Mizuno Toshikata～Successor of Yoshitoshi

Mizuno Toshikata (1866～1908) was an ukiyo-e artist and Japanese-style painter of the Meiji period. He apprenticed under Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, and succeeding his master’s style of painting, worked on historical paintings, bijin-ga (portraits of beautiful women), newspaper illustrations, and war picture depicting the Sino-Japanese war. Furthermore, his frontispiece drawings for novels and for literary magazines such as the “Bungei Club” gained much popularity.

     Moreover, Toshikata became an associate member of the Japan Art Academy, led by Okakura Tenshin , and discussed with fellow painters such as Yokoyama Taikan and Hishida Shunsō about producing a new style of Japanese painting. Considering that his line of pupils include Ito Shinsui, it can be said that Toshikata had a considerable impact on Japanese-style paintings of the Taishō and Shōwa periods.

     However, Toshikata has received little attention not only in the context of modern art history but also within ukiyo-e history. Perhaps his early death at the age of 43 is a reason.

     This year celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mizuno Toshikata in 1866. In commemoration, this exhibition displays his works, with a focus on ukiyo-e wood-block prints. This is the first exhibition to explore the works of Mizuno Toshikata as an ukiyo-e artist. Please enjoy the tender colors, rarely achieved in such wood-block prints, and the sweet beauty of the women of the Meiji period.