Category: Report

Tokyo National Museum

To mark the 850th anniversary of the founding of the Jodo sect, a special exhibition titled “Honen and the Pure Land” has begun at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, Tokyo, where many treasures related to the founder of the sect, Honen, have been gathered from temples across the country. The exhibition will run until June 9, 2024.

*Some of the artworks on display will be changed during the exhibition. Please check the official exhibition website for details.

Originally developed in India and China, the belief in going to the Pure Land, a world free from suffering established in the west by Amida Buddha, is called “Jodo Buddhism” or “Jodo faith” in Japan and was adopted mainly by the Tendai sect’s Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei.

Honen (1133-1212), born at the end of the Heian period, a time when the age of the Latter Day of the Law was plagued by successive wars, natural disasters, and epidemics, studied Pure Land Buddhism on Mount Hiei, and in 1175 (Joan 5) founded the Jodo sect, which taught that by chanting “Namu Amida Butsu,” everyone can be equally saved by Amida Buddha and be reborn in the Pure Land.

“Namu Amida Butsu” means “I take refuge in Amida Tathagata.” The simple teaching of “Senshu Nembutsu,” which says that if you recite this six-character phrase (Nenbutsu) out loud, you will be able to attain paradise regardless of whether you have undergone rigorous training or good deeds, is so simple that it has gained the support of a wide range of people from aristocrats to uneducated commoners who are suffering from hardship, and it has grown into one of the major sects of Kamakura Buddhism. It has been passed down continuously to the present day.

This large-scale exhibition, held to commemorate the 850th anniversary of the founding of the Jodo sect in 2024, will survey the art and history of the Jodo sect, from its founding by Honen to its great development in the Edo period with the support of the Tokugawa Shogunate, through precious treasures, including national treasures and important cultural properties, held by Jodo sect temples and other institutions across the country .

The exhibition is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1, “Honen and His Times,” introduces the kind of person Honen was, his appearance, achievements, and ideas.

This exhibit features the Important Cultural Property “Senke Hongan Nembutsu Shu (Rosanji version),” which is the fundamental scripture of the Jodo sect that systematizes Honen’s philosophy and whose opening section even features calligraphy written by Honen himself; and the National Treasure “Honen Shonin Illustrated Biography,” a lengthy picture scroll spanning 48 volumes that can be said to be a culmination of the many biographies of Honen, containing not only the life of Honen from his birth to his death, but also the achievements of the nobles, samurai, and disciples who converted to the Jodo sect .

The statue of Saint Honen Seated, the principal image of the Okuin sanctuary of Taimadera Temple in Nara, is a rare example of a sculpture of Honen made in the Middle Ages, and is said to show the figure of a relatively young man. The statue is well-built, with a gentle expression that seems to be slightly smiling. This laid-back friendliness is in keeping with the popularity of the Jodo sect, and it is truly symbolic that it is displayed right at the entrance to this exhibition.

As the influence of the religious organization grew, some of them began to misinterpret the teachings and disrupt public morals, and the followers of Enryaku- ji Temple even filed a lawsuit to demand an end to Senshu Nembutsu. At that time, Honen had his disciples sign the Seven Prohibitions to encourage self-discipline. If you look closely, you will see that it also contains the signature of Shinran, the founder of Jodo Shinshu, when he was young.

The highlight of Chapter 2, “The World of Amida Buddha,” which conveys the growing faith that spread to the common people through the many sculptures of Amida Nyorai that were imbued with the wishes of many people, is the National Treasure “Amida and the Twenty-five Bodhisattvas Raising Welcome,” which is housed in Chion-in Temple in Kyoto, the head temple of the Jodo sect of Buddhism, just like the previously introduced “Illustrated Biography of Honen Shonin.”

This work is known by the nickname “Hayaraigo” (Early Arrival) , and is featured in textbooks as a masterpiece of Kamakura-period Buddhist painting, so many people should be familiar with it. A Raigo-zu painting is one that depicts Amida Buddha, accompanied by bodhisattvas, descending on a cloud to take a dying person who is reciting the Nembutsu to the Pure Land, and the name “Hayaraigo” comes from the magnificent depiction of flying clouds in a diagonal composition that emphasizes the sense of speed as the water falls in a straight line from the waterfall. This type of design likely reflects the wishes of those who prayed for a swift arrival.

A three-year period beginning in 2019 saw the painting undergo extensive dismantling and repair, which included replacing the backing paper (reinforcing paper that is affixed directly to the back of the original painting), making the painting brighter and enhancing the landscape that gave rise to the three-dimensional expression of scenery that is characteristic of this painting, such as the blue color of the water’s surface and the deeply carved mountain slopes.

The National Treasure “Tsuzureori Taima Mandala,” a treasured principal image of Taima-dera Temple in Nara, a sacred place of Pure Land Buddhism, is also a must-see. This work was originally composed of the third chapter, but due to space constraints, it was displayed in the second chapter area.

This stunning four-meter-wide painting of the Pure Land depicts the contents of the Sutra of Contemplation of Infinite Life, one of the three great scriptures of Pure Land Buddhism. It is thought that the painting was created in China during the Tang Dynasty or in Japan in the 8th century during the Nara period, but there are no other examples from the 8th century created with such advanced techniques. This will be the first time it will be exhibited outside of Nara Prefecture.

Unfortunately, most of the original colors have been lost, but this work attracted great faith during the Kamakura period by Honen’s disciple Shoku, and many copies were made. The same section also exhibits a copy of the Taima Mandala with clearly defined ink lines. Legend has it that the Tapestry Taima Mandala was woven in one night by an aristocratic girl named Chujohime with the help of Amida Buddha using lotus threads, and by viewing it together with the Taima Mandala, you may be able to experience a part of the mysticism that heightened the reverence of the people at the time.

Chapter 3, “Honen’s Disciples and the Lineage of Buddhism,” traces the activities of his disciples who, after his death, worked tirelessly throughout the country, including in Chinzei (Kyushu), Kamakura, and Kyoto, to spread his teachings.

There were many differences in approach among the disciples, such as the ideological construction of Senshu Nembutsu, the positioning of various practices within it, and ensuring the legitimacy of the religious organization. The exhibited work, “Matsudai Nembutsu Jushuin (Seigokurakuhon),” is said to be handwritten by Shoko, the founder of the Chinzei school, and was written to lament the situation in which dissent and different schools of thought were arising among his disciples, and to convey Honen’s true intentions to future generations. It makes you think about how difficult it is to protect and pass on a single teaching, even if it is as simple as Senshu Nembutsu.

Shogei, the founder of the Jodo sect, established the foundations of the Kanto Jodo sect in Hitachi Province, and his disciple Shoso founded Zojoji Temple in Edo. The sect’s status was firmly established when Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had been a devout believer in Jodo Buddhism since the Matsudaira clan, designated Zojoji Temple as the family temple in Edo and Chion-in Temple as the family temple in Kyoto. Chapter 4, “Jodo Buddhism in the Edo Period,” traces the Jodo sect’s dramatic rise in popularity during the Edo period under the patronage of the shogun family and various feudal lords, through the large-scale treasures that were brought to Jodo sect temples.

The three copies of the Tripitaka that can be viewed here – Song, Yuan, and Goryeo – are known as the “Three Great Treasures” and were confiscated by Ieyasu from temples in Yamato, Suo, and Omi provinces in exchange for their territories, and donated to Zojoji Temple.

The Tripitaka is a collection of over 5,000 volumes of Buddhist scriptures translated into Chinese, and in China, from the Northern Song Dynasty onwards, the Tripitaka was printed by woodblock printing as printing culture developed. Each published Tripitaka is a rare cultural asset, but it is said that there is no other example in the world of three copies held by a single temple in perfect condition. It is an extremely important book in cultural history that created the foundation for modern Buddhist studies.

Though not flashy, what caught my eye was the “Daily Nembutsu” (Nenbutsu) that is said to have been written by Ieyasu himself. It is believed that in his later years, Ieyasu diligently copied out the sutra “Namu Amida Butsu” every day, praying for the atonement of his sins. From a distance, the name of Amida Buddha is densely written in six rows and 41 columns, so densely that it could be mistaken for some kind of pattern, and it is a little chilling as it shows just how obsessive he was. However, upon closer inspection, like a game of spot the difference, there are only two places where the characters “Namu Amida Ieyasu” are written instead of “Namu Amida Butsu”. It is unclear why it was written in this way, but perhaps it was just playfulness, or perhaps there was some other deeper intention behind it.

The highlight of this exhibition can be said to be the 500 Arhats from Zojoji Temple , which Kano Kazunobu (1816-63), a painter from the late Edo period who is said to have been largely self-taught before entering the Kano school. The 500 Arhats are a masterpiece that he worked on over a period of about 10 years as the culmination of his career.

Rakan is an honorific title given to enlightened saints among the disciples of Shakyamuni, and they have been worshipped as beings with the role of saving people. The 500 Rakan are the 500 Rakan who participated in the First Assembly to compile Buddhist scriptures after Shakyamuni’s death, and from the mid-Edo period onwards, wood carvings and stone statues of the 500 Rakan began to be actively made all over Japan.

This work is an exceptional piece in terms of size, number, and impact, with 500 arhats literally painted in groups of five across a total of 100 scrolls. The highly distinctive scenes of the arhats’ training and life, the six realms of existence, disasters that befall people, and their salvation through arhat are depicted dramatically in brilliant colors, without being limited by the framework of Japanese painting, and using Western shading and perspective techniques. There is not a single part that is relaxed, even in the four corners, and I was overwhelmed by the amount of information and the passion that comes from it.

Of the total 100 paintings, 24 (12 in the first and second half of the exhibition) will be exhibited at the venue.

The last thing we encounter at the venue is the “Group Statues of Buddha in Nirvana” from Honenji Temple in Kagawa. This work depicts the scene of Shakyamuni’s nirvana in three dimensions using a group of statues, and is made up of a life-size statue of Shakyamuni in Nirvana, surrounded by a total of 82 figures, including lamenting arhats, the Eight Deities of Heavenly Dragons, and animals. Matsudaira Yorishige, the first lord of Takamatsu Domain, invited a Buddhist sculptor from Kyoto to build this work, and there is no other example of such a large group statue of Nirvana.

They are usually placed in the Sanbutsudo (Nirvana Hall) of Honenji Temple, but 26 of them are on display at this exhibition and are open to the public as photo spots.

After Tokyo, the exhibition will travel to the Kyoto National Museum and the Kyushu National Museum.

Overview of “Honen and the Pure Land”

*The contents of this article are current as of the time of coverage. Please check the official exhibition website for the latest information.

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National Museum of Western Art

The National Museum of Western Art in Ueno, Tokyo, has opened its first-ever contemporary art exhibition , “Has this become a room where future artists can sleep? ──The National Museum of Western Art’s 65th Anniversary Self-Question | Questions for Contemporary Artists.” The exhibition will run until May 12, 2024.

■ Participating Artists
Yuki Iiyama, Yoichi Umezu, Mai Endo, Tsuyoshi Ozawa, Nodoka Odawara, Natsuko Sakamoto, Hiroshi Sugito, Ryudai Takano, Kyo Takemura, Koki Tanaka, Toeko Tatsuno, Elena Tutacchikova, Rei Naito, Tadayoshi Nakabayashi, Yurie Nagashima, Purple Room (Yoichi Umezu + Hiromi Ando + Yoshiko Tsuzukihashi + Asako Hoshikawa + Saki Wakimoto), Rintaro Fuse, Hisao Matsuura, Futoshi Miyagi, Eboshi Yuasa, Kanji Yumisashi

This is an unprecedented attempt to exhibit contemporary art on a large scale at the National Museum of Western Art, which has mainly collected and exhibited “Western art” up to the first half of the 20th century. At a press conference held prior to the event, it was stated that the purpose was not to broaden the horizons of understanding the collection by displaying works from the museum alongside contemporary works, nor to attract the interest of those with a strong interest in contemporary art.

Looking back at its history, we can see that the museum was expected to serve as an inspiring place to give birth to and nurture the artists of the future. Just as the Matsukata Collection, which formed the basis of the museum, was founded by Matsukata Kojiro, who wanted to expose Japanese painters to authentic Western art and encourage their creative endeavors.

However, until now, no serious question has been asked as to whether the museum has actually been able to become such a space.

This exhibition confronts this fact, posing the question of how the museum and its collection are related to contemporary expression and what role they can play in the emergence and meaning of contemporary artworks to 21 artists across genres, and looks at their responses through their works. It also introduces about 70 masterpieces of Western art from the museum’s collection, including works by Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, and Maurice Denis, making it a highly interesting exhibition.

For this reason, many of the artists exhibiting in this project are also active in fields such as criticism, and the amount of text available in the venue is much larger than in typical contemporary art exhibitions, with some works even consisting of the text itself.

Artists have a variety of approaches to the question and concerns they face.

For example, in Chapter 1, “What kind of magnetic field of memory has this become?”, Nakabayashi Tadayoshi, Naito Rei, and Matsuura Toshio juxtapose their own works with those of their predecessors in the museum’s collection, such as Cezanne and Denis, who inspired Matsuura Toshio, and Odilon Redon and Rodolphe Bresdin, whose historical lineage is linked to Nakabayashi Tadayoshi’s own expression. After defining the museum as a magnetic field in which the memories of artists who lived/are living in various eras and regions coexist and intertwine with each other, the museum examines through the works what kind of magnetic field the museum’s collection forms.

In Chapter 2, “What do you think about Japan having a ‘National Museum of Western Art’?”, Odawara Nodoka ‘s new installation “Sculpture/Overcoming Modernity – National Museum of Western Art Edition” features Auguste Rodin’s sculpture “The Thinker,” which is also the symbol of the museum, removed from its pedestal and lying on its side on a bright red carpet, creating a very eye-catching piece.

Odawara was particularly interested in the historical “distortion” that the museum inevitably underwent as Japan modernized, and the fact that, unlike Western art museums, it is built on ground prone to earthquakes.

This new installation includes elements such as The Thinker, who collapsed in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Japanese painting Kishaku by Nishimitsu Mankichi, who drafted the Suiheisha Declaration during the Buraku Liberation Movement in 1922 and later converted to nationalism while in prison, an object modeling a five-story pagoda that collapses and is rebuilt every time there is an earthquake, and a seismic isolation platform developed exclusively by the museum. The installation presents a complex pose of the ideological issues of Japan that Odawara considers to be earthquakes and ideological conversion, overlapping “overturning” with “conversion.”

In chapter 4, “Can this be a place for diverse lives/sexualities?”, Takano Ryudai recreates the space of human “life” within the museum’s exhibition room, which aims to be a tasteless, neutral place.

What would it look like if masterpieces that are out of reach for individuals were displayed side by side in an average modern room? With this in mind, Takano exhibited paintings by Gustave Courbet, Vincent van Gogh, and Lucas Cranach the Elder, sculptures by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, and his own photographs from the museum’s collection, in a space made entirely of IKEA furniture.

Takano considers IKEA products to be the pinnacle of modernist design, eliminating decorative elements that indicate authority and enabling people to live simple and rich lives. Anyone would immediately feel uncomfortable seeing Courbet or Bourdelle, who should be found in a prestigious art museum, placed in a setting that would never appear in our everyday spaces filled with affordable fashion. The muscular Hercules sculpture, which overly expresses a certain type of “man is strong,” would be admired for its imposing grandeur if it were in the front garden of the museum, but it is a complete mismatch in this smart room and appears to be at odds with modern sensibilities.

The way the works appear changes as the psychological distance becomes closer, but at the same time, I also realized the difficulty of appreciating and judging the value of the work “only” as it is, without being influenced by the exhibition space.

Although the museum is an institution that wants to preserve works in an immortal state and leave them for the future in perpetuity, works as materials are inevitably subject to slow change over time. Chapter 5, “Is this the place where works live?”, focuses on Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, Reflections of Willows, from the former Matsukata Collection, which was discovered in a heavily damaged state at the Louvre in 2016 and then moved to the museum’s collection.

In his work “Restored CM’s 1916 Water Lilies,” he imaginatively supplemented the missing parts of a gigantic oil painting measuring 199.3 cm in height and 424.4 cm in width, which had only undergone minimal conservation treatment, with a translucent cloth and silk thread, creating a double-layered structure.

Takemura is critical of excessive restoration, which overwrites works created at one time with the “words” thought by people of different eras. In this work, the lost memories of the past are delicately retranslated using reversibly unraveling silk thread, “like translating Western paintings into Japanese,” thus practicing a method of preservation that gives the work a radiance while acknowledging its loss as it is and leaving it for the future.

The final chapter, Chapter 7, “In Search of Unknown Arrangements,” simply poses works by Sugito Hiroshi, Umetsu Yoichi, Sakamoto Natsuko , and Tatsuno Toeko , who passed away in 2014, in the same space as highly experimental paintings by Claude Monet, Paul Signac, Jackson Pollock, and others of the past, in an attempt to consider what is known as Japanese “contemporary art” and measure the scope of its experimental nature.

Jun Shindo, a curator at the National Museum of Western Art and the organizer of this exhibition, said, “To be frank, I was left with the strong feeling that the National Museum of Western Art has not been a place that can inspire today’s cutting-edge artists. Some of the participating artists in this exhibition were inspired by the museum and its collection, but this was because the opportunity was provided for them.

For this reason, in the final chapter, rather than asking how the NMWA’s collection has/could inspire artists living today, he explained his intention by saying, “I wanted to ask how the works of today’s painters can compete with works of the past. I hope that this will bring to light the similarities and differences in the mutual concerns of artists across the ages.”

Shindo also said, “I expect there will be a lot of criticism of my curatorial approach,” but rather than expecting various voices to be raised, I get the impression that he is actively seeking criticism. What message did the participating artists send about the National Museum of Western Art and its collection? How will this affect the Japanese contemporary art world? I hope you will visit the exhibition and take a sharp look at the whole picture.

Overview of “Has this become a place where future artists can rest? ──The National Museum of Western Art’s 65th Year Questions | Questions to Contemporary Artists”

*The contents of this article are current as of the time of coverage. Please check the official exhibition website for the latest information.

Article provided by: Kokosil Ueno

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Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

2024 marks the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition held in Paris. The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum is currently holding an exhibition called “Impressionism: From Monet to America – Collection of the Worcester Art Museum” that traces the impact and influence that Impressionism, which overturned the traditions of Western art, had on Europe and America, centering on the collection of the Worcester Art Museum in the United States . The exhibition period is until April 7, 2024.

The Worcester Museum of Art, located near Boston, USA, opened in 1898 and has a collection of approximately 40,000 items, ranging from classical art from ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and Rome, to contemporary art from around the world. Among them, he actively collects Impressionism as contemporary art at the time. It has been an important part of the collection since its opening in 1898.

This exhibition focuses on the innovation of Impressionism, which overturned the traditions of Western art, and its global spread. The museum’s Impressionist collection, most of which are visiting Japan for the first time , includes not only well-known French Impressionists such as Monet and Renoir , but also American Impressionists such as Childe Hassam, who have rarely been introduced to Japan. This exhibition will introduce approximately 70 oil paintings by over 40 artists, including some of the most representative artists .

The exhibition consists of 5 chapters. In Chapter 1, “Challenging Tradition,” the Barbizon school and Realist painters, who found beauty and new subjects in the familiar landscapes and nature of their homeland of France, introduce traditional paintings, with religious and historical paintings at their peak. Introducing the movement that was the forerunner of Impressionism, which occurred in the first half of the 19th century, and which overturned the hierarchy of art.

At the same time, interest in the country’s magnificent natural beauty increased in the United States, and American-style landscapes became popular. In this chapter, you can compare the rise of landscape painting on both sides of the Atlantic.

Winslow Homer , a leading American painter of the late 19th century, incorporated plein air painting as an essential element of his work even before the advent of French Impressionism. “Winter Coast” (1892) is a work from the latter half of his career, when he was focusing on depicting the sea and the people confronting it, and his intuitive and bold brushwork depicts the rough waves crashing on the coast of Maine. used to show Homer’s impressionistic side.

Chapter 2, “Paris and the Impressionist Painters,” features Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste, who departed from the tradition of the academy and went outdoors to depict the world as it appeared to them with bright colors and bold brushwork. – Exhibits works by members of the first Impressionist exhibition, such as Renoir. In addition, you can also see works by Mary Cassatt, the only American female painter to participate in subsequent Impressionist exhibitions, and works by Childe Hassam, who has been described as the “American Monet,” while studying in Paris.

Monet’s Water Lilies (1908), introduced in the same chapter, is one of the highlights of this exhibition. Although it is an Impressionist landscape painting, with water lilies losing their outline as if blending into the pond, trees reflected in the water, and fantastic colors, there are signs of the abstract expression that became noticeable in his later works. It is a work.

Monet spent the latter half of his life in Cyverny, a suburb of Paris, where he continued to paint over 250 water lilies floating in the “water garden” he created. This work is one of the Water Lilies series exhibited at Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris in 1909, and was purchased directly from the gallery by the Worcester Art Museum the following year. Today, Water Lilies are housed in the collections of various museums, but the Worcester Art Museum was actually the first museum in the world to purchase Monet’s Water Lilies.

At the venue, a copy of the letters exchanged between the museum and the art dealer regarding the purchase of this work will also be introduced, including vivid correspondence using letters and telegrams, such as the first director’s efforts to persuade the board of directors and extend the payment deadline. I was able to find out.

Chapter 3, “International Spread,” discusses how John Singer Sargent of America, Anders Leonard Sohn of Sweden, and Alfred Stevens of Belgium took the essence of Impressionism gained in Paris back to their home countries and applied it to their artistic practices. , exhibiting works by Japanese painters such as Seiki Kuroda and Keiichiro Kume.

Many of them are not complete imitations of the style of French Impressionism, but are uniquely sublimated while merging with the culture and society of various regions, and are popular among painters who were not involved with Impressionism or who had never visited France. It tells us that it spread and developed in a variety of ways.

The highlight of this exhibition is Chapter 4, “American Impressionism,” which introduces how Impressionism was received as it spread internationally, especially in the United States.

In the mid-1880s, European Impressionism became popular among American art dealers and collectors, and many American painters went to France to meet the demand. Critics wanted young painters to discover “the beauty of their native America, away from European subjects,” so subjects that felt American, such as New England countryside and modernizing urban landscapes, continued to be preferred. I did.

Childe Hassam , who also appears in Chapter 2, was the one who was the first to incorporate the Impressionist style he had learned locally into his productions and spread it throughout the United States through summer schools and artist colonies.

Born in Boston, Hassam came into contact with Impressionist works during his first trip to Paris in 1883, and studied abroad there from 1886 to 1889. After returning to Japan, he settled in New York, where he achieved success and became one of the leading Impressionist painters in America. In this chapter, three works with different themes are displayed in chronological order, and together with Chapter 2, Picking Flowers in a French Garden (1888), you can trace the changes in his painting style and interests.

In “Columbus Boulevard, Rainy Day” (1885), which depicts Boston’s rainy thoroughfares in muted colors and soft brush strokes, the influence of Impressionism can be felt in the depiction of the hazy atmosphere of the city in the distance and the glossy light of the pavement. You can

Silph’s Rock, Appledore Island (1907), created after studying abroad in Paris and reminiscent of Monet’s cliff landscape paintings, has a drastically different touch, skillfully depicting rock surfaces and waves by changing the direction of the elongated brushstrokes. I am. Based on the idea that the scenery is constantly changing even in the same place, this work is one of the works that vividly depicts the scenery of Appledore Island from various perspectives and situations, using an approach similar to Monet’s series of works.

In “Breakfast Room, Winter Morning, New York” (1911), curtains are placed to avoid the hustle and bustle of New York, which is transforming into a modern metropolis with the construction of skyscrapers and the proliferation of automobiles, and depicts the sophisticated middle and upper class. Focuses on city life. Since 1909, Hassam has been working on the Window series, which depicts a woman alone in a room, like this one. The skyscraper depicted behind the curtain is thought to be Manhattan’s Flatiron Building, celebrated as a symbol of New York’s modern architecture, and is a clever expression of Americanity.

Edmund Charles Tarbell was an important figure in the Boston art world who had so many followers that the term “Turbellite” was coined, and as an art teacher he taught his students based on the Impressionism he learned in Paris. It spread the expression styles unique to the region.

Venetian Blind (1898) has an Impressionist feel to it due to its light and rich colors, but its focus on traditional forms and depiction of details is characteristic of a Boston school painter. The dramatic contrast of light and shadow created by illuminating the scene with light shining through the blinds was impressive, similar to the chiaroscuro technique of Baroque paintings typified by Rembrandt.

The final section , Chapter 5, “In Search of Unseen Landscapes,” focuses on Paul Signac, who adopted a pointillism technique based on optics and color theory, and Georges, who became the founder of Cubism after becoming devoted to Fauvism. This exhibition displays works by painters such as Braque, who continued to explore new forms of painting after the impact of Impressionism.

George Innes and Dwight William Tryon are representative painters of the “tonalism” painting style that was popular in America at the end of the 19th century. While Impressionism was obsessed with bold colors and vision, Tonalism emphasized the use of muted tones such as gray and blue to depict tranquility, emotional atmosphere, and the invisible.

A follower of the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, Innes’s later work took on an increasingly metaphysical bent. The misty atmospheric expressions seen in Forest Pond (1892) are said to depict spiritual landscapes that simultaneously represent reality and the divine world, the visible and the invisible.

Tryon, on the other hand, transforms the rural landscape of South Dartmouth, Massachusetts into a mysterious utopia filled with mystery through the gentle use of paint and the delicate brilliance of light in Entrance to Autumn (1908-09). I’m letting you do it.

For the American people, who were still reeling from the effects of the Civil War, these invisible emotional scenes of Tonalism provided spiritual comfort.

“Impressionism: From Monet to America – Collection of the Worcester Art Museum” will be held until Sunday, April 7, 2024, introducing Impressionism from a global perspective, which was born in Paris and changed the common sense of beauty and freed painters from strict rules. . This is a valuable opportunity to enjoy the charm of Impressionism from countries other than France, mainly America, which has not been introduced much in Japan until now. Many of the works will be shown for the first time in Japan, so please don’t miss out on this opportunity.

Overview of “Impressionism: From Monet to America: Worcester Art Museum Collection”

*The contents of the article are as of the time of reporting. Please check the official website for the latest information.

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Tokyo National Museum

Koetsu Hon’ami lived in an era of war, excelled in the arts, and created innovative works.

As the title suggests, the special exhibition to be held at the Heiseikan of the Tokyo National Museum, “The Macrocosm of Hon’ami Koetsu,” shines a light on his faith and inner world through a number of works.

This article reports on the press preview held the day before the event.

Who is Hon’ami Koetsu?

Hon’ami Koetsu , who was active in the early Edo period, was born into a prestigious family of Japanese sword appraisers, and was an artist who had a great influence on later Japanese culture.
Not only was he highly regarded by the Tokugawa shogunate and feudal lords for his excellent skill in making swords, which was his family trade, but he was also known as a calligrapher (master calligrapher), and was also known for his skills in pottery and lacquer art. He was involved in a variety of forms, including publishing, and left behind excellent works for future generations.

“A person who has been flattered all his life and is completely embarrassed” and “a stranger” (“Hon’ami Gyojoki”)
Koetsu, who was praised for his deep faith and sparkling spirit, continues to receive high acclaim, with many of the exquisite pieces he created being designated as national treasures and important cultural properties.

Approaching the aesthetic sense of the eccentric Koetsu Hon’ami

This exhibition is

Chapter 1 The Hon’ami Family’s Household Work and the Lotus Faith – The Source of Koetsu’s Art
Chapter 2 Utaihon and Koetsu Makie – Explosive words and forms
Chapter 3 Koetsu’s brush strokes and letterforms – virtuosity in two-dimensional space
Chapter 4 Koetsu Tea Bowl – Earthen Sword

This chapter allows us to explore Koetsu Hon’ami’s aesthetic sense through a number of exquisite works.

In addition to Koetsu’s own calligraphy and pottery, the museum exhibits lacquer work created by craftsmen who gathered together under the same faith, as well as works created in response to the social conditions of the time. Furthermore, we focus on the Hon’ami family’s beliefs as well as the society of the Hokke townspeople at the time, creating an exhibition structure that provides a comprehensive view of the state of Koetsu.

In particular, the fourth and final chapter, “Koetsu Tea Bowls – Swords of the Earth,” exhibits many breathtakingly elegant bowls, including “Kuraku Tea Bowl Named Shigure” (Important Cultural Property) by Hon’ami Koetsu. This gives it the feel of being the highlight of this exhibition.

Here you can see works selected by genre from the works exhibited in each chapter.

lacquer

A chain of images woven by the world of literature and calligraphy

The Funahashi Makie Inkstone Box, a national treasure, sits at the entrance to this exhibition and astonishes visitors with its brilliance and shape.
This inkstone box is famous as a masterpiece of Hon’ami Koetsu (1558-1637), and its distinctive feature is the raised, chevron-shaped lid. The whole body is rectangular with rounded corners, and the lid is made larger than the body.

The entire surface of the box is densely sprinkled with gold powder, small boats are lined up in the pattern of waves, and the space between them is filled with fine ripples, and silver poetry letters are inlaid high into the box.

sword

Famous swords carefully selected by the Hon’ami family’s aesthetic sense

The only sword that has been passed down as the Sashiryo of Koetsu has been exhibited to the public for the first time in about 40 years.

The author, Kaneuji, was a swordsmith who was active in Shizu, Mino Province (present-day Gifu Prefecture) from the end of the Kamakura period to the first half of the Nanbokucho period. The backs of the fingers are inlaid with gold, a “hanagamami” that is said to be Koetsu’s brush, and the accompanying sword holder is decorated with delicate grass that wraps around the entire scabbard in gold lacquer, making it extremely gorgeous.

If you decipher the meaning of the words and designs of the gold inlay on the flower keepsake and the gold lacquer on the creeping grass, will you be able to see Koetsu’s hidden feelings?

book

Representative works of Koetsu’s most fulfilling period

A volume of writing paper depicting a flock of flying cranes in gold and silver paint, with 36 poems from 36 poets up to the Heian period scattered on it. The shape and layout of the letters are skillfully changed to match the rise and fall of the cranes and the density of the flock, and you will be amazed at the sense of dynamism.
The calligraphy, which develops in cooperation with or even in competition with sketches attributed to Sotatsu Tawaraya, is said to be a representative work from the period when Koetsu exhibited his most fulfilling style.

This exhibition will be a very valuable opportunity as all volumes will be exhibited at once.

Pottery

Famous bowls that still have an overwhelming presence

Raku tea bowls are shaped by hand and carved with a spatula, and the tea bowls that are said to have been created by Koetsu have designs that give the impression of Koetsu’s own hand movements in various places. .
However, this work is characterized by suppressing this, giving an overall impression of tranquility. It is also known that Morikawa Nyoshunan, a sukiyakusha from Nagoya, acquired it at the young age of 16.

Event overview

*The contents of the article are as of the time of interview. Please check the official exhibition website for details as the information may differ from the latest information. Additionally, the works featured in this article may have already been exhibited.

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National Museum of Nature and Science

Since being registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013, Japanese cuisine has been attracting more and more attention worldwide.

Its charm, which many Japanese people seem to know but surprisingly don't know about, can be explained from a variety of perspectives, such as the diverse ingredients nurtured by the nature of the Japanese archipelago, techniques such as fermentation created by people's wisdom and ingenuity, cooking methods, and historical changes. A special exhibition "Japanese Cuisine – Japanese Nature and People's Wisdom" is currently being held at the National Museum of Nature and Science (Ueno, Tokyo). The exhibition period is until February 25, 2024 (Sunday).

Since I covered this exhibition, I will report on the situation at the venue.

*This exhibition was scheduled to be held in 2020, but was canceled due to the influence of the new coronavirus and will be held again.

Food from the mountains, food from the sea. Japanese food culture nurtured by diverse ingredients

The exhibition consists of six chapters.

The first chapter is an introduction that uses a video to ask the question, "What is Japanese food?" Next, the second chapter, “Ingredients grown in the archipelago,'' will be displayed, occupying approximately half of the venue.

Starting with water, which is the basis of food, we then move on to mushrooms, wild plants, vegetables, seaweed, seafood… The rich ingredients brought to you by the Japanese archipelago, which stretches more than 3,000 km from north to south and has one of the world's greatest biodiversity, will be presented scientifically using over 250 actual specimens and models, while also discussing topics such as fermentation techniques and soup stock. is explained.

For example, in the water exhibition area, space is devoted to explaining the hardness of water, such as soft water and hard water.

The hardness of water changes depending on the type of geology and how long rainwater, which is the source of daily water (hardness itself is almost zero), lingers, and minerals such as calcium and magnesium are present in 1 liter of water. It depends on how many mg it contains.

According to WHO standards, less than 60 ml/L is soft water, 120 ml/L or more is hard water, and anything in between is medium hard water. Water in Japan is basically soft water due to its steep terrain, high rainfall, and short water retention time. Soft water has no taste and ingredients dissolve easily in the water, making it suitable for Japanese cuisine that uses dashi stock to bring out the flavor of the ingredients.

On the other hand, continental Europe has a flat topography and slow flow, so there is a lot of hard water, and hard water makes it difficult for ingredients to dissolve and break down when boiled, so stews and other stews using meat have become widely established as home cooking. Ta.

I often hear people say, “Japan is a country with soft water, so if you travel to a country with hard water, some people find it hard to drink water or get upset stomachs.'' Some people may not know that the ease of use also varies depending on the water quality. It turns out that soft water greatly contributed to the development of Japan's food culture.

Although it is said that Japan is a country with soft water, there are significant regional differences, and there are some places with hard water. The exhibit displayed plastic bottles of natural water of various hardnesses sold from all over Japan, and explained and compared the topography and geology from which the water can be harvested.

Furthermore, Japan's varied topography and climate, including lowlands, highlands, subtropics, and cool-temperate zones, contribute to the diversity of vegetation, especially mushrooms. Of the approximately 20,000 species of mushrooms known around the world, it is said that around 2,500 to 3,000 species, about 10% of which have names, are distributed in Japan.

In the mushroom exhibition area, we focused on the fact that wild mushrooms such as truffles and boletus, which are considered luxury foodstuffs in Europe and America, are also distributed in Japan. These are produced in large quantities, and although it is hard to imagine that the Japanese of ancient times did not know of their existence, they were not used as ingredients in Japanese cuisine. On the other hand, slimy mushrooms such as nameko and enokitake, which Japanese people prefer, tend to be disliked in Western countries.

It is interesting to see the extreme difference between mushrooms that occur in the same way, being prized on the one hand and ignored on the other. In this way, the exhibition featured many attempts to illuminate the image of “Japanese food'' from a perspective that extends to the rest of the world.

Seafood is a protein source often used in Japanese cuisine. The variety of seafood eaten in Japan is said to be one of the best in the world.The Japanese archipelago is surrounded by a variety of water environments, from the Sea of Okhotsk covered in drift ice to the Ryukyu Islands with mangrove forests and coral reefs.There are approximately 4,700 types of fish alone in Japan. Are the types distributed?

In order to introduce the different migratory routes and habitats of each species, an interactive video exhibit has been prepared in the seafood exhibition area. By placing your hand over the shadows of the various seafood that appear in the seas around the Japanese archipelago each season, information about that seafood will be displayed, making it a fun way to learn.

As a valuable exhibit, Dr. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University, who is known for discovering and naming the deliciousness typified by dashi soup, “umami'', actually produced glutamic acid (“Umami''), an umami component extracted from kelp. No. 1 extract distilled tami acid") is mentioned.

Today, umami is globally accepted as “UMAMI''. Umami was discovered by Dr. Ikeda in 1908 as a fifth taste that is different from the long-known sweet, sour, salty, and bitter tastes. However, “dashi'' itself, which is made by extracting umami ingredients such as glutamic acid, inosinic acid, and guanylic acid from ingredients such as kelp and bonito flakes, has a much older history and has already appeared in literature from the Muromachi period. The umami flavor of dashi does not rely on animal fats and oils, but rather brings out the flavor of the ingredients, making it an essential part of Japanese cuisine, which tends to be bland and centered around soups and vegetables.

Additionally, when you taste the amino acid glutamic acid and the nucleic acid-based umami components inosinic acid and guanylic acid at the same time, there is a phenomenon called “umami synergy,'' in which the umami taste is significantly stronger than when they are consumed alone. This phenomenon was discovered in 1960, and the mechanism was only recently elucidated in 2008, but the combination of kelp (glutamic acid) and bonito flakes (inosinic acid) has become popular in Japanese cuisine. It is said that this was during the Edo period.

The dashi display gave us a glimpse of the insatiable inquisitive spirit of our ancestors, who, even though they didn't know the existence of umami, used it in their cooking from experience.

What did Himiko and Nobunaga eat? There is also a reproduction display of recipes from the Edo period.

There are many highlights in the second half of the venue, especially in Chapter 3, “The Origin of Japanese Cuisine,'' which unravels the history of Japanese cuisine from the Jomon period to the present day, and features historical figures such as Himiko, Oda Nobunaga, Admiral Perry, and Emperor Meiji. One of the highlights of this exhibition is the display that recreates the dining tables of famous people .

Since the Nara period, when the original form of Japanese cuisine centered around rice and fish was established, with meat consumption considered unclean and avoided, it has developed into various forms such as vegetarian cuisine, honzen cuisine, and kaiseki cuisine, but these are limited. It was something that could only be offered to people in certain places and positions. It wasn't until the Edo period that Japanese food culture made remarkable progress, and knowledge and techniques spread to the common people. Major factors behind this are said to be the development of restaurants, the factory production of fermented seasonings, and the spread of cookbooks due to the expansion of the literate population.

On display are the playful best-selling book “Tofu Hyakuchin'' (1782), which collects 100 types of tofu dishes, “The Secret Box of Radish Cooking,'' which was published as a result of that hit, and “Manpo,'' which focuses on chicken and eggs. See the original recipe books that contributed to the spread of Japanese food culture, such as the “Hyakurinmono'' cookbooks with different ingredients, as well as food samples of dishes made using the recipes introduced in the books. is completed. There was a QR code for a modern version of the recipe next to the exhibit, so it might be fun to try it at home.

In the fourth chapter, “The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of Japanese Cuisine ,'' the eye-pleasing video installation focuses on the things that make up Japanese cuisine, such as the vivid skills of chefs, the sophisticated shapes of cooking utensils, and the aesthetic sense of our ancestors. I'll give it to you.

After the advent of civilization and enlightenment, with the introduction of Western and Chinese cuisine, the Japanese people began to refer to the food culture they had created as “washoku'' and became aware of this concept. Historically, Japan has successfully incorporated foreign ingredients to develop new cuisines, such as cooking methods that blend Japanese and Western styles, and Japanese-style Western and Chinese cuisine such as curry rice, Neapolitan spaghetti, pork cutlet, and ramen. This can be said to be a major feature of Japanese cuisine.

In Chapter 5, “My Japanese Cuisine,'' after understanding the process by which Japanese cuisine was created through the previous exhibits, the content is designed to make you reconsider what Japanese cuisine is, whose definition changes over time. I did.

Only Chapter 6, “The Future of Japanese Cuisine,'' is located in the second venue, and it talks about how Japanese cuisine will change in the future, points out the importance of local cuisine and traditional vegetables, and explains how Japanese cuisine continues to change in response to changes in society. Look to the future. In the area that introduces attempts to solve food problems and developing technology, we were able to see rare artificially hatched Japanese eel leptocephalus larvae.

Nowadays, it is possible to order ingredients from all over the world regardless of the season, and recipes from any country can be easily obtained through the internet. You can experience the same food and the same taste anytime and anywhere…With the expansion of homogeneous food-related services, the diversity and uniqueness of Japanese food culture may be fading away. However, there are certain ingredients and tastes that are rooted in the local area, and if we think about the wisdom and tenacity that went into changing Western food to fit within the Japanese style and context of rice and miso soup, we can't help but think about the future. I felt that there was hope for the development of

If you deepen your understanding of the diverse natural environment and people's activities of the Japanese archipelago through this exhibition, you may find that your daily Japanese food tastes even better.

The exhibition period is until February 25, 2024 (Sunday). Please come and visit us.

Overview of the special exhibition “Japanese Cuisine: Japanese Nature and People’s Wisdom”

*The content of the article is as of the interview date (October 27, 2023). Please check the exhibition official website for the latest information.

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Ueno Royal Museum

The exhibition “Monet: Scenes from a Series” is currently being held at the Uenonomori Art Museum, tracing the life of Impressionist master Claude Monet through more than 60 of his masterpieces, including the “Stack of Straws” and “Water Lilies” series.
The exhibition period is until January 28, 2024.

I attended the press preview held prior to the event, so I will provide a detailed report on the venue.

All of the works on display are Monet. A valuable exhibition realized with the cooperation of over 40 museums in Japan and overseas

Claude Monet (1840-1926) is a master of Impressionism.

Monet, who had an extraordinary sense of natural light and color, observed the same places and motifs in different seasons, weather, and times of day, and created continuous impressions and the instantaneous movement of light on multiple canvases. He is known as a painter who established an innovative method of expression called “series”, which was unprecedented until then .

This exhibition is being held to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Impressionism in 1874 (the holding of the first Impressionism exhibition), and features a variety of Monet’s works such as “Stack of Straw” and “Water Lilies.” While focusing on a series of paintings with motifs, we will also be introducing works from before they were known as Impressionists, such as the large portrait painting Luncheon, which will be shown for the first time in Japan. Through more than 60 masterpieces collected from more than 40 museums in Japan and abroad, you can trace Monet’s life, which continued his constant dialogue with time and light.

Luncheon, an early masterpiece that marked a turning point towards Impressionism, is exhibited for the first time in Japan

The exhibition is organized into five chronological chapters.

Monet was born in Paris in 1840 and spent his childhood in a port town in Normandy. From around the age of 15, he had already distinguished himself locally as a master of caricatures, and at the age of 17, on the advice of the landscape painter Eugène Boudin, he began painting landscapes outdoors.

After training as a painter in Paris, in 1865 he won two landscape paintings at the Salon, a traditional public exhibition that was the only gateway to success and the best market for French artists at the time. was selected in his first attempt. Although he made a successful debut, in 1867, the salon’s judging standards became strict and conservative, and he was not well received. In 1870, his carefully prepared work Lunch (1868-69), over 230 cm in height, was rejected.

In Chapter 1, “Monet before Impressionism,” Monet’s “Lunch” will be exhibited for the first time in Japan, as well as landscape paintings and portraits depicting waterside scenes in the Netherlands, where he lived from 1871 after fleeing the Franco-Prussian War. .

“Lunch” depicts a casual scene at the dinner table when Camille, who later married, and her son Jean, who had been living separately for financial reasons, began living together. This is one of Monet’s early representative works that allows you to experience the rare “black” style, and one theory is that his bold, rough brushstrokes and bright colors are new expressions, and that he depicts everyday scenes with little narrative as if they were great paintings. It is believed that the fact that he painted it on a large screen displeased the judges, who emphasized neoclassicalism.

Taking this rejection as an opportunity, Monet distanced himself from the salon, which had a different artistic style, and turned to full-fledged Impressionism.

At the end of 1871, Monet moved to the picturesque Argenteuil, a town along the Seine River on the outskirts of Paris, where he devoted himself to painting alongside Manet and Renoir, who visited the area. Seeking a new venue for presentation, in 1874 he held the “First Impressionist Exhibition” with his comrades in Paris. Although it attracted attention, sales were poor and the company was in financial trouble. Furthermore, in 1879, he lost his wife Camille, who was his best model and understanding person, due to illness.

Chapter 2, “Monet, the Impressionist Painter,” exhibits a variety of Impressionist-like landscape paintings created by Monet, who was living in such a difficult environment in the 1870s and 1880s, while traveling to various locations around the Seine River Basin. Monet loved natural scenes, especially waterside views, rather than the rapidly modernizing cityscapes.

Around this time, Monet imitated the landscape painter Charles-François Daubigny and created a unique atelier boat with a cabin on top of the boat, as depicted in “Monet’s atelier boat” (1874). This vehicle, which can withstand the bad weather that comes with outdoor production, allows him to move around freely, capturing many of his works from a unique perspective on the water.

What particularly fascinated Monet was the view of the small village of Vetheuil, including its church, looking out over the Seine River, and he painted this theme repeatedly. Among them, The Church of Vetheuil (1880), housed in the Southampton City Art Gallery, is famous as a masterpiece of this period, and he applied bold strokes of paint to the canvas in an attempt to depict the moment as it is visible, reflecting the constantly swaying surface of the water. The highlight is that it’s posted quickly.

Another thing that caught my eye in the same chapter was the painting , which depicts the desolate winter landscape of Vetheuil in a somewhat abstract and rough brushstroke compared to other works from the same period. ( 1879).

Another work that takes the nature of Vétheuil as its theme is Spring at Vétheuil (1880), which was painted with a woman and child who appeared to be Alice, the wife of the Hochede family who lived with her. , is a richly expressive drawing with short, thick touches, thin and short lines, and rhythmic lines that run like waves, mixed with soft pink.

When I compared the two works, I got the impression that the latter was clearly more stable as a picture. One can only imagine that the warm arrival of spring and the presence of those close to him may have gradually soothed Monet’s deep sadness over the loss of his wife Camille.

Towards the idea of “series”. A group of loosely connected works with the same theme

Monet, who traveled extensively throughout Europe thanks to the development of the railway network in the late 19th century, preferred natural scenery such as deserted beaches rather than crowded resort areas, and spent several months in one place intensively painting. Or I worked on it while revisiting it on a yearly basis.

Chapter 3, “Concentration on a Theme,” introduces works that capture the diverse expressions of a single landscape, such as the beaches of Pourville in Normandy and the strange rocks of Etretat, which fascinated Monet.

Of particular interest are four works that deal with the coast of Pourville. The two works , The Cliffs of Pourville, created in 1882, and 15 years later, The Cliffs of Pourville, Morning and The Ripples of the Sea of Pourville, created in 1897, both depict cliffs that can be seen across the coast. The sandy beach, sea, and sky are depicted in similar compositions.

However, while the 1882 work clearly emphasizes the prominent cliffs and reefs as motifs, the 1897 work has weaker motifs, and is instead more conscious of the changing weather, sea conditions, and overall atmosphere. I feel like it’s aimed at me.

These four works vividly conveyed the changes in Monet’s style and his point of view, which can only be seen because the works were painted in the same location over a period of more than 10 years.

Other works such as La Manneporte (Etretat) (1883) and La Manneporte in Etretat (1886) are works with a certain order that give a sense of loose connection, variations on the same theme. It can be expressed as something like. Through this process, Monet came up with the idea of creating a series of paintings about a single subject.

From Chapter 4, “Monet, the Painter of Series”, we will finally see the representative works of “Series,” which is the main focus of this exhibition.

In 1883, at the age of 42, Monet moved to Giverny on the Seine River as his final home. Monet initially painted the stacks of straw, which were a familiar sight in autumn in this area, as a motif, but around 1890 he arranged multiple canvases side by side to create paintings that were created by the effects of light depending on the weather and time. Simultaneously creating depictions that change from moment to moment. In 1891, he held a solo exhibition at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris, displaying them as a series, which was a dramatic success, and established him as one of France’s leading painters both at home and abroad.

This Stack of Straws is thought to be the first series in which Monet seriously practiced the method of systematic serial painting.

The Stack of Straw, Effect of Snow (1891) exhibited in this exhibition is one of 15 works exhibited at Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1891. The stack of straw is placed large in front of the screen, creating a beautiful dramatic contrast between the stack of straw, which is almost in shadow, and the bright snow.

Since then, he has created a series of works based on a number of motifs, and from 1899 he spent several years painting Waterloo Bridge and Charing Cross Bridge in London.

“Waterloo Bridge” has 41 works, the most of any series in London, and three of them, depicting cloudy weather, dusk, and sunset, will be exhibited at the venue.

The screen seems to be filled with a humid atmosphere, and the details of the bridge, which was the motif, are omitted in each painting, and the soft silhouette appears as if it is floating in the mist of the River Thames. The highlight is the delicate harmony of colors created by the prism of light, and just like a woodblock print that changes its printing color, the uniqueness of the color expressions stands out because the composition is the same.

By repeatedly viewing a single subject in a variety of visual effects of color and light, the viewer is immersed in the work and is able to trace the “time” that Monet himself would have experienced, which cannot exist on screen. Let them experience it. I believe that creating this immersive experience was also the aim of Monet’s “series”.

It is not just a simple exploration of light and color, but also how “sequential works” function together and what effect they produce on the viewer, creating new art that can only be achieved through “sequential works.” I felt Monet’s firm will to do so.

The water lily that made Monet the “father of abstract painting”

Monet’s home in Giverny was the greatest source of inspiration, filled with his ideals. I spent many years working on the “Flower Garden,” where seasonal flowers such as wisteria and peonies bloom, and the “Water Garden,” which is said to be Monet’s masterpiece and was inspired by Japanese gardens, with the aim of making them into painting subjects. Maintenance. The water lilies that the gardener cultivated in the pond of this “water garden” became the motif of one of his greatest series of works in his later years. Supported by his second wife Alice and his family, Monet continued to create art until his death at the age of 86, despite suffering from visual impairment.

The fifth and final chapter, “Water Lilies and the Garden at Giverny,” introduces scenes from Giverny and various garden scenes that Monet loved, including water lilies.

Monet began intensively painting water lilies in the summer of 1897, four years after he started constructing the pond, and Water Lilies (circa 1897-98) are among the eight works he produced at the beginning of his career. One of them. A close-up composition of water lily flowers and leaves, drawn close to the surface of a pond, with a clear form. What caught my attention was how the bold brush strokes of the flowers appeared as a glossy three-dimensional effect from a distance.

At this point, you can see that there are no reflections of the trees or sky around the pond on the dark surface of the water, and Monet’s gaze is focused only on the water lilies. As the years pass, our gaze focuses on the water surface. As his eyesight deteriorated, he lost depth and his brush strokes became coarser, and the shapes, colors, and light melted together on the surface of the water, which reflected his surroundings like a mirror, transforming him into something like an abstract painting.

These later works stimulated abstract artists in the mid-20th century, and Monet’s art received new attention and re-evaluation.

This is a valuable exhibition where each piece is a representative oil painting by Monet, “100% Monet”, without any drawings or underpaintings. This book is recommended for beginners of Monet, as it shows the changes in Monet’s style from before Impressionism to his later years. Please come and visit us.

Overview of “Monet Scenes from a Series”

※※The content of the article is as of the date of coverage (2023/10/19). Please check the official website for the latest information.

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Tokyo National Museum

“Yamato-e” was established in the early Heian period and has been handed down through various changes.

The special exhibition “Yamato-e – The beauty of dynasties passed down through generations” to be held at the Tokyo National Museum traces the lineage of Yamato-e, which has always been innovative.

This article reports on the press preview held the day before the event.

What is Yamato-e?

The special exhibition “Yamato-e – The beauty of the dynasty passed down through generations” focuses on “Yamato-e,” which have been painted continuously since the Heian period.
However, what is interesting is that the concept of “Yamato-e” has changed greatly over time.

From the Heian period to the Kamakura period, works depicting Japanese landscapes and people were called “Yamato-e,” in contrast to “Kara-e,” which depicted Chinese themes, but after that, new Chinese paintings such as ink painting While paintings based on a style were called “Chinese paintings,” works based on the traditional style of previous generations were called “Yamato-e.”
In other words, “Yamato-e” has always existed as a counter-concept to paintings of foreign origin.

This exhibition introduces a carefully selected selection of “Yamato-e” paintings, which inherited the essence of dynastic beauty while constantly changing their form, especially from the Heian period to the Muromachi period.

Full of “actual textbooks” on Japanese art!

This exhibition consists of 6 chapters.

Prologue: Tradition and Innovation—Changes in Yamato-e painting—
Chapter 1: The establishment of Yamato-e—Heian period—
Chapter 2 New aspects of Yamato-e—Kamakura period—
Chapter 3: Maturation of Yamato-e—Nanbokucho and Muromachi periods—
Chapter 4 Genealogy of Imperial Court Paintings
Final chapter Yamato-e and the four seasons—The beauty of the dynasty inherited from generation to generation—

Through the works, you can experience the changes in Yamato-e, which has developed independently through repeated negotiations with the ideas and techniques of foreign art such as Kara-e and Chinese-style paintings, as well as the characteristics of each era.

This is the royal road to Japanese art! It is truly a sight to see textbook-like works, works that are familiar from art collections, etc. all coming together in one place.
More than 70% of the approximately 245 items in total are national treasures and important cultural properties, and the exhibition exhibits not only paintings but also many works from the same period that supported the aesthetic sense of Yamato-e, such as calligraphy and craft works.

Among them, one of the works that is considered to be “highly recommended for this exhibition” is the Important Cultural Property “Hamamatsu Folding Screen” (owned by the Tokyo National Museum), which is renowned as one of the finest Yamato paintings from the Muromachi period.

This is a masterpiece that gives a very lively impression, with many flowers, trees, plants, and birds superimposed on a dazzling beach landscape, representing the changing seasons from right to left. It is said to be the “ultimate Yamato-e” that brings together various elements of ancient and medieval Yamato-e.

If you actually look at it up close, the entire painting appears to be emitting a dull glow, but this is apparently due to a technique unique to Yamato-e from the Muromachi period, in which mica (a layered silicate mineral) is swept over the base. is. It shines like the twilight of a moonlit night, unlike the later Azuchi-Momoyama period, which emphasized gold. Somehow, you can feel a part of the Japanese’s profound sense of beauty.

The best masterpieces in the history of Japanese emaki, the “Four Great Emaki” are gathered together.

Furthermore, among the many picture scrolls, the “Four Great Picture Scrolls”, which were produced at the end of the Heian period, are famous as the greatest masterpieces.
This exhibition will feature The Tale of Genji Emaki, the oldest and greatest dynastic tale emaki in existence, as well as Shigisan Engi Emaki, Ban Dainagon Emaki , and the famous Choju-giga (all national treasures). We will all meet.

This is one of the four great picture scrolls, a national treasure called Choju-giga (Kyoto, Kozanji temple collection). I have a strong memory of the extremely crowded Choju-Giga Exhibition held at the Tokyo National Museum in 2015, and this work has been loved by many people for its humorous and cute nature.
The changing of the four seasons, monthly events, flowers, birds, landscapes, and various stories…Yamato-e have depicted all kinds of themes, but the dynamic animals depicted in this Choju-giga are one of them. Among them, it stands out.

This exhibition has four exhibition periods (① October 11th (Wednesday) – October 22nd (Sunday) ➁ October 24th (Tuesday) – November 5th (Sunday) ③ November 7th (Tuesday) – 19th (Sunday) ④ November 21st (Tuesday) – The exhibition will be changed according to December 3rd (Sunday), but the four major picture scrolls will be gathered together for the first time in 30 years from October 11th to 22nd.
In addition to this period, the three major decorative sutras (Kunōji sutra, Heikeno sutra, Jikoji sutra) and the three statues of Jingoji temple, which are known as masterpieces of Yamato-e portraits (Den Yoritomo statue, Den Taira Shigemori statue, and Den Fujiwara no Kōyō statue) There are many notable works, including ancient and medieval masterpieces such as (all national treasures) appearing one after another.

Takahiro Tsuchiya, head of the Painting and Sculpture Department at the Tokyo National Museum’s Curatorial Research Department, who was in charge of this exhibition, said, “This is an exhibition with so many works that an exhibition could be completed even if there were less than half the number of works. I think you’ll be able to see more works as the exhibits change.I hope you’ll visit the venue again and again.”
was said to the audience.

The world of “Yamato-e” has been passed down and changed over the course of more than a thousand years.
Please feel free to visit the venue and take a look.

*For the exhibition period of each work, please see the “Exhibition Catalog” on the official website .

Event overview

*The contents of the article are as of the time of interview. Please check the official exhibition website for details as the information may differ from the latest information. Additionally, the works featured in this article may have already been exhibited.

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Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

The “Eternal City of Rome” exhibition, which introduces the history of Rome’s beauty from the founding of the country to modern times, has opened at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, focusing on the collection of the Capitoline Museums in the center of Rome. The exhibition period is from Saturday, September 16, 2023 to Sunday, December 10, 2023.

I visited the venue and will report on the exhibition.

Capitoline Museums celebrates the history of Rome’s glory and beauty

Capitoline Hill has long been the religious, political, and cultural center of the Romans, with temples dedicated to the supreme god Jupiter and other gods rising there in ancient times, and today the Capitoline Hill is where Rome’s City Hall is located. The Capitoline Museums, built on a hill there, are among the oldest museums in the world.

In 1471, Pope Sixtus IV during the Renaissance donated four ancient sculptures to the citizens of Rome, with the purpose of inspiring their self-respect and demonstrating that he was the legitimate heir of ancient Rome, on the Capitoline Hill. The museum was established as a result of the establishment of the museum. It opened to the public in 1734 and has amassed a rich collection of ancient relics excavated in Rome, sculptures originating from the Vatican, and works of art owned by prominent Roman families.

This exhibition focuses on items from the collection of the Capitoline Museums, and covers everything from the founding myths of the nation, to the glory of the ancient Roman era, to the Renaissance and Baroque, when art reached its peak, and from the 17th century onward, when it became a place of aspiration for artists. This exhibition introduces the magnificent history and art of Rome, known as the “Eternal City,” through approximately 70 sculptures, paintings, and prints.

In addition to the five chronological chapters, there is also a special exhibit introducing the exchange between the museum and Japan, marking the 150th anniversary of the Iwakura Mission’s visit to the museum.

The first chapter, “The Creation of the Myth of the Founding of Rome,” unravels the folklore and myths of ancient Rome, which is said to have been founded in 753 BC.The starting point is the famous work “The Capitoline She-Wolf (Reproduction),” which can be said to be the symbol of Rome. It was placed there.

The original work is one of the four ancient sculptures that started the Capitoline Museums. It is said to have been created in the 5th century BC. (The exhibited work is a later reproduction owned by the City Hall of Rome)

This story is based on the story of the she-wolf who raised Romulus, the first king of Rome, who was born to Mars, the god of war, and the priestess Rhea Sylvia, and his younger brother Remus, which is an episode of the epic poem “Aeneid” by the poet Virgil, which is based on the myth of the founding of Rome. .

Originally it only had a female wolf, but during the Renaissance, a statue of twins drinking milk was added. The she-wolf’s wide-open eyes and fur are expressed in a stylistic yet delicate manner.

The statue of a she-wolf nursing twins is enshrined in the city of Rome, and as it continues to move forward with the history of the empire as the embodiment of the founding myth, it has become public art such as public monuments and coins, poetic jewelry, and festival art. It has influenced the iconographic expression of various media. “The Capitoline She-Wolf” is the surviving work that can be considered an icon, except for the twin statues added in later generations.

Indicating its enormous influence as a symbol, there are many other works in Chapter 1 that depict the she-wolf, such as the Silver Drachma and the Mirror of Bolsena (4th century BC). .

During the imperial period from 27 BC onwards, portraits developed along with the prosperity of the empire. The portraits of Roman emperors, with their dignified expressions and realism, not only functioned as a means of propaganda, but also influenced the private portraits of ordinary citizens, and are said to have popularized various fashionable outfits, poses, and hairstyles. Masu.

Chapter 2, “The Glory of the Ancient Roman Empire ,” traces the glorious era through the “faces of the times,” including the head carvings of Julius Caesar and Augustus, who laid the foundations of the ancient Roman Empire. It communicates social and political changes.

Here, fragments of the two Colossi of Constantine owned by the Capitoline Museums were displayed in elaborate full-size reproductions, making it very impressive. The Colossus of Constantine is another ancient sculpture donated by Pope Sixtus IV to the citizens of Rome.

Constantine (r. 306-337) was one of the most important emperors of the Roman Empire. He is known as the first Roman emperor to reunite the divided empire, recognize Christianity as the state religion, and become a believer himself.

The head alone is approximately 1.8 meters tall. Its scale is reminiscent of its former glory. It is believed that the sunken cheeks, stern tear bags under the eyes, and wrinkles around the mouth are a depiction of the emperor in his later years. Even though she has a dignified expression, the eyes that look slightly upwards as if looking into the distance are impressive. It has a detached atmosphere that seems to reflect the high ideals that people at the time had for the emperor.

In addition to the head, the left foot, left hand, and the index finger of the left hand, which was recently discovered at the Louvre Museum, were also exhibited, along with a new reproduction made specifically for this exhibition.

Don’t miss out on the hidden gem “Venus of the Capitoline”!

Additionally, Venus of the Capitoline, displayed in Chapter 2, is the most notable work of this exhibition.

This 2nd century work is based on a statue of Aphrodite (the Greek goddess of love, identified with Venus) created in the 4th century BC by the great ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles.

She takes the typical shy pose of Venus statues, and the expression of her graceful body curves and plump skin texture is extremely beautiful and attractive. If you look closely, you can see that her hair is tied into a bow at the top of her head, tied into a chignon at the nape of her neck, and then her hair is let down in two, which is a bit of an interesting hairstyle.

This work is known as a masterpiece of ancient Venus statues, along with Venus de Milo (Louvre Museum) and Venus de Medici (Uffizi Gallery). In fact, this is the third time it has been taken outside the Capitoline Museums since it was acquired in 1752, including the time when it was temporarily confiscated by the French army led by Napoleon, so it can truly be said to be a treasure that should never be left out. .

This is a must-see work that I don’t know if I will have the chance to see again in Japan in the future.

For the exhibition, we have prepared a special space inspired by the octagonal exhibition room called “Venus Room” at the Capitoline Museums, where the work is usually displayed. Similarly, the floor was created in the pattern of Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Renaissance master Michelangelo, where the museum is located.

For more information about Michelangelo’s urban planning, which began in 1537, and the development of the iconic museum complex with a plaza and buildings that embody the splendor of the city of Rome, see Chapter 3, “From the Birth of Museums to Michelangelo’s Piazza” The concept is introduced in detail through paintings and prints.

In Chapter 4, “Picture Gallery Collection,” Pope Benedict Displaying 13 works from the art gallery’s collection.

The collection includes masterpieces by painters who were active from the 16th to the 18th century, ranging from Italian Baroque master Pietro da Cortona to works by unknown authors. It tells us about the themes and expressions that were mainstream in Italy at the time, as well as the paintings that captured the interest of art patrons.

Since the 17th century, the city of Rome, a treasure trove of ancient ruins and ecclesiastical architecture, has become a source of artistic inspiration for artists in Italy and abroad, including through the Grand Tour.

Chapter 5, “A yearning for Rome, the capital of art – the interplay between fantasy and reality”, features a monument commemorating Emperor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian War, which is said to have particularly fascinated artists and European monarchs. Prints and models of the 30-meter ancient monument “Trajan’s Column” are on display. We also feature works created using ancient Roman art as a source of inspiration.

Meissen’s unglazed pottery “Amor and Psyche” is a small work, about 30 cm in length, but the intertwined bodies, especially the arrangement of the arms reminiscent of a circle, gently holding each other’s heads, seem to symbolize eternal love. , I was fascinated by its luscious curves for a while.

The work is a reproduction of the famous 2nd century marble sculpture “Amor and Psyche” housed in the Capitoline Museums. In the 18th century, as the number of ancient art enthusiasts increased, a new industry for producing miniature versions of famous ancient sculptures and a market for buying and selling them grew, and it is said that many copies of these works were on the market.

On the last floor, there is a corner with a special exhibition, “The Capitoline Museums and Japan.”

Exactly 150 years ago, in 1873, the Iwakura Mission sent by the Meiji government to Europe and America visited the Capitoline Museums. Their experiences visiting museums in Europe and the United States influenced the Meiji government’s museum policy and art education.

The exhibition will feature illustrations from the visit report “Records of the Circulation of the United States and Europe”, which was created based on picture postcards that the members of the mission likely obtained locally, as well as illustrations of the feelings Japanese people had towards Europe in the early 19th century. We are introducing imaginary drawings that convey an exotic image, such as the Aranda French Kano Garan Drawing .

Furthermore, when Kogakuryo Bijutsu Gakko (later Kobu Bijutsu Gakko) was established as Japan’s first art education institution in 1876, Italian teachers invited to teach Western art used famous sculptures as teaching materials. I brought in plaster statues to use as models, including one from the Capitoline Museums.

As evidence of its history, students are thought to have copied the Head of Dionysus, which was created in the 2nd century and is in the Capitoline Museums, and a plaster statue that was based on the same work and was brought to Japan. “Half of the body of European lady Arianne” are displayed side by side. It symbolizes the timeless connection between the Capitoline and Japan.

The Eternal City of Rome Exhibition lets you immerse yourself in the history of the magnificent beauty of Rome, a city that has captivated artists from all over the world. Please come and visit us.

Overview of “Eternal City Rome Exhibition”

*The contents of the article are as of the time of reporting. Please check the official website for the latest information.

Article provided by: Kokosil Ueno

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Tokyo National Museum

The “Yokoo Tadanori Kanzan Hyakutoku” exhibition is being held at the Tokyo National Museum Hyokeikan in Ueno, Tokyo from September 12, 2023. (Duration is until December 3rd)

We are exhibiting for the first time 102 new works from the “Kanzan Shutoku” series, in which contemporary artist Tadanori Yokoo reconstructs the traditional painting theme of the wind-crazed monk in China with his own interpretation.

*About the images of the works… Unless otherwise specified, all works are by Tadanori Yokoo and are in the artist’s collection.

Kanzan Jitoku, who became a target of admiration for his escapist behavior.

Kanzan and Jitoku are two legendary poet-monks who are said to have lived during the Tang Dynasty in China.

Despite being a highly educated man of literature, he is known to be a free and eccentric being, living in a cave, filling his stomach with leftover food, and making outrageous statements. In Chinese Zen Buddhism, their secular appearance and behavior were hailed as a state of enlightenment, and Kanzan came to be considered sacred as the incarnation of Manjusri Bodhisattva, and Chitoku as the incarnation of Fugen Bodhisattva.
In China and Japan since the Kamakura period, Kanzan Joutoku has been depicted as a traditional painting theme by many Zen monks and literary figures, and in modern times it has been featured with admiration in the novels of Mori Ogai and Natsume Soseki.

It was in 2019 that Tadanori Yokoo (1936-), one of Japan’s leading contemporary artists, first exhibited a work based on the theme of Kanzan Jhotoku. It was inspired by the masterpiece “Kanzan Jitokuzu” by Soga Shohaku, a fantastical painter of the Edo period.

Since then, he has been intensively creating the “Kanzan Joutoku” series, changing its shapes in a variety of ways. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he avoided contact with the outside world and devoted himself to creative activities in his atelier, isolated from the world, much like a Kanzan-Jitoku retreat.

The 102 works in the “Kanzan Jhotoku” series on display are all new, previously unpublished works created specifically for this exhibition.

The production period is approximately one year starting from September 2021. As Yokoo himself said at the press conference for this exhibition, “I decided to quit being an artist and become an athlete.” With a powerful and challenging spirit that belies his age, he sometimes works three times a day. It was created at an astonishing speed, sometimes even drawing out the dots.

Beyond time and space, from image to image

Kanzan Joutoku is said to be a poet monk, and the traditional representation is that Kanzan is depicted holding a scroll with Chinese poems written on it, and Joutoku is shown holding a broom for sweeping the temple garden, but Mr. Yokoo used his own interpretation to use the scroll as toilet paper and the broom. It is humorous with modern updates such as having the user switch to a vacuum cleaner. Furthermore, the two are sitting on a toilet bowl reminiscent of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, perhaps an association with toilet paper.

As I walked around the venue, I noticed that the titles of each work were unified only with the date of production, and there were no explanatory captions.

Masato Matsushima, head of the Research Division at the Tokyo National Museum’s Curatorial Research Department, says that these exhibitions reflect Yokoo’s wishes.

“Mr. Yokoo himself said that he had no intention of putting a message or trying to convey something in each of his works. I have placed on canvas what has arisen from my body.I would like people to view it while freely imagining and interpreting it.”

In many cases, a particular motif forms a series of phases, such as “red cloth.”

“2022-03-24” depicts Kanzan Chitoku and a woman relaxing on a red mattress, which is clearly a parody of 19th century French painter Edouard Manet’s famous painting “Luncheon on the Grass.” There is a similar composition entitled “2022-05-01”, which looks exactly like “Noryo Screen” by the Edo period painter Morikage Kusumi, which is a national treasure in the museum’s collection.

In 2022-05-05, which was created a few days later, he is happily flying through the sky on a red magic carpet like in the Arabian Nights. And when I looked at 《2022-05-28》, it was like the world of Harry Potter. Perhaps each of them wanted to fly on their own, so they switched from the red carpet to the broom.

In this way, Mr. Yokoo’s Kanzan Chitoku statues are associated with images one after another, transforming like a hundred faces.

He appears to be dressed up as Arsène Lupin or Don Quixote, but his body also transforms into a gigantic mountain-like body that looks like an ink landscape painting, or an inorganic, geometric form reminiscent of an AI or robot. Jitoku Kanzan does whatever he wants, such as dressing up as a woman, merging into one, and blending into the scenery so much that you can no longer tell where he is.

In addition, as in the traditional painting theme “Four Sleeping Pictures”, he is not only accompanied by Jitoroku Kanzan, but also his two masters, Bukan Zenji and Tora, as well as Einstein, Edgar Allan Poe, Shohei Otani shows his face. There are also glimpses of works that reflect social conditions such as the Tokyo Olympics and the Soccer World Cup…

There was a story of Kanzan Jitoku that was free to move around, regardless of time, place, size, reality or fiction.

The diversity of these works, as if the artist’s multifaceted nature was brought out in the form of Jitoku Kanzan, is due to what Yokoo himself describes as his “physical brain.”

This work was born as a result of letting my body move freely, without being bound by style or commitment. The artist’s physical manifestations from time to time, such as the change in menstruation between yesterday and today, or the things that came into view that day, felt somewhat like a diary.

Opening up new frontiers of freedom with the “sluggish body” acquired from physical inconvenience

Many of his drawings are drawn with a soft and gentle touch, and Yokoo calls this style of drawing “oburotai.”

Oborotai originally refers to a Japanese painting technique established during the Meiji period, but for Mr. Yokoo, Oborotai means that his vision and even the inside of his head are unclear due to the effects of hearing loss that he developed in 2015. Even the boundaries between things and the distinction between dreams and reality have become blurred. Tendonitis made it difficult to draw clear, strong lines. It was acquired through these physical changes.

The outlines that have become vague through repeated brushstrokes sometimes neutralize the walls of time and space, sometimes going beyond the artist’s intentions and leaving the constraints of the past and technology, giving an impression of openness that melts the heart of the viewer. I’ll give it to you.

Most of the works are painted on large canvases of size F100 or F150, making them impressive, and since there are no covers such as acrylic cases, it is possible to appreciate the brushstrokes and layering of colors up close.
The screen was bright, and many warm primary colors such as red and yellow were used, which gave me a sense of peace and energy, as if some weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

It is said that it is rare in the history of the museum to hold an exhibition by a living artist. Why not experience the free world of Tadanori Yokoo, who broke new ground in his 80s at this exhibition, which has a special place in the museum?

In addition, as a related project to this exhibition, the special room 1 of the main building of the Tokyo National Museum will feature a special feature titled “The Tokyo National Museum’s Cold Mountains: A Longing for the Legendary Wind-Crazy Monk” from September 12, 2023 (Tuesday) to November 5, 2023. Ongoing until Sunday .

*Can be viewed with a ticket to this exhibition. Please check the official website for details as there are exhibition changes between the first and second periods.

Including the National Treasure Indara’s “Kanzan Joutoku-zu (Fragmented Zen Machine Drawing)”, the museum’s collection of classic “Kanzan Joutoku-zu” is collected and introduced in one place. It might be interesting to follow the evolution of Kanzan Jhotoku-zu and compare it with Yokoo’s latest works.

“Tadanori Yokoo Kanzan Hyakutoku” Exhibition

*The content of the article is as of the date of coverage. Please check the official website for the latest information.

Article provided by: Kokosil Ueno

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