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Yasuko Iba (1967-), fascinated by the world manifesting between her eye and her motif, captures the fleeting scene by depicting alluring textures under the play of light. This exhibition will feature paintings created by Iba from photos taken at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, as well as print works and video art.
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An exhibition displaying some 60 works of painting and sculpture from London’s Courtauld Gallery boasting one of the world’s great collections of Impressionist and Post-impressionist art. The exhibition will bring the artworks to life for viewers with explanation of the artist’s methods as revealed by the artist’s words, circumstances surrounding the works, and scientific investigation.
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One of Denmark’s most celebrated painters, Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916) painted close acquaintances, landscapes, and subdued interiors. This exhibition will be the first comprehensive survey in Japan of Hammershøi and the masters of Danish modern art. Besides works by Hammershøi, visitors can look forward to seeing many of the finest paintings by his contemporaries.
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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.
Helene Klimt
1898, Oil on canvas, Kunstmuseum Bern, loan from private collection
Helene was Klimt’s niece, the daughter of his younger brother Ernst, who died at a young age. After his brother’s death, Klimt became Helene’s guardian. In this portrait painted when she was six, Helene appears in profile with short, bobbed hair in a conventional style of composition. While the girl’s mature-looking face is scrupulously painted, the rapid strokes of the white dress with full pleats impart movement to the canvas. Klimt’s use of two contrasting methods foretells his future artistic development.
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Nuda Veritas
1899, Oil on canvas
© KHM-Museumsverband, Theatermuseum Vienna
A woman, naked with a mirror in her right hand, is portrayed from direct frontal view. Since long ago, the image of a nude woman and a mirror has symbolized truth. The serpent coiling at the woman’s feet is a symbol of sin. This work, produced soon after the 1897 Vienna Secession, is believed to symbolically express the artists’ refusal to pander to mass tastes, an attitude embodied in the words of the poet Schiller, inscribed at the top. With her white skin and glowing blue eyes, the nude woman is evocative of the “femme fatale,” a figure that appeared in art and literature in the late 19th century.
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Judith I
1901, Oil on canvas
© Belvedere, Vienna, Photo: Johannes Stoll
According to the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, the beautiful widow Judith went to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, and cut off his head to save her nation. In Klimt’s painting, Judith wears a sheer garment revealing her bare torso and displays a look of exaltation. Luminous gold leaf is used for her shawl and necklace, and the exotic motifs filling the background. Klimt’s “Golden Phase” paintings, synonymous with his name, were composed under the influences of Byzantine and Japanese art.
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The Three Ages
1905, Oil on canvas
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Roma
A woman brings her forehead close to the child sleeping quietly in her arms. Beside her stands a wrinkled old woman. The three represent the stages of life: childhood, adulthood, and old age. Immediately behind them is a field of bright geometric patterns, and in the background, an abstract space sprinkled with silver dots. The delicate aura of the painting’s surface suggests a Japanese craft work. In late 19th-century Vienna, people had contact with Japanese art through expos and exhibitions, and Klimt also eagerly collected ukiyo-e prints and absorbed himself in books on Japanese art.
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Schloss Kammer on Lake Attersee III
1909/1910, Oil on canvas
© Belvedere, Vienna, Photo: Johannes Stoll
In summers, Klimt resided in the lake district of Salzkammergut to escape the heat and paint landscapes of forest and lakes. On these occasions, he preferred using a square canvas. This landscape with its close-up view of lush lakeshore scenery was probably painted using a telescope. Taking a low viewpoint, Klimt depicts the yellow building and red roof, beyond the trees, in a manner emphasizing the flatness of the composition. The pointillist strokes on the trees and lake have a role to enhance the decorativeness of the painting.
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Portrait of Eugenia Primavesi
1913/1914, Oil on canvas
Klimt, known for paintings of radiantly beautiful women, also received many commissions for portraits of upper-class women and the wives of patrons. This work is a portrait of Eugenia, wife of the banker Otto Primavesi, an important backer of Klimt’s. Wearing bright colors, the woman melds with the striking yellow background in a work anticipating the colorful decorativeness of Klimt’s late-period portraits. The phoenix-like bird in the upper right was likely inspired by Eastern ceramics.
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