Japan is blessed with rich natural beauty, changing throughout the four seasons. In response to those abundantly beautiful scenes, artists have expressed them in many ways. The Yamatane Museum of Art is delighted to focus on works with Japan’s landscapes and natural environment as their subjects in presenting a special exhibition of superb works by artists from the Edo period to the present.
Japan’s landscapes have long been depicted in the arts. That topic surged in the late Edo period with rising interest among the common people in travel on Japan’s well-organized system of roads. Utagawa Hiroshige’s ukiyo-e landscape prints addressing the post stations on those roads and famous places throughout Japan became extremely popular. In the Meiji period, the introduction of Western realistic landscape paintings generated a new trend for painting nature close by one’s side, as it unfurled before one’s eyes. After World War II, abstract styles and scenes engraved in artists’ hearts were also incorporated in landscape paintings. The landscape as painted in Japan became increasingly diverse.
This exhibition includes Utagawa Hiroshige’s Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road and Eight Views of Ōmi, with their lyrical scenes, alongside Embanked Village by Tabuchi Toshio, who depicted contemporary rural scenes. We hope you will enjoy these masterworks by famous landscape artists and the fascination of Japanese landscapes themselves.
Utagawa Hiroshige, Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road: Nihonbashi (Morning Scene). Large Format (Ōban) Polychrome Woodblock Print (Nishiki-e) on Paper, Edo Period, c. 1833-36; Yamatane Museum of Art ○
Utagawa Hiroshige, Eight Views of Ōmi: Autumn Moon at Ishiyama. Large Format (Ōban) Polychrome Woodblock Print (Nishiki-e) on Paper, Edo Period, c. 1834; Yamatane Museum of Art ●
Tabuchi Toshio, Embanked Village. Color on Paper, Showa Period, 1979; Yamatane Museum of Art
Yokoyama Taikan, Spring Stream and Autumn Colors. Color on Silk, Showa Period, c. 1938; Yamatane Museum of Art
Higashiyama Kaii, White Wall. Color on Paper, Showa Period, 1952; Yamatane Museum of Art
Ishida Takeshi, Oirase in the Four Seasons: Autumn Melody. Color on Paper, Showa Period, 1985; Private ☆
Ishida Takeshi, Oirase in the Four Seasons: Wondrous Winter. Color on Paper, Showa Period, 1985; Private ☆
Kondō Kōmei, Cool Night. Color on Paper, Showa Period, 1970; Yamatane Museum of Art
Approximately 50 works in total are to be displayed.
Period of Display: ○: 10 Dec – 15 Jan / ●: 17 Jan – 26 Feb / All other works: Displayed for the entire exhibition period
*Works are the property of the Yamatane Museum of Art, except for works with ☆ marks.
Adults: 1,300 yen; middle school and younger children: free of charge
Winter Student Discount: University and high school students: 1,000 yen → 500 yen
Disability ID holders and one person accompanying them: 1,100 yen
*Discount for those wearing kimono: Discount of 200 yen for adults.
*Discounts and special offers cannot be combined.
