When Japan opened up to the West after the Meiji Restoration, it had a lot of catching up to do. Achievements that took hundreds of years to develop in European civilization were transplanted to Japan in a few decades.
This could only be done through the stupendous efforts of some very talented and dedicated reformers. In the art world, one such person was Ryusei Kishida (1891-1929), whose tragically short career helped Japanese Western-style painting make up much of the distance that separated it from its foreign models.
To commemorate the 110th anniversary of Kishida's birth, a major retrospective of his art is being held at the Museum of Modern Art in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, which is itself celebrating its 50th anniversary.