“Great Masters of Japanese Painting” exhibition opens to public in Shimane

The Shimane Art Museum will be hosting “Great Masters of Japanese Painting from the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Collection,” an exhibition held in cooperation with the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. The exhibition features the works of some three centuries of master Japanese artists, from early modern paintings to ukiyo-e prints, with the showing in Shimane running from June 1 on to July 5.

“Splendor of French Paintings” exhibition opens to public in Osaka

The Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts will be hosting “Through the Eyes of René Huyghe: The Splendor of French Paintings—Formation and Transformation of the ‘Grande Manière,’” an exhibition organized by the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. The Osaka venue runs from May 26 and is scheduled to close on August 16. Among its backers are the nationally circulated Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper and its affiliated national Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation network.

Divided into three segments, “The Splendor of French Paintings” exhibition consists of some 80 oil paintings and drawings, works capturing three of the most iconic periods in Western art, beginning with the rise of classicism in the 17th century to the Rococo in the 18th and neo-classicism in the 19th up until the eve of the Impressionism.

Kyushu museum to host TFAM exhibition

On October 30, the Kyushu National Museum announced that it will be hosting the “Through the Eyes of René Huyghe: The Splendor of French Paintings—Formation and Transformation of the ‘Grande Manière’” exhibition organized by the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum from February 4 to March 29 in 2020. The exhibition will be held with the sponsorship of such organizations as the Nishinippon Shimbun newspaper, Mainichi Shimbun newspaper and Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting TV network.

PHOTO CAPTION: Kyushu National Museum officials announce the holding of TFAM’s “The Splendor of Frenching Paintings” exhibition in 2020

Education vice minister enjoys “This is Japan in Kyoto” exhibition

On September 3, Tomoko Ukishima, Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, visited the Museum of Kyoto and enjoyed the exhibition, “This is Japan in Kyoto—From the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Collection.” Escorted by Deputy Director Toshiaki Kouyama of the Museum of Kyoto and TFAM curator Toshiyasu Kamogi, Vice Minister Ukishima delved into the essence of Japanese art while experiencing its timeless beauty and wonder through a state-of-the-art virtual reality system.

University of Buckingham Professor Martin Ricketts visits TFAM

On March 19, University of Buckingham Professor of Economic Organization Martin Ricketts of the United Kingdom visited the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. He was welcomed by Executive Director Akira Kaneko and toured the “Léonard Foujita with His Private Works” exhibition as well as the permanent exhibition “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century–500 Years of Western Paintings.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Professor Martin Ricketts (center)

“Flowers of Immense Charm” exhibition closes in Taiwan

The exhibition “Flowers of Immense Charm—A Masterpiece Exhibition by Four Major Museums” held at the National Taiwan Museum (NTM) closed on February 10 with great success. The exhibition had been held from October 2018 with the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum among the four museums—led by NTM and including The National Palace Museum and Chimei Museum—collaborating in the event.

TFAM loaned 25 pieces from its collection of folding-screen paintings and Ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the Edo period as well as modern Japanese works. More than 420,000 people visited the TFAM collection.

TFAM has promoted cultural exchange with Taiwan through such exhibitions as “On Site: A Centennial Retrospective of Robert Capa” (2013) and “Grand Masters of Ukiyo-e from Tokyo Fuji Art Museum’s Permanent Collection” (2016) at the National Taiwan Museum in the past.

Shanghai’s Powerlong Art Museum opens TFAM Western painting exhibition

On January 11, the Powerlong Art Museum in Shanghai held the opening ceremony for the exhibition, “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings,” featuring 60 works from the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum collection.

At the ceremony, congratulatory words were shared from Shanghai International Culture Association Deputy President and General Secretary Deng Xiaoxian, Powerlong Group Director and Powerlong Culture Executive Director Xu Hualin, Shanghai Tix-Media President Xie Dingwei as well as from TFAM Executive Director Akira Kaneko. TFAM Curatorial Department Director Kenichi Hirano introduced the exhibition program.

Deputy President Deng expressed gratitude to TFAM’s support not only for the exhibition but also for longstanding effort to strengthen friendship between China and Japan. Director Xu praised the TFAM collection as a microcosm of the history of Western art. Meanwhile, President Xie offered his gratitude to TFAM founder Daisaku Ikeda for his role in holding the exhibition in China.

The exhibition is open to the public from January 12 until April 30.

“Beauty of Japan” stage 2 opens at Hokkaido museum

On August 9, the second stage of “Beauty of Japan: Profusion of Flowers,” an exhibition featuring selected Japanese art from the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum’s collection, opened at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art. Sponsored by the Sapporo Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd. and Hokkaido Shimbun Press, the program commemorates 35th anniversary of TFAM, which helped organize the exhibition.

Among the 120 pieces exhibited are In and Around the City of Kyoto, a Kano School work, Elephant and Chicken by Ito Jakuchu, and Fifty-three Stations on the Tokaido by Utagawa Hiroshige.

A ceremony was held on August 9 to celebrate the attendance figure surpassing 80,000 visitors. The exhibition will run until September 2.

Hiroshima museum opens TFAM’s Battle of Anghiari exhibition

On September 10, the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum began showing the “Leonardo da Vinci and The Battle of Anghiari: The Mystery of the Tavola Doria” exhibition organized by the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. Some 260 guests and dignitaries attended the opening ceremony.   The Hiroshima exhibition will also include ten new pieces, the most prominent of them being The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist on loan from the Los Angeles-based Hammer Museum. The exhibition concludes on October 22.

Aomori museum holds TFAM Renaissance exhibition

On July 27, the Aomori Museum of Art, a cultural institution operated by the Aomori prefectural government, held “A Monumental Journey to the Far Side of the World: The Art of Renaissance Italy and the Boys of Tensho-Era Japan,” an exhibition that traces Japan’s first official delegation to Europe by introducing various Italian artworks from the Renaissance era.

Among the dignitaries attending the exhibition’s opening ceremony were Director Eike Schmidt of Italy’s Uffizi Gallery and Corrado Molteni, Academic and Cultural Affairs Attache of the Italian Embassy in Japan.

The exhibition will be shown at the Aomori Museum of Art until September 10 and reopen at TFAM in Hachioji, Tokyo, on September 21.