30th Anniversary of His Death: Tsuneyoshi Imamura, Illustrator - Longing for Edo Exhibition

About this event

This exhibition is the first large-scale retrospective held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of illustrator Tsuneyoshi Imamura. Born in 1909 into a family of the former Sakura Domain, Tsuneyoshi Imamura spent his childhood in Sakura. After studying under Japanese painters Shuso Hotta and Shuho Yamakawa, he transitioned to becoming an illustrator in 1935. He provided illustrations for renowned authors including Seishi Yokomizo's "Ningyo Sashichi Torimonocho" series, Kodo Nomura, Juran Hisao, and Kan Shimozawa, remaining active long into the postwar period. Living in downtown Tokyo and loving the daily lives of townspeople from the Edo period, Imamura was a refined man of taste who also practiced lion dance (shishimai) and village kagura (sato-kagura). In his later years, even after losing the use of his dominant right hand, he switched his paintbrush to his left hand and continued for over 30 years to paint covers for yose (vaudeville theater) programs, actively depicting the beloved customs and manners of Edo. This exhibition showcases original cover paintings and other works conveying the admired "Edo" depicted by Imamura, who called himself an "Edo Painter."

Venue

Sakura City Museum of Art

210 Shinmachi, Sakura, Chiba 285-0023