Event
Domoto Mototsugu: Retrospective – Reflections on His Mind -
Apr 3, 2016(sun) – Jun 12, 2015 (sun)
Admission:
Adults 500YEN 400YEN
University students
High school students 400YEN 320YEN
Junior high school students
Elementary school students 200YEN 160YEN
http://insho-domoto.com/plan/new/next/index-e.html
Venue
KYOTO PREFECTURAL INSHO-DOMOTO MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~domoto/
Access: 26-3 Kamiyanagi-cho, Hirano Kita-ku, Kyoto, 603-8355, Japan
Tel: 075-463-0007
Hours: 9:30 ~ 17:00
（entry up to 30 minutes before closing.）
Closed: Monday (Tuesday if the Monday is a national holiday)
and Year-end/New Year
Description
Mototsugu Domoto (1923-2010) was born in Kyoto City. After graduating from the Kyoto City School of Arts and Crafts in 1941, he went to the Kyoto Municipal Special School of Painting (now the Kyoto City University of Arts), with the ambition of becoming an artist. However, his graduation was expedited when he was conscripted in 1943, and was later exposed to radiation at Hiroshima while in the army. Suffering from radiation sickness after being demobilized, he started his artistic career, in which The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition (Nitten) played an important part. Mototsugu Domoto achieved recognition for his artistic talent relatively quickly. He became part of the Domoto family when he married the daughter of Insho Domoto’s eldest brother after a personal introduction by his former teacher. He subsequently studied under Insho, tackling a variety of styles including contemporary genre paintings and abstract art.
A turning point in his practice came in 1979, when he visited China for the first time, at the age of 56. Fascinated by the prototypical landscapes he saw there, his experience of these landscapes had a lasting influence on his work. In 1982, he was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize with the work “Village with the Warm Earth” in the Nitten. While he had deep passion for painting, Mototsugu was restrained in his execution, and his style was fairly understated, earning him high praise. In 1987, he was awarded The Japan Art Academy Prize, establishing him as one of the main pillars of the Nitten.
The current exhibition is the first retrospective of Nihonga artist, Mototsugu Domoto, with nearly 80 paintings including his representative work after the war, drawings, small sketches, and those produced while he was still at school. We hope visitors will be able to discern an impressive variety of styles.
