Seian Shima's "Untitled" (1918), in "Women Artists in Osaka" at the Osaka City Museum of Modern Art till Dec. 7, is a remarkable work. A self-portrait — uncommon in Japanese painting generally — it conforms to no ideal form of beauty, unlike images done in the bijinga (beautiful woman pictures) genre. Then there is the mystery of the imaginary blue nevus around the right eye.
Such birthmarks were held to fade with the passing of years, and are associated with the newborn — the unformed. This is a painting in progress, as is the artist's development, and as is reflected in the unfinished picture of grass and leaves within the picture. Shima had not yet achieved real maturity, not surprising for a painter whose work was selected for the 1912 Bunten (Ministry of Education Exhibition) when she was only 19. By 1920, though, Shima (1892-1970) accepted an arranged marriage and the desire to paint such provocative work ceased, as did her imprint on art history.
Osaka art and artists have not figured prominently in modern Japanese histories, and were passed over altogether in the influential books of the Japanese art canon by Meiji Era scholar Tenshin Okakura (1862-1913). Art historian Nobuo Nakatani believes that Osaka art circles' fondness for Chinese inspired art was at odds with the 20th-century drive to Westernization. He also thinks that the collapse of Osaka's economy following the destruction of the city in World War II caused collectors to stop buying Osaka paintings.