paintings, ukiyo-e by artists such as Tōshūsai Sharaku and Katsushika Hokusai, and modern Western-style paintings.

The eighty paintings in this special exhibition will include five paintings that have been designated Important Cultural Properties: Iwasa Matabei's Court Ladies Enjoying Wayside Chrysanthemums, Tsubaki Chinzan's View of Mt. Kunō, Takeuchi Seihō's Tabby Cat, and Hayami Gyoshū's Dancing in the Flames and Camellia Petals Scattering. It will also exhibit works such as Higashiyama Kaii's Rising Tide that were specially commissioned by the museum, paintings whose fame has spread through their use on postage stamps, such as Murakami Kagaku's Nude, Fukuda Heihachirō's Bamboo Shoots, Hayami Gyoshū's Dancing in the Flames (Important Cultural Property), and Okumura Togyū's Cherry Blossoms at Daigo-ji Temple, and hidden treasures of the museum such as Kawai Gyokudō's Hills and Streams in Autumn, which was first shown after the museum moved to Hiroo.

The exhibition will consist of two periods, with a complete replacement of the works on display for the second period. Each will provide a rare opportunity to view a large group of masterworks in one setting. Through this exhibition, we hope that visitors will be able to enjoy to the full the essence of the Yamatane collection.

Highlights of the Exhibition
1st period: (on display 11/12 - 12/25)
    •    Iwasa Matabei, Court Ladies Enjoying Wayside Chrysanthemums (Important Cultural Property), Ink, Gold and Light Color on Paper, Early Edo Period, Early 17th Century
    •    Sakai Hōitsu, Autumn Plants and Quail (Important Cultural Property), Color on Gold-Leafed Paper, Early Edo Period, Late Edo Period, Early 19th Century
    •    Yokoyama Taikan, Mt. Fuji (Spirit of God), Ink and Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1952
    •    Uemura Shōen, Scene from a Noh Play, "Kinuta," Color on Silk, Shōwa Period, 1938
    •    Tsuchida Bakusen, Oharame Girls, Women Peddlers, Color on Gold-Leafed Silk Gauze, Taishō Period, 1915
    •    Kobayashi Kokei, Scenes from the Legend of Kiyohime: Hidaka River, Color on Paper, Shōwa Period, 1930
    •    Hayami Gyoshū, Camellia Petals Scattering (Important Cultural Property), Color on Gold-Leafed Paper, Shōwa Period, 1929