A special exhibition featuring treasures from the collections of the Metropolitan Art Museum (The Met). The exhibition will examine the ways in which Western art has looked at landscape (earth, sea and sky), fauna, and flora.
Composed of artworks selected from 12 of the Met’s 17 curatorial departments, the exhibition will examine changing approaches to the artistic expression of nature, with a primary focus on Western art. This it will do through works ranging from ancient Mesopotamian crafts of circa 2000 BC to medieval European crafts, Islamic manuscripts, silverware, glassware, textiles, oil paintings by Rembrandt, Turner, Van Gogh and other great masters of Western art, and photographic works dating from the 19th century to recent times.
How has humankind viewed the world of nature—the source of all things, filled with mysterious, unknowable powers—and transformed inspiration into splendid works of art and culture?
This exhibition’s theme is truly “the art legacy of Man,” a subject that continually enthralls visitors to the Met. The exhibition is being held to commemorate the grand reopening of Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and will not tour other cities in Japan.