TFAM organizes special Gallery Talk for families

The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum commemorated International Museum Day on May 18 by holding a special Gallery Talk on the museum’s main exhibition, “The Illustrated Books of Leonard Foujita,” for parents and their children. The theme of this hour-long Gallery Talk, in which a TFAM curator conducts in an interactive guide to an exhibition’s artworks, was “Find the Felines.” Born in Japan, Foujita (1886-1968) lived in Paris, France for an extended period and was renowned for his illustrations of beautiful women and cats.

International Museum Day is organized by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), a global network of museums and museum professionals that was founded in 1946. Some 20,000 museums, including TFAM, are institutional members of ICOM.

TFAM holds special workshop by French dancer-choreographer

The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum held a special workshop with Philippe Chehere as the instructor on May 5 as part of the museum’s celebration of Children’s Day in Japan. Mr. Chehere is a French performing artist, choreographer and contemporary dancer.

Held at a TFAM exhibition hall, the workshop ran for some 90 minutes, with infant-toting mothers to children and adults of all ages, including senior citizens and even several passers-by, taking part in the program. Participants were encouraged to draw inspiration from the artworks on display, using their imagination to assume poses of situations prior to and following that depicted in a painting, for example, or become characters themselves.

The next workshop will be held during the summer, when school is out on break.

Work from TFAM collection displayed at Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Germany

An oil painting from the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum collection, Portrait of a Collector by Tintoretto—or Jacopo Comin (1518-94), the Venetian artist’s real name—was put on display at the Wallraf das Museum in Cologne, Germany, from May 3. The TFAM piece on loan is being exhibited alongside The Diplomat from Venice—Tintoretto’s Portrait of Paolo Tiepolo, considered one of his most representative works (see photo).

The 189-year-old Wallraf-Richartz Museum stands among the three major museums in Cologne, with a large collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings.

Students from Hachioji’s Ongata Junior High School Tour TFAM

On May 1, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum hosted first-year students from the Ongata Junior High School in Hachioji City. Part of TFAM’s ongoing educational services initiative, students viewed works from the Renaissance, Impressionist paintings from the 19th century, as well as “The Illustrated Books of Leonard Foujita” exhibition.

TFAM to unveil The Illustrated Books of Leonard Foujita exhibition

On April 3, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum will be launching an exhibition featuring works by Japanese painter and printmaker Leonard Foujita (1886-1968) from TFAM’s private collection. Foujita, who used Japanese ink techniques in Western-style paintings, moved to Paris in 1913 and befriended such artistic giants as Amedeo Modgliani, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, rising to fame as a painter of striking women and cats. Among Foujita’s works that will be exhibited are illustrations and cover art for French books and magazines. The exhibition also displays some 8 works by his School of Paris contemporaries, including oil paintings and lithographs by Modigliani, Chagall and Laurencin.

A series of side events will also be held, from the “Gallery Talk” conducted by our curators every Saturday afternoon.

TFAM Launches Spanish- and French-Language Websites

The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum recently launched websites in Spanish and French as part of a TFAM initiative to reach a broader international audience. Our museum now operates websites in seven languages, including Japanese, English, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and Hangul.

TFAM was founded with the mandate to serve as a portal and bridge linking the world through the arts and cultural exchange.

TFAM Holds Workshop on Collages

On January 6, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum hosted a special workshop for participants to create collages of their own design using colored paper, cloth ribbons, magazines, pens and other materials on a single sheet of drawing paper.

The workshop was held in conjunction with the winter break for schoolchildren, but was open to people of all ages, from infants to the elderly.

TFAM is taking requests for participants for the next workshop, which will be held during the spring break.

TFAM Holds Gallery Talk Event

On January 5, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum hosted its tenth Gallery Talk, an event hosted by a TFAM curator introducing the highlights of the museum’s latest exhibition that has been held on nine previous occasions. The Gallery Talk in this case was on “Contemporary Art of a Century Ago” exhibition featuring modern European artists who contributed to a groundbreaking exhibition held in New York in 1913. The event aims to bring viewers closer to art and art history.

TFAM to Hold Contemporary Art of a Century Ago Exhibition

The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum extends its warmest greetings on the New Year.

On January 4, TFAM will hold Contemporary Art of a Century Ago, an exhibition introducing the works of renowned European artists and sculptors who contributed to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art that opened at a U.S. Army armory in New York City. Organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors, the exhibition, held 100 years ago, helped reshape art in America. The TFAM exhibition celebrates the century-old event and the European masters of modern art who proved instrumental to its success.

Students from Hachioji’s Kasumi Elementary School Tour TFAM

On December 5, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum hosted fourth-grade students from the Kasumi Elementary School in Hachioji City. Part of TFAM’s ongoing educational services initiative, students viewed works from the Renaissance, Impressionist paintings from the 19th century, as well as “The Art of the Napoleonic Era” exhibition.