Thank you for visiting the Kanda Nissho Memorial Museum of Art website.
Nissho Kanda (1937-1970) was evacuated from Tokyo to Shikaoi Village in Hokkaido as a member of the Takuhoku Farm Corps just before the end of the war in August 1945, and lived a turbulent period as a farmer and painter. A painter who grew up strong while shouldering the strict and harsh daily life of a pioneer, eventually pursued humanity as a human being in a turbulent society, and with his thought that “I would like to leave a sure trace of life on that pure white canvas,” he drew his own way of life into his works, and while undergoing a surprising change in his painting style, he pioneered his own painting method of realism. Sparing no time for the hard labor of pioneering, he actively applied mainly to the local Hirabara-sha Exhibition, the All Hokkaido Exhibition, and the Independent Exhibitions, and was quickly gaining fame. However, in August of 1970, he suddenly fell ill.
The museum was opened in June 1993 as the Shikaoi Town Kanda Nissho Memorial Museum as a result of the enthusiasm of many fans who mourned the death of the artist who died at the young age of 32, and years of construction campaigns.
Since the opening of the museum, we have developed various projects, including exhibitions of artists from inside and outside Hokkaido. In 2019, it was used as a motif for the young painter Tenyo Yamada, who appeared in the NHK serial TV novel “Natsuzora”. As a result, it has become known nationwide. Fifty years after the artist’s death, we hope that you will still be able to get a sense of his deep insight into living and drawing from the contributions that remain with his works.
His representative work, Horse (Unfinished), whispers a voiceless voice into the heart of the viewers. In an era when the momentum for mutual business collaboration between museums is increasing, as a base for local arts and culture activities, his work has become familiar to many people, and we are trying to operate with a future in mind while exploring new museums for a new era.
On this website, we are trying to provide information on exhibitions and various other information related to the museum in a concise manner, and we hope that you will make the most out of it.
We look forward to welcoming you to our museum.
Director, Nissho Kanda Memorial Museum of Art
Jun Kobayashi
