Museum holds special “art talk” event

On April 29, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum held what it calls an “art talk” event to examine the broad appeal of Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-89) to this day. Among those speaking at the special event was Kyosai’s great granddaughter Kusumi Kawanabe, who chairs the Kawanabe Kyosai Memorial Museum Board of Trustees and serves as its director; TripAdvisor country manager Tomoe Makino; Yasunori Tamaki, an executive producer at Kadokawa Corporation; and Time Out Tokyo president Hiroyuki Fushitani.

In the first half of the event, the three guests introduced their favorite Kyosai artworks and shared their views on the artist’s creations. In the second half, Director Kawanabe fielded questions and shared personal anecdotes of the challenges she had to overcome in establishing the museum as well as her feelings for Kyosai’s daughter and fellow artist Kyosui, who is the director’s grandmother, among others.

Special dance exhibition held in conjunction with “Kyosai and Kyosui” exhibition

On April 14, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum held a dance workshop featuring Philippe Chehere, a French dancer and choreographer.

Monsieur Chehere is a pioneer dance therapist for patients with Huntington’s disease and Minamata disease, operating primarily in France and Japan. His recent performances include workshops and performance art in such museums as the Louvre and Musée de l'Orangerie as well as universities and medical institutions in Japan.

As the hour-long TFAM workshop was held as part of its “Kyosai and Kyosui—The Soul of the Artist as Pioneered by Father and Daughter” exhibition, the participants moved to the exhibition room for a dance session following a light warm-up. The artwork served to inspire performing poses, while balloons and tissue paper were used for a series of exercises.

The party of the Tsinghua University Art Museum in China visited TFAM

On April 10, delegates from the Tsinghua University Art Museum in China visited the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. The delegation was led by Deputy Director Yang Dongjiang and consisted of Subhead of Exhibition Department Wang Chenya, General Director of Design Wang Peng and Tsinghua University Assistant Professor of Academy of Arts & Design Liu Runfu.

On hand to welcome them were TFAM Board of Trustees Chair Kazuhiko Shinoda, Director Akira Gokita and Executive Director Akira Kaneko.

The delegates from China viewed the permanent exhibition “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” and “Kyosai and Kyosui–The Soul of the Artist as Pioneered by Father and Daughter.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Deputy Director Yang Dongjiang (fourth from left) led the Chinese delegation

The special exhibition “Kyosai and Kyosui” opens

On March 29, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum held the opening ceremony for the spring special exhibition, “Kyosai and Kyosui–The Soul of the Artist as Pioneered by Father and Daughter.” TFAM, the Kawanabe Kyosai Memorial Museum and Transpacific Enterprises organized the exhibition.

At the ceremony, TFAM Director Akira Gokita spoke on behalf of the organizers. He was followed by the great grandchild of Kyosai, Kusumi Kawanabe, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees and Director of the Kawanabe Kyosai Memorial Museum, who shared insights on father-and-daughter artists Kyosai and Kyosui.

Transpacific Enterprises COO Rey DeBoer, TFAM Board of Trustess Chair Kazuhiko Shinoda and Kawanabe Kyosai Memorial Museum Director Kawanabe led the tape-cutting ceremony.

The exhibition will open at TFAM for public viewing on April 1.

Hachioji junior high school students visit TFAM

On March 6, junior high school students from the Hachioji Tate Elementary and Junior High School visited the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. They viewed the permanent exhibition “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” with a curator who shared the history and anecdotes of the artists and their works.

TFAM holds second Mozart concert honoring Higashiyama Kaii

On February 25, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum held the “Higashiyama Kaii’s Beloved Pieces of Mozart–A Piano Recital by Aki Fujii and Quartetto Grazia.” Ms. Fujii is a pianist actively performing worldwide, while the Quartetto Grazia is a talented string quartet.

The “Higashiyama Kaii: From The Nagano Prefectural Art Museum Higashiyama Kaii Gallery—A TFAM 35th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition” is slated to conclude on March 4.

Director of the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection visits TFAM

On February 16, Director Lukas Gloor of the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection in Switzerland paid a courtesy call on the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. The Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection was established to display works collected by renowned Swiss art collector Emil Georg Bührle to the public.

As part of his visit, Director Gloor toured the “Higashiyama Kaii: From The Nagano Prefectural Art Museum Higashiyama Kaii Gallery—A TFAM 35th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition” and “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” permanent exhibition.

Director Gloor shared insights with TFAM officials on impressionist paintings in the possession of the Buehrle Collection and TFAM respectively, comparing works as well as discussing their histories and episodes on how they were collected.

The exhibition of the “Impressionist Masterpieces from the E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich,” which introduces artworks in the E.G. Bührle Collection, is now showing at the National Art Center, Tokyo.

Mayor of Kyoto City visits TFAM

On February 15, Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa of Kyoto City paid a courtesy call on the Tokyo Art Museum, with TFAM Board of Trustees Kazuhiko Oshida and Director Akira Gokita on hand to greet him.

Mayor Kadokawa viewed “Higashiyama Kaii: From The Nagano Prefectural Art Museum Higashiyama Kaii Gallery—A TFAM 35th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition” and “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” permanent exhibition.

Later, the mayor and TFAM officials shared ideas on organizing exhibitions and other cultural exchange initiatives between the historical city and the art museum going forward.

In 2013, Kyoto hosted the TFAM exhibition, “Impressions at the Waterside—Depicting Urban Resorts: Paris, the Seine, and Normandy” as well as the “Leonardo da Vinci and The Battle of Anghiari: The Mystery of Tavola Doria” exhibition in 2015. Both programs were generated significant public and media interest.

PHOTO CAPTION: Kyoto City Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa (center)

Director of Denver Art Museum and others visit TFAM

On February 14, Director Christoph Heinrich of the Denver Art Museum and German art historian Dr. Detmar Westhoff paid a courtesy call on the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. TFAM Director Akira Gokita was on hand to welcome them.

The Denver museum is one of the largest of its kind in the U.S. with more than 70,000 works of various eras and areas of the world.

The visitors viewed the “Higashiyama Kaii: From The Nagano Prefectural Art Museum Higashiyama Kaii Gallery—A TFAM 35th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition” and “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” permanent exhibition.

Following the viewing, the two guests engaged in a discussion with TFAM officials on cultural exchange initiatives that TFAM can engage in with the Denver Art Museum.

PHOTO CAPTION: From the left, Dr. Westhoff, Director Heinrich, Director Gokita

Delegates from China’s Dunhuang Research Academy visit TFAM

On February 8, a delegation led by Luo Huaqing, Deputy Director of the Dunhuang Research Academy (DRA) of China, paid a courtesy call on the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. The DRA is tasked with supervising the Mogao Caves, a UN World Heritage Site that is internationally renowned for their Buddhist artworks.

Speaking with TFAM’s Executive Director Akira Kaneko and other members, the Academy delegates exchanged various opinions regarding the exchange of exhibitions in the near future. Following their talk, the delegation viewed the “Higashiyama Kaii: From The Nagano Prefectural Art Museum Higashiyama Kaii Gallery—A TFAM 35th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition” and “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” permanent exhibition.

In an ongoing initiative to introduce the cultural riches of China, TFAM has worked with the DRA in the past, having hosted the “Treasures from Dunhuang, China” exhibition in 1985 with the full cooperation of the Academy.

PHOTO CAPTION: Deputy Director Luo Huaqing and his fellow Dunhuang Research Academy delegates (center, right)