Paintings and Drawings from Kuroda Memorial Hall

This thematic display is held to commemorate the establishment of the National Institute for Cultural Heritage that resulted from the merger of two Independent Administrative Institutions: National Museum and the National Research Institute of Cultural Properties.

The National Research Institute of Cultural Properties, Tokyo was originally established in 1930 as the Imperial Art Academy's Institute of Art Research at the Kuroda Memorial Hall. It conducted scientific art research and collected research materials. The Kuroda Memorial Hall was constructed in 1928 in memory of Kuroda Seiki (1866-1924), a Western style painter and professor at Tokyo Art School (present National University of Fine Arts and Music) after most of his works in his possession and funds were donated to the government to promote the arts according to his will. Since its opening, the donated works were exhibited in the Kuroda Memorial Gallery to honor his achievements in painting. Currently, the Gallery is open to the public on Thursday and Saturday afternoons.

This display features 14 oil paintings such as A Girl with Red Hair, dating mainly from his years of study in France (1884-1893), as well as 18 watercolors, including two from the Japanese Genre Scenes series, Rickshaw and Geisha, which were used for the illustration of the French magazine Le Figaro-illustre, to introduce the new artistic expression introduced to Japanese modern painting by Kuroda.