My Favorite Piece: Collection Spotlight Vol. 8 Kushiro Art Museum, Hokkaido: Iwahashi Eien, An Iridescent Cloud
A conversation with Curator Matsuura Aoi
Iwahashi Eien, An Iridescent Cloud 1979, Kushiro Art Museum, Hokkaido
In this series, museum personnel from around Japan introduce a “favorite piece” from their own museum's collection, works that they hope everyone will see and appreciate. For this eighth installment, we visited the Kushiro Art Museum, Hokkaido, which opened in 1998.
Since it opened as a hub of arts and culture in the Kushiro-Nemuro region, the museum has developed its collection along three themes: “Nature and Art,” “Visual Arts,” and “The Region and Art.” As of April 2024, the museum has more than 900 works (919 works in its own collection, ten works on loan, and one other item on loan). The museum actively collects modern and contemporary art connected to the region and by artists connected to the region.
The “favorite piece” for this installment, An Iridescent Cloud, is a painting executed in iwa-enogu (mineral pigment) on paper. The piece was created by Iwahashi Eien (1903–1999), a nihonga (Japanese-style) painter from Hokkaido. We asked curator Matsuura Aoi about the allure of this work, which Iwahashi painted in his later years.
Focus on Hokkaido and Kushiro
- Curator Matsuura Aoi’s thoughts on her favorite piece
Matsuura likes how the appearance of the space changes with the weather, season, and time of day
A hub for art rooted in the local community
With the magnificent natural scenery of the Kushiro Wetlands and Lake Akan, the eastern Hokkaido city of Kushiro is popular as a summer resort. Its port facing the Pacific Ocean is a port of call for large cruise ships and cargo ships from all over the world.
Located close to the port and a roughly fifteen-minute walk from the JR Kushiro Station, Kushiro Art Museum was built in the architectural style of the red brick warehouses that used to be found in this area.
Sphere 1989–1990, by Arnaldo Pomodoro (1926–2025), in the museum courtyard
We interviewed Matsuura in early January. Kushiro is an area where there is relatively little snow for Hokkaido, and because it faces the Pacific Ocean it is frequently sunny, even in winter. However, on this particular day there was about five or six centimeters of snow on the ground. The red brick building against a backdrop of clear skies and snowy scenery is a beautiful sight that is unique to the northern port town of Kushiro.
In Japanese, this museum is called a geijutsukan rather than a bijutsukan because— thanks the enthusiastic efforts of the local residents to attract the museum—it was opened as a place where people can come into contact with all forms of art (geijutsu), not just fine arts (bijutsu).
In addition to its spaces for lectures, seminars, and workshops related to the exhibitions, the museum has a separate two hundred-seat Art Hall. It is a warm space where plays, concerts, film screenings, and other events are held.
Art Hall, Kushiro Art Museum, Hokkaido
Station of Art (SOA) volunteers play an essential role at the museum. They support the operation of the museum by taking on various roles, such as running the museum shop on the first floor and welcoming visitors from Japan and overseas at the café on the second floor.
Museum café and lounge area on second floor
A quiet corner for browsing the museum’s book collection and exhibition-related books. One bookcase is dedicated to a collection of books donated by photographer Mizukoshi Takeshi.
An Iridescent Cloud depicts the fleeting beauty and grandeur of Hokkaido
Iwahashi Eien’s An Iridescent Cloud was donated by a charitable foundation supported by the local Kushiro Shinkin Bank, and it has been in the museum's collection since it opened. It is often shown in the collection exhibition that is mounted each year, mainly in the winter. According to Matsuura, An Iridescent Cloud is beloved by local residents and many other visitors to the museum, and it can be considered the museum's signature work.
Saiun (iridescent cloud) is a phenomenon in which clouds near the sun appear to have the colors of a rainbow. This happens when the light of the sun bends slightly (diffracts) as it travels around the tiny water particles that make up the clouds, separating into a spectrum of colors as longer and shorter wavelengths bend differently.
These iridescent clouds only appear when certain conditions occur by chance at the same time, and since ancient times they have been considered to be a portent of good things to come. Iwahashi, who painted this cloud, apparently happened upon it during a visit to Lake Toya.
Iwahashi Eien, An Iridescent Cloud 1979, Kushiro Art Museum, Hokkaido
“Lake Toya is a caldera located in the middle of Shikotsu-Toya National Park in southwestern Hokkaido. It seems that Iwahashi encountered this cloud while he was in the area looking for inspiration, and he decided that rather than taking a photograph of it, he would sketch it on the spot and finish the piece when he returned home.
It doesn't just depict a beautiful meteorological phenomenon; it depicts a moment that captures the heart. Iwahashi left us with some words about this: he said that each person sees their own rainbow.
The fleeting beauty of the cloud—which changes in shape and color over and over again thanks to the wind—is depicted through Iwahashi’s filter, leaving different impressions on each viewer. The allure of this, as well as the uniqueness of the cloud shape itself, may be the reason why this work is still loved by so many people even today.”
This work is relatively large, measuring 149.8 cm in height and 210.5 cm in width, and Iwahashi was in his mid-seventies when it was unveiled. It is amazing that he had the passion and physical strength to continue painting with such energy.
That day, this place: Region and Art in Collection, exhibition view, Kushiro Art Museum, Hokkaido
Iwahashi Eien was a nihonga artist who mainly looked to nature as the subject of his paintings, depicting the power and solemnity of nature that transcend human understanding—and its mysteries and illusions—on a grand scale.
He was born in 1903 in what is now Ebeotsu-cho in the city of Takikawa, which is located almost in the center of Hokkaido. He was the second generation of a military family that settled in Ebeotsu, and he worked on the family farm until he was around twenty years old. He moved to Tokyo in 1923 at the age of twenty-one to devote himself to study painting in the Japanese style. He studied at the school of Yamanouchi Tamon (1878–1932) and after the war he studied under Yasuda Yukihiko (1884–1978). His painting Sakyu [Sand Dunes] won an Encouragement Award at the 34th Inten Exhibition in 1949, and his paintings Meiji and Nemuri [Sleep] won the Nihon Bijutsuin [Japan Art Institute] Award in 1950 and 1951, respectively. In 1953, he was nominated to the institute’s highest position of dounin, responsible for operating the institute.
Iwahashi continued to paint throughout his life, deftly incorporating the influences of surrealism as well as Western painting techniques. He also taught the next generation of artists as a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts, and he was named a Person of Cultural Merit in 1989 and received the Order of Culture in 1994. He spent his final years in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, where he painted many scenes of the natural surroundings of his hometown of Ebeotsu and of his childhood memories.
“It has been said that his sensitivity, feeling something whenever he looked at nature, came from working as a farmer in his hometown until he was about twenty years old. When we think of nihonga paintings, the first image that comes to mind is kacho-fugetsu (literally “flower, bird, wind, and moon,” a term for the beauty of nature). But Iwahashi may have wanted to paint and introduce people to the things that he saw himself that made him feel good. He was an artist who continued to think freely and take on new challenges.”
Focus on Hokkaido and Kushiro
When looking at this work, various images come to mind, such as the changing colors of the sky and the movement of the clouds he has drawn.
“What was the shape of this cloud before the wind blew on it? And how did it disappear? It is fun to imagine the flow of time before and after this scene. Iwahashi-san did not rely on photographs. Instead, he thought deeply about his subject and reconstructed the moment as he painted. This appeal to the imagination is something in common with photography, my area of expertise.”
Moriyama Daido (1938– ) was the topic for Matsuura’s thesis as both an undergraduate and graduate student, so I asked her what led her to specialize in photography.
“I was not good at drawing pictures, but I loved looking at things and I wanted to express myself in some way besides drawing, so I started taking photographs when I was in high school. Later, instead of becoming someone who takes photos, I considered following a career path that would allow me to become a curator or researcher—someone who specializes in looking at things—and I furthered my education at university and in graduate school.”
Matsuura is from the city of Kitami, located in eastern Hokkaido. After spending her student years in Kyoto, she returned to work in a museum in Kitami as a staff member. After that, she became a staff member at the Hokkaido Board of Education, and she has been working as a curator at the museum since 2023.
“When at university, while I was taking classes from a lecturer who was researching Moriyama Daido, I became increasingly drawn to Moriyama’s incredible work and the joy of photography. Looking at his career, he went through a period of setbacks in his late thirties to his forties, and the style of his work changed. It was a visit to Hokkaido, where I am originally from, that helped him get out of his slump.
Hokkaido was a place that Moriyama, who was born in Osaka, had longed to visit since he was a child. He had already visited the area several times for work, but when he was forty years old he stayed there for about three months, later publishing his work in Hokkaido, his 2008 photography book.
Contemporaries like Tomatsu Shomei (1930–2012) and Nakahira Takuma (1938–2015) were interested in Okinawa, but it seems like the desolate northern landscape gelled with Moriyama’s own feelings. After that, he gradually regained his passion for photography, with Hokkaido as the catalyst.”
In fiscal 2023, the museum added twenty pieces from Moriyama Daido’s Hokkaido to our collection. We mounted the exhibition Recent Acquisitions “Hokkaido” by Moriyama Daido and Other Works in fiscal 2024. Some of these works were also on display in That day, this place: Region and Art in Collection, a collection exhibition that was being shown at the time of this interview.
That day, this place: Region and Art in Collection, exhibition view The second and third pieces from the right are from Moriyama Daido’s Hokkaido series
“Our museum is the only one of the seven prefecture-run museums in Hokkaido that focuses on collecting photography, so we would like to take advantage of the Hokkaido photos. As far as I know, there aren’t many museums in Japan that have collected these works, but they fit well with our distinctive collection and exhibition activities, a distinction that I would like to maintain.”
Exhibition gallery entrance
Visitors are greeted by Kamome no Momo-chan, the museum’s mascot, at the entrance to the exhibition gallery
Towards the end of the interview, Matsuura said, “I like the lobby’s atrium space. When it is illuminated by the setting sun the atmosphere is really beautiful.” Upon learning this, I decided to tour the city on foot as I waited for sunset.
Thanks to word-of-mouth spread by the sailors who call at the port from all over the world, Kushiro has been known as having one of the three best sunsets in the world since the mid-1960s. Nusamai Bridge, which is just a ten-minute walk from the museum, is a famous spot for watching the sunset.
That afternoon, the clear sky suddenly became cloudy and it started to snow for a while, but unbelievably, about thirty minutes before sunset the sky turned blue again. When I walked back to the museum in the cold wind I was able to enjoy the breathtaking scene of the setting sun. When you visit the museum, be sure to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Kushiro along with the exhibition.
Evening view of the port from along the Kushiro River, just a few minutes’ walk from the Kushiro Art Museum
Curator Matsuura Aoi’s thoughts on her favorite piece
On the right side of the piece, near the edge of the cloud, there is an intricate layering of colors like pale yellow, green, and blue. The transitions between the colors are delicately expressed. Moreover, the matière and texture of the entire work are exquisite.
The thin layer of the finish that Iwahashi applied to the surface creates a unique texture. Apparently this was the product of his research on the consistency of glue and the specific gravity of paint. He had been trying out unconventional tools and drawing techniques since his youth, and it seems that even in his mid-seventies he was painting using unexpected methods.
Matsuura Aoi
Born in Hokkaido, Matsuura has been working as a curator at Kushiro Art Museum, Hokkaido since 2023. She curated Masterpieces from the Kushiro Art Museum (2023), Traveling to Earth, to People, to Photographs: Nagakura Hiromi Exhibition and Momo-chan Art Festival 2024 (2024), and The National Museum of Art Collection PLUS—The Beginning of Contemporary Photography and Beyond (2025).
Kushiro Art Museum, Hokkaido
4-1-5, Saiwaicho, Kushiro City, Hokkaido
TEL: 81-(0)154-23-2381
(Interview, photography, and text by Naomi)
