Current Exhibition
November 3 (Fri/holiday), 2023 – January 28 (Sun), 2024
Celadon
―Ceramics that Charmed the World
Closed: Mondays（Except January 8）and January 9, December 25-January 8.
Bright green, emerald green, cerulean blue, and olive green are all various shades of celadon that also indicate the kiln locations and periods of their creation, pointing to the fact how celadon works are indeed diverse. Celadon was first created in China by fusing together simple forms and vibrant colors and was widely accepted across Asia to Euro-America, from emperors and aristocrats to the general public. This exhibition explores celadon works from Yue and Longquan kilns in China as well as those of Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia to show how celadon had charmed the world.
Exhibitions
2023.4～2024.3
April 22 (Sat) – May 28 (Sun), 2023Decorating the Toko Alcove－Calligraphy and Paintings for Tea Rooms
The tea ceremony (cha no yu), or ways of drinking green tea (matcha and sencha), was imported from China and has distinctly evolved according to the culture and climate of Japan. A wide variety of tea utensils were discovered through the ages, and specific pieces were known to be favored at certain periods. The tea ceremony classics Nanbō-roku records that “kakemono hanging scrolls are the most important in cha no yu”, and various kakemono hung in toko alcoves came to represent the masters’ tastes. The exhibition will explore what kinds of calligraphy and paintings were prized as hanging scrolls in the tea ceremony, focusing on the collection of the Idemitsu Museum of Arts.
June 10 (Sat) – July 23 (Sun), 2023
Commemorating the 360th Anniversary of the Birth of Ogata Kenzan
Rimpa Ceramics―The Echoing Beauty of Ceramics and Paintings
Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743) was a Kyoto potter representing the ceramic art of mid-Edo period. Kenzan ware, known as “Rimpa ware”, was revolutionary in the history of ceramics for the painterly design. By adopting elegant courtly culture and literary design, his works created a new world of ceramics that harmoniously blended with the esthetics of painting and calligraphy. This exhibition introduces Kyoto ware by Nonomura Ninsei, Nin’ami Dōhachi and still others that show strong ties with Kenzan, and further, Rimpa paintings and lacquerware that resonate with their ceramics. We hope you enjoy the harmony of Rimpa that echoes across genres of crafts and painting.
August 5 (Sat) – September 3 (Sun), 2023
An Introductory Guide to Japanese Esthetics
Image Chaining in Japanese Art
Japanese art is full of recurring subjects and designs. This summer holiday exhibition invites visitors to take a sweeping but close look at artworks of various time periods and genres, and enjoy making new discoveries. By finding similarities among the works, we hope the visitors will discover that each image is linked together and enrich the experience at the museum. For both first-time and returning visitors, this exhibition is an opportunity to discover the richness of Japanese Art through different ways of viewing art.
September 16 (Sat) – October 22 (Sun), 2023 Art of the Edo Period―Birth of “Lightness”
Kanō Tan’yū (1602-74) who had firmly established his position within the Kanō School of Edo period painting, is known for stating that “it is bad for paintings to be filled” to Emperor Go-Mizunoo. In other words, it is undesirable to paint everything and the work should give the impression of space and some leeway. This canon was not limited to the field of painting but was also interconnected with theories of other arts, such as Bashō’s poetry that strove for “lightness”, and widely practiced during the Edo period. This exhibition focuses on works of painting and calligraphy, and introduces the world of art completed with an “unfilled” esthetic sensibility.
November 3 (Fri/holiday), 2023 – January 28 (Sun), 2024
*Closed during the year-end and New Year’s holidays: December 25 – January 4
Celadon―Ceramics that Charmed the World
Bright green, emerald green, cerulean blue, and olive green are all various shades of celadon that also indicate the kiln locations and periods of their creation, pointing to the fact how celadon works are indeed diverse. Celadon was first created in China by fusing together simple forms and vibrant colors and was widely accepted across Asia to Euro-America, from emperors and aristocrats to the general public. This exhibition explores celadon works from Yue and Longquan kilns in China as well as those of Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia to show how celadon had charmed the world.
February 10 (Sat) – March 24 (Sun), 2024
Commemorating the 300th Anniversary of His Birth
Ike Taiga―Landscape of Sunlight
Landscape paintings depict the rustling of trees and leaves and the shimmering surface of water using only ink and color dots. These landscape paintings that allow viewers today to visit the distant West Lake or the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers were created from the mountain climbing experiences of Ike Taiga (1723-76), who admired Japanese nature. This exhibition unveils the virtuous personality of Taiga who admired China’s literati culture since childhood and explores the secrets of sensory landscape paintings by looking at works depicting Mount Fuji and China’s scenic sites, and other landscape paintings of four seasons. We hope you will enjoy the heartwarming expressions of Taiga’s gentle and blissful paintings.
