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Presenting major works by the artists profiled in Nobuo Tsuji's book, Lineage of Eccentrics (1970)—Iwasa Matabei, Kano Sansetsu, Ito Jakuchu, Soga Shohaku, Nagasawa Rosetsu, and Utagawa Kuniyoshi, with the addition of Hakuin Ekaku and Suzuki Kiitsu. An exhibition evoking the rich allure of Edo painting—a powerfully imaginative world, filled with bizarre imagery.
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Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)—a leading figure in Viennese art at the turn of the 20th century. Klimt’s paintings, known for their opulent decorative character and fin-de-siècle eroticism, still today enjoy widespread popularity. This exhibition marking the centennial of the artist’s death will feature some 20 oil paintings by Klimt—the largest display ever to be realized in Japan. They will range from early naturalistic works and foremost “Golden Phase” painting, created after his forming the Viennese Secession, to sensual portraits of women and the landscapes he painted throughout his career.
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This year's exhibition takes the theme "Calligraphy Appreciation" and features six artists belonging to calligraphy groups. By seeing the works and sensing their adventurous spirit, viewers both new and veteran will understand the allure of contemporary calligraphy.
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This project, operated in conjunction with Tokyo University of the Arts, is aimed at fostering an active, open art community with the Museum as a central stage. The project is led by art communicators (“Tobira”), who are given responsibility for growing a community.
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A program linking all 9 cultural facilities in Ueno Park to support children in their "museum debut." The program provides a "flat" learning environment where adults and children learn on an equal basis. Through experiences of seeing, listening, and speaking, children come to understand the fun and excitement of visiting an art museum.
The Sick Child I
1896, Lithograph
©Munchmuseet
At five, Munch lost his mother to tuberculosis. Nine years later, he lost a sister one year older to the same disease. His The Sick Child series of works evoking her death are representative of his early paintings displaying a bold move from naturalism. In this lithograph Munch sensitively portrays, in profile, a young girl seemingly conscious of her fate to die. The Sick Child, rooted in real experiences of the death of family members, became a breakthrough in his art and a source for many paintings he thereafter created.
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Summer Night. Mermaid
1893, Oil on canvas
©Munchmuseet
From around thirty, Munch held exhibitions throughout Europe and gradually built an international reputation. Meanwhile, he also began spending summers in a village overlooking the Oslo fjord. Images of Norway’s short summers—the white nights, forests, and the ocean glistening under shafts of moonlight—appear repeatedly in Munch’s works, like primal scenery. In Mermaid on the Shore, the natural scenery of quietly rolling waves, curve of the shoreline, and round rocks of the shore seem to mirror the lonely sentiments of the figure lost in thought.
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The Scream
1910?, Tempera and oil on unprimed cardboard
©Munchmuseet
The Scream, Munch’s great masterpiece, depicts a primal experience of the artist, who sensed a scream passing through nature while out walking one evening. The figure stands stock still with mouth wide open and hands muffling both ears. Beyond, the sun sets in vivid colors above a distant fjord. Munch’s painting, portraying raw emotion using vivid colors and distorted forms, became a forerunner of 20th-century Expressionism.
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Vampire in the Forest
1916-18, Oil on canvas
©Munchmuseet
A woman leans over a man, kissing his neck, vampire-like. Depicted as a single mass, the embracing couple appears to symbolically express the ambiguity and complexity of love. Munch produced many variations of Vampire, for it was his habit to repeatedly produce paintings on the same theme while altering their technique, composition, and colors. This he did to more thoroughly explore his memories and unfold them in world of the artwork, but also to keep his beloved works (his “children,” he called them) near to him.
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Starry Night
1922-24, Oil on canvas
©Munchmuseet
In 1916, when in his fifties, Munch took a house and studio in Ekely, a suburb rich in natural beauty, and applied himself avidly to production. This winter scene depicts the view from the house’s porch. Under the clear night sky, the accumulated snow sparkles softly under the starlight. Beyond the hill, the city’s lights glow brightly. The carefully painted profile of a face, in shadow, is perhaps Munch himself. The work, it is said, was inspired by a drama by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
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Self-Portrait. Between the Clock and the Bed
1940-43, Oil on canvas
©Munchmuseet
With the rise of Nazi Germany, Munch’s paintings were confiscated as “degenerate” artworks. Meanwhile, in his own country, he was awarded and his biography published, and he was seen as a national icon. In this self-portrait of his late years, Munch portrays himself standing in a room whose walls are filled with paintings. The clock with no hands and the bed are symbols of death. Munch’s figure, manifesting his age and solitude, seems reflect the mental state of an artist looking calmly at the reality of his own impending death.
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