NOTES ON JAPANESE ART EXHIBITIONS

During the period between 1900 and 1945, the Imperial Japanese government actively supported the arts, both by commissioning or purchasing individual artworks and by sponsoring annual national exhibitions. These exhibitions were by invitation only and membership conveyed great prestige. The art displayed was vetted by members of high standing, though eventually some artists came to be granted permission to circumvent the vetting process. These exhibitions attracted many tens of thousands of visitors each year, and the press reviewed them closely. As a result, the participating artists displayed their finest work at these shows.

Throughout the 20th century, the government-sponsored exhibition system underwent numerous changes in both name and organizational structure. It began in 1907 with the Ministry of Education Exhibition or Bunten, which showcased Japanese-style painting, western-style painting, and sculpture. In 1919, the Bunten was reorganized as the Teiten, under the new auspices of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. In 1936, the privilege for well-established artists to circumvent the vetting process became a subject of intense controversy among the participants and resulted in a decision by the Ministry of Education to resume control of the Teiten. That year two exhibitions were held, the First Reformed Teiten (Kaiso Dai Ikkai Teiten) and the autumn Bunten Kansaten. Beginning the following year, the exhibitions were renamed as the Shin-Bunten, and returned to an annual frequency. The 1940 exhibition was renamed the Hōshukuten in honor of the 2600th anniversary of the Imperial dynasty, and the name Shin-Bunten was resumed the following year. After the War, the annual exhibitions continued without Imperial sponsorship, and under the auspices of the national government, they came to be known as the Nitten.

Throughout its history, the government’s exhibition system, due to its bureaucratic nature, has occasionally driven artists to seek alternative venues at which to display their work. In 1914, a group of artists led by Yokoyama Taikan revived the Japan Art Institute, originally founded in 1898 by Okakura Tenshin, and under the auspices of this organization, they began to hold annual exhibitions known as the Inten. Lesser-known art circles and individuals found opportunities for displaying their work at department stores such as Takashimaya in Tokyo’s fashionable Nihonbashi quarter. As is the case in contemporary Japan, this form of corporate sponsorship was considered highly respectable by both artists and the general public alike.

Since 1906, the Japanese government published catalogs for the exhibitions that it sponsored, and each catalog included photographs of most of the material exhibited that year. These publications have been compiled and reprinted as the series History of the Nitten Exhibitions (Nittenshi). This resource provides a thorough understanding of officially sanctioned Japanese art throughout the 20th century, and by itself, the copious material regarding pre-war art fills 15 volumes. Similarly, the Inten catalogs have been summarized, and much of the material has been republished as the series History of the Inten- Exhibitions (Intenshi).

Brief History of the Government-Sponsored Exhibitions
 

Independently Sponsored Art Exhibitions