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Presenting some 450 carefully selected ukiyo-e prints from the Ōta Memorial Museum of Art, Japan Ukiyo-e Museum, and Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation, what are reputed to be the three great collections of ukiyo-e in Japan both in quality and volume. We invite you to enjoy famed works by representative ukiyo-e master artists of all periods from the 17th through 19th centuries.
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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.
Head and shoulders from a colossus of Ramesses II
Egypt (Bubastis), New Kingdom, Dynasty 19, reign of Ramesses II, 1279-1213 B.C.
Egypt Exploration Fund by subscription
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
In the past, kings and emperors attired themselves in special dress and regalia. Ancient Egyptians would have quickly identified this statue to be a pharaoh by his ceremonial false beard (now broken away) and the sacred uraeus cobra on his forehead. Ramesses II (about 1303 – 1213 BC1303 – 1213 BC), one of ancient Egypt’s most famous pharaohs, ruled Egypt for 67 years. This statue sculpted from precious red granite was originally part of a large temple and stood 3m high, it is believed.
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Anthony van Dyck
Princess Mary, Daughter of Charles I
about 1637
Given in memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by the Fuller Foundation
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Van Dyck attained popularity as a painter of elegant, richly refined portraits suited to royalty and aristocrats. Princess Mary (1631–1660), King Charles I of England’s eldest daughter, is shown here at about age six. She wears a sumptuous blue satin dress with lavish silver trim. There is something poignant about such a young child clothed so magnificently and presented as if much older. A standard function of royal portraits such as this one was to celebrate or promote the dynastic marriages that were key to a country’s stability and their ruling family’s fortunes.
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Osafune Nagamitsu
Sword of the tachi type
Japan, Kamakura period, 13th-14th centuries
Gift of Mrs. Charles Goddard Weld
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This weapon is by Osafune Nagamitsu, a swordsmith active in Bizen (present-day Okayama Prefecture), an important swordsmithing center in Japan. The wide blade and pronounced curve are typical features of the swords worn, slung from the waist, by mounted warriors in the 12th through 14th centuries. This example magnificently conveys the samurai spirit of its time, as it has survived unshortened, almost in its original form. The sword was donated by Charles Goddard Weld to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Weld, who visited Japan at a time when swords were banned and production was declining, recognized the importance of swords in Japan culture and built up a collection swords and ornaments.
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Maharana Sangram Singh Enjoys the Monsoon
Northern India (Mewar, Rajasthan), Mughal period, about 1720-1725
Gift of John Goelet
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The palace was the center of political power as well as the monarch’s residence. Magnificently decorated at great expense, it symbolized power and authority. This miniature painting from Mewar (modern-day state of Rajasthan) offers a glimpse of the everyday life of ruler Maharana Sangram Singh. At the top of the image, Sangram Singh stands on a rooftop terrace, enjoying the scenery with a wife and attendants. Depicted beyond, under rain and lighting, is the ruler’s vast domain rich with forests and rivers.
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Jean-Léon Gérôme
L'Eminence Grise
1873
Bequest of Susan Cornelia Warren
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
It is clear who holds the most power among the fifteen people shown. The friar to whom extravagantly dressed courtiers bow in a demonstration of sycophancy is François Leclerc du Tremblay, the right-hand man of King Louis XIII’s minister, Cardinal Richelieu. Because this ostensible holy man held great political influence, he was referred to as L’Eminence Grise (French for “the gray eminence”), a phrase which has come to mean “the power behind the throne.”
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Mashiyama Sessai
Peafowls and Flowers
Edo period, 1801
Fenollosa-Weld Collection
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Mashiyama Sessai was a daimyō, the 5th lord of the Nagashima Domain of Ise Province. A patron of many painters and intellectuals, Sessai produced remarkable paintings of his own. This work reflects the influence of the Qing painter Shen Nanping (1682 – after 1760) who visited Nagasaki in the Edo period. It features peafowls, which were considered an auspicious bird, in combination with a flowering crab apple, peonies, and magnolia flowers, a composition understood by connotation to harbor a wish for a family’s good fortune, prosperity, and continuance. Restored especially for this exhibition, the pair of paintings will appear in their first return to Japan.
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