Art in Kyoto by Shimomura Ryōnosuke

The National Museum of Modern Art of Kyoto presented the first retrospective exhibition of the work of SHIMOMURA Ryōnosuke (1923–1998), the Kyoto-based painter who pioneered new modes of expression in the field of nihonga (Japanese-style painting), in commemoration of the decennial of his death.
Shimomura is especially known for his affiliation with the PanReal Art Association, which revolutionized the postwar nihonga world.


He sought new methods of expression, rising against conventional nihonga (Japanese-style painting) and producing works inspired by Cubism. He came up with the ingenious approach of creating massive paintings using papier-mâché, with the central motif of ‘birds.’

He opened up new frontiers in expression as though he were putting his works in the charge of “a bird that slashes through the sky.”