In 18th- and 19th-century Japan, the presence of female artists in painting circles slowly increased until in the 20th century, social reforms allowed them access to secondary education and vocational schools as well as art training, patronage and chances to compete in national exhibitions.
The swelling numbers led a critic in 1916 to note that for the 2,000 or so male painters in Osaka, there were 600 female ones. But this was an exaggeration, because, despite their presence, few women achieved the success of their male counterparts.
Three who did are showing at Shiga's Museum of Modern Art till June 3, in "Three Great Women Painters: Shoen Uemura, Yuki Ogura, Fuku Akino." Their works, which span the entire 20th century, tell of a gradual movement away from the narrow themes and techniques in nihonga (Japanese-style painting) to the artistic freedoms that were long the assumed right of their male contemporaries. It is also a story of looks and views shifting from the conservative and outwardly disengaged to penetrating stares and distant perspectives.