French, Russian royal jewelry on display

Jointly organized by the Kobe Fashion Museum, the first national institution in Japan dedicated to the history and evolution of fashion, and the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, the exhibition, “A Dress In A Picture, A Picture Of A Dress,” features paintings, photographs and dress ornaments of European subjects in the 18th to 20th centuries. Among the finery on display, a tiara worn by Empress of the French Josephine is extraordinary. The empress Josephine’s stunning tiara is adorned by 1,040 diamonds totaling 260 carats.

Also, a hatpin belonging to the imperial Russian family is exhibited at the New Wing Permanent Gallery 4. The House of Romanoff’s exquisitely crafted hatpin boasts diamonds arranged in a helically and crowned with a blue sapphire.

The former is on display at our museum until Sunday, May 9, and the latter, until Sunday, May 23.

A TFAM work by Turner to be shown at Tate Gallery exhibition

“Helvoetsluys; the City of Utrecht, 64, Going to Sea,” a painting by the celebrated Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) belonging to the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Collection, will be on display at the Tate Gallery exhibition “Constable: A History of His Affections in England” held at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum in Tokyo from February 20.

Turner’s work was originally shown alongside “The Opening of Waterloo Bridge” by John Constable (1776-1837), renowned for his groundbreaking landscape paintings, at an exhibition organized by Britain’s Royal Academy of Arts in 1832. Turner and Constable were rivals in their genre and when the Royal Academy chose to exhibit their works next to each other, the artists were allowed to apply their final brushstrokes before the grand opening. At the last minute, Turner added a red buoy to his largely monochromatic “Going to Sea,” to which Constable later wrote, “He has been here and fired a gun.” This is the first time that the two pieces will be shown side by side in Japan.

The episode was recorded in Memoirs of the Life of John Constable, which was authored by fellow painter Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859), a work that also belongs to the TFAM Collection and be on display at the exhibition. “Constable: A History of His Affections in England” will run until May 30. For further information, click on the link: https://mimt.jp/constable/

Former head of UNESCO visits museum

On February 16, Koichiro Matsuura (third from left) paid a visit to the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. As the former Director-General of UNESCO, Mr. Matsuura was instrumental in the adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003. He also served as the Japanese Ambassador to France. TFAM Board of Trustees Chair Kazuhiko Oshida, Director Akira Gokita and Executive Director Akira Kaneko were on hand to welcome the former diplomat, who later viewed “A Dress In A Picture, A Picture Of A Dress,” an exhibition organized in close collaboration with the Kobe Fashion Museum, and the “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” exhibition.

“A Dress In A Picture, A Picture Of A Dress” opens at museum

On February 13, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum premiered at its Main Museum Exhibition Gallery “A Dress In A Picture, A Picture Of A Dress,” an exhibition organized in close collaboration with the Kobe Fashion Museum, the first national institution in Japan dedicated to the history and evolution of fashion. The exhibition features paintings and photographs of subjects in the 18th to 20th centuries dressed in various finery from the TFAM collection displayed alongside apparel and dress ornaments corresponding to that specific era provided by the Kobe Fashion Museum, enabling visitors to explore the world of fine art from a unique new prism.

Concurrently, the “Fashion in Photography: Evolving Faces, Evolving Places” exhibition will be held at TFAM’s New Wing Permanent Gallery 6 and 7. Drawing extensively on our extensive photography collection, the exhibition with a sweeping perspective of fashion, from its earliest daguerreotype roots to modern-day “mode” stills that first appeared in postwar Japan and remain popular to this day. Among the works on display are opulently dressed European gentility of the 19th century and the glitterati of the day, along with rare photos of Japanese clad in both traditional attire as well as Western wear as the country transitioned from a feudal to modern society.

The “A Dress In A Picture, A Picture Of A Dress” exhibition will run until May 9 while “Fashion in Photography: Evolving Faces, Evolving Places” will close on May 23.

Please note that TFAM has instituted strict coronavirus safety protocols and that our theater, library and Kids’ Room will therefore be closed to the public.

Our Museum Deputy Director holds a solo exhibition “Timbre of Time”

A six-day exhibition of Yoshiro Shimizu, deputy director of the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and member of the Japan Academy of Fine Arts, will open from February 10. “Timbre of Time: An Exhibition of Yoshiro Shimizu’s Japanese Art” is composed of some 20 works, including a six-panel folding screen featuring the sea, castle and tree for the artist’s “time” motif. Shimizu won the Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in 2011.

Museum holds “Those Adorable Animals” slide presentation on Zoom

On January 17, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum holds a Zoom slide presentation on its “Those Adorable Animals—Through the Lens of the World’s Pioneering and Premier Photographers” exhibition, which will be held at the museum until January 24. Among the works featured were those of Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904), a pioneer in photographic studies of motion, and renowned war photographer Robert Capa, along with a discussion of their lives and episodes involving animals as their subject matter.

Education minister, parliamentary secretary visit TFAM

On December 18, Koichi Hagiuda (center) and Yoko Wanibuchi (second from left), Minister and Parlimentary Secretary respectively of the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry visited the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. TFAM Board of Trustees Chair Kazuhiko Oshida, Director Akira Gokita and Executive Director Akira Kaneko were on hand to welcome the officials, who toured “From the Renaissance to the 20 Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” and “Those Adorable Animals—Through the Lens of the World’s Pioneering and Premier Photographers” exhibitions.

TFAM exhibition premieres in Okinawa

The exhibition, “How to Read Western Paintings: Masterpieces from Tokyo Fuji Art Museum” exhibition opened at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum in Naha City on December 15. The exhibition was supported by the nonprofit Okinawa Churashima Foundation and Okinawa Television Co., Ltd. Network, and features 82 works from 16th century Italy to the 20th century. TFAM Director Akira Gokita attended the opening ceremony. The exhibition will run until January 31, 2021.

NTT Communications executive advisor tours museum

On December 16, Tetsuya Shoji, executive advisor of NTT Communications Corp., visited the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and greeted by TFAM Executive Director Akira Kaneko. During his visit, Mr. Shoji (left in photo) toured “From the Renaissance to the 20 Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” and “Those Adorable Animals—Through the Lens of the World’s Pioneering and Premier Photographers” exhibitions.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank chair visits museum

Chairman Hitoshi Tsunekage of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Ltd. paid a courtesy call on the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum on December 9. He was welcomed by TFAM Director Akira Gokita, who led the bank chair on a tour of “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” and “Those Adorable Animals—Through the Lens of the World’s Pioneering and Premier Photographers” exhibitions.