As a young student of realistic nihonga (Japanese-style painting), Kansetsu Hashimoto worked under the eminent teacher Seiho Takeuchi (1864-1942), a painter best known for his depictions of animals. But Hashimoto, distancing himself from the master and his subject material, later said that he "didn't gain anything from being in Seiho's school," and the two remained in conflict and competition throughout their careers.

At least one of Hashimoto's own animal paintings must have had monumental significance for him, though. His wife, Yone, died in 1932 and the work "Gen'en (Dark Gibbons)" (1933) is believed to be the artistic outpouring of his loss. In Chinese poetry, the gibbon is venerated for its mournful cry — a cry that Hashimoto might offer now from beyond the grave considering the late 20th century reception of his artistic legacy. Since World War II, the image of the Kobe-born artist has been that of an animal painter from the Shijo School of nihonga that Seiho taught.

Hashimoto (1883-1945) died as the war in Japan climaxed, and so no memorial exhibition that an artist of his stature would typically receive took place. Thus his entire body of work remains to this day floundering in comparisons to the animal subjects of Seiho. Unfortunately, the present exhibition of Hashimoto's works at the Shohaku Art Museum (running till Feb. 1) — however fascinating for the opportunity to review several famous works — falls short on providing a full context. Instead, the show is beefed up by 10 or so nihonga works by Shoen Uemura (1875-1949); her son, Shoko; and his son, Atsushi (from the museum's collection), in order to give what is a far too general background, connected, as it is, only by the tenuous fact that Shoen Uemura and Hashimoto temporarily shared the same teacher in Seiho.