Outline

The central pillar of the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art collection is 20th century Western art from early abstract painting, Dada and Surrealist art to postwar American art. In addition, works from Rembrandt to Impressionism and Ecole de Paris art have been collected in lieu of providing a stronger historical context for the collection. Furthermore, the museum has collected works of Japanese artists from recent years. This gives the Kawamura Museum a collection that covers the larger movements of Modern and contemporary art, with the exception of one category: Japanese art of the Modern period.

With the influx of Western painting techniques from the late Edo period into the Meiji period (second half of the 19th century), Japanese artists began to develop forms of expression that were influenced by Western art developments but also unique in individual style. The eyes and aesthetic values with which we view art today can be said to have been shaped by the results those artistic developments, and this is also the foundation from which numerous museum collections in Japan have been formed.

For this exhibition, we have selected four pivotal works from the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art’s collection of Western painting and display them with Japanese paintings from the Meiji period onward that show the influences of or similarities with each of these four Western works in hopes of providing insights into Japanese painting of the Modern era from a number of perspectives. At the same time, we hope that this comparison with famous works of Modern Japanese art will offer an opportunity to view the Kawamura collection anew from a different perspective. Please join us in this exploration of painting in the Modern era from the perspective of “four stories” and what they tell us about the similarities and differences between Modern Japanese and Western art, the background of the era in which Japanese artists came to acquire their own unique forms of artistic expression through painting and, finally, how these developments have shaped our contemporary Japanese eyes.

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Programs

Lecture

"The Individual and the Universal in Modern Painting"
Kunio Motoe ( Prof. of Tama Art University )
July 5, 14:00－16:00
Fee: Included in Museum entrance fee
Lecture tickets given to first 60 applicants at the Museum entrance from 11:00
 

Gallery Talks by Curator

June 27, July 25, August 8, 22, September 19
14:00－15:00 First 40 arrivals
 

Guided Tours of the Entire Building by Guide Staff

14:00－15:00 every day except on Lecture or Curator Gallery Talk days
First 40 arrivals
 

Audio Guide (in Japanese)

Contains recorded explanations of the Museum collection and the Four Stories exhibition.Rental fee: 500 yen per headse