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The Ohara Family of Kurashiki and Chinese Painting

Until Jun 7

The white-walled townscape of Kurashiki preserves much of its historic atmosphere. During the mid-Edo period (1603–1868), the city flourished as a political and economic powerhouse in Bitchu Province, benefitting from land reclamation projects on the Seto Inland Sea and the accompanying cultivation of new rice fields. Unlike most places in Japan at the time, which were ruled and protected by a samurai lord, Kurashiki was governed directly by the Tokugawa shogunate. Over the years, a spirit of autonomy grew in Kurashiki’s townspeople. Affluent merchants played a central roles as they amassed power and influence by distributing and processing locally produced goods like rice, cotton, and rapeseed. By the late Edo period, the Ohara family was part of an emergent group of wealthy merchants who had come to exert considerable authority. By the time the shogunate fell in 1868, the Ohara family was one of Kurashiki’s best-known mercantile families. In the modern period, the Ohara family began operating the Kurashiki Spinning Co. and has used a portion of their earnings to fund Kurashiki’s continued development ever since.

This exhibition showcases Chinese paintings that the Ohara family collected and appreciated over generations, with a special focus on those acquired by the sixth, seventh, and eighth family heads, Koshiro (1833–1910), Magosaburo (1880–1943), and Soichiro (1909–1968). Koshiro served as the first president of Kurashiki Spinning Co. He solidified the family’s financial base as a modern industrial capitalist. Magosaburo was a leading entrepreneur in western Japan who fostered an unusual legacy through his many initiatives meant to benefit society. In the postwar period, Soichiro led the Kurashiki Rayon Co. (now Kuraray). His tireless commitment to his ideals earned him a reputation as a “beautiful businessman.” The Chinese painting collection these figures built reflects not only their enduring admiration for Chinese culture but also the changing times and Japan’s evolving relationship with China.

This exhibition explores the Ohara family’s interest in Chinese painting through works dating from the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) to the modern period, including 2 National Treasures, 2 Important Cultural properties, and several works that are being exhibited for the first time. Highlights include Court Lady (National Treasure), which was brought to Japan during the medieval period to become part of the Ashikaga shoguns’ collection the Higashiyama Treasures, Elegant Gathering at Kenjudo (on view for the first time) by Hu Tiemei (1848–1899), which offers insights into the family’s interactions with a Chinese painter in Japan soon after the end of the shogunate’s isolation policy, and Plum Trees by Wu Changshuo (1844–1927), the “last” Chinese literati painter and an enormously influential figure in Japan and China’s cultural exchanges during the modern period.

This exhibition further marks the first time the handscroll Five Oxen will be on view since its extensive conservation in 2023. It is our hope that sharing the discoveries made at the time, including a surprising connection between the Yuan-dynasty masterpiece Five Oxen and the renowned twentieth-century Chinese painter Zhang Daqian (1899–1983), will encourage active debate and contribute to advancing the field of research on Chinese painting.

Schedule

Now in session

Apr 25 (Sat) 2026-Jun 7 (Sun) 2026 34 days left