A private preview of the "Returning Home: Edo Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection" exhibition, sponsored by the Kyoto Shimbun and other organizations, was held on September 2 prior to the September 3 public opening at the Museum of Kyoto, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto.

The collection consists of Japanese fine art work which Dr. Kurt Gitter, an ophthalmologist from New Orleans, and his wife, Yelen, have collected over about 40 years, since the time he was in Japan as a U.S. medical officer. A total of 107 works including paintings, scrolls and "Byobu" folding screens in styles such as "Zenga," or Zen inspired paintings, "Bunjinga," or literati paintings, "Rinpa" School and eccentric painters, have returned to Japan.

About 230 invited guests appreciated the beauty and humor which comes alive through the rich expression, via jaunty brush strokes, ink shading, blank space and so on, of artists including Jakuchu Ito, Ekaku Hakuin, Soutatsu Tawaraya, Buson Yosa and Taiga Ikeno. Dr. Gitter, who attended the private preview said, "Most of my collection is works of painters who were active in Kyoto, and I bought them in Kyoto. I am honored to exhibit them in this area." The exhibition will continue until October 16. The museum is closed on Mondays, or Tuesdays when the previous Monday is a holiday. Works on display will be changed during the exhibition period. There is an admission fee.