Mori Yoshio

9 - 31 March 1991

Hours: 9:30a.m.- 5:00 p.m.

Admission: charged

Yoshio Mori is noted as a painter，who have seeked after the unique expression of human figures all his life and have left his mark on the history of Japanese paintings in the Showa period with his”Two Persons”of1950，which retains a monumental meaning in that history. In Japan，after the World War II，a lot of talented painters tried to produce their own human figures，among which Mori’s expression presented a most impressive character which symbolizes a certain aspect of the Japanese society after the War and has added a new page to the history of modern Japanese figurative painting. It seems as if we heard the sorrowful voices of denouncing the tragic situations of the age from his profound and moral human figures.

Mori was born in Azabu in Tokyo on1908．He began to study the drawing of plaster figure under Ikunosuke Shirataki in 1925, when he was a high school student at Keio Gijuku and after that，went to the Hongo Art School. In 1928，he studied at the Art School of the 1930 Society under Takashi Nakayama and the following year，his “Landscape of Suburbs in Winter” was accepted for the exhibition of the 1930 Society for the first time. In 1931，he went to France and also his work was accepted for the exhibition at the Salon d’Automne. After he had returned，he worked very hard，belonging to the Dokuritsu Bijutsu Society，the Jiyu Bijutsuka Society，and the Shutai Bijutsu Society and coming into intimate relations with the painters Kaoru Yamaguchi, Saburo Hasegawa, Masanari Murai, Rokuro Yabashi, and Saburo Aso. When looking back at his long－term activities as a painter，we cannot help being impressed by his landscape and still life，but at the same time we realize that the essence of his art consists in his human figure like “Mother and Child”，that is his real achievement．When he wrestles with the theme of human figure，he studies the variations of composition very carefully and works on the same motif again and agai. His painting style is consistent through his life and is characterized by the quiet and subdued tones of color，which reminds us of those we see in the frescoes of Italian Renaissance，the solid forms with warm feeling， the monumental quality，and the dignity and quietness on the whole．All these characters tell us the excellence that Mori’s art has attained．With his simple idiom discarding rhetorical expressions，he has approached the purity of the art of painting more closely than any other artists. Add to that，his definite and powerful composition，which reminds us of Mediterranean Art, conveys the warm human emotion and cannot help impressing those who have seen his paintings very deeply．

This exhibition is organized to reveal the whole expanse of Mori’s art over half a century and lO3 oil paintings and 51 drawings are exhibited. We are sure that they should attract most people who will visit this exhibition.

We would like to express our deep gratitude to the museums and the collectors，who have graciously loaned the works for display，and to all the individuals who have offered their cooperation．