In the Flesh: The Nude in Japanese Art

In the Flesh: The Nude in Modern Japan explores the emergence of the nude as a provocative and transformative subject in Japanese art from the late nineteenth century through the postwar period. Long associated in Japan with erotic imagery rather than fine art, the unclothed body became a focal point for debates about morality, modernity, and artistic freedom as artists engaged with Western academic traditions.

​​As Japanese artists encountered new ideas about anatomy, realism, and the expressive potential of the human form, the nude gradually entered the repertoire of modern painting, printmaking, and other media. Bathing, grooming, and moments of private introspection offered socially acceptable frameworks for depicting the unclothed figure, while later modernist artists pushed beyond idealized forms toward bold color, abstraction, and psychological intensity.

Featuring works on paper and an arresting oil painting by Ishikawa Toraji—In the Flesh traces how artists reimagined the body in response to changing social norms and artistic priorities. Predominantly images of women, these works reflect both the conventions of the genre and the perspectives of the artists and audiences who shaped it. Together, they reveal how the nude became a site for negotiating gender, desire, and artistic identity in modern Japan.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website