Long-lost Koiso painting to be exhibited in Seoul

Written by Writer on Friday, November 14th, 2008

Long-lost Koiso painting to be exhibited in Seoul

Yasuhiro Maeda / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

SEOUL–A long-lost painting by Ryohei Koiso (1903-1988) will be exhibited from Tuesday at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, which discovered the painting in its collection, the museum said Thursday.

In his 1935 painting “Nihongami no Musume” (Girl with a Japanese Coiffure), Koiso, Japan’s leading Western-style painter of the Showa era (1926-1989), depicted a woman in Japanese costume sitting on a chair.

The painting is said to have been purchased by a member of the royal family of the last Korean dynasty in 1937. The last prince and family members of that dynasty are said to have collected about 200 Japanese art works.

The museum plans to exhibit about 40 Japanese Western-style paintings from its collection for the first time since the end of World War II.

South Korea had not exhibited Japanese art out of deference to national sentiment until 2002, when the museum exhibited some Japanese craft products.
(Nov. 15, 2008)