The University Art Museum Collection Exhibition 2019
Tokyo University of the Arts has been collecting a wide variety of artistic materials since even before the founding of its predecessor, the Tokyo Fine Arts School.
The collection includes works by past students and graduates of the Tokyo Fine Arts School and Tokyo University of the Arts (student production works), works by successive faculty members, and art materials used as teaching aids for students, totaling approximately 30,000 items. The “University Art Museum Collection Exhibition” is the venue where this diverse collection is introduced.
This year’s University Art Museum Collection Exhibition presents the many facets of the collection.
Both Part 1 and Part 2 will not only feature so-called “masterpieces,” but will also introduce works and materials that have rarely been shown before, from fresh perspectives, in a section titled “Collection in Focus.”
A particular highlight of this exhibition is the complete series of “Twelve Views of Mt. Fuji” by Ike no Taiga, one of the finest works in the university’s early-modern painting collection.
Of the twelve scrolls, seven were held by Tokyo University of the Arts and four by other institutions, but the final one has now been discovered and added to the collection. A special exhibit is being held to commemorate the acquisition of this final scroll.
Highlight 1 — The Complete “Twelve Views of Mt. Fuji” by Ike no Taiga
In 1976, Tokyo University of the Arts acquired seven of the twelve scrolls of “Twelve Views of Mt. Fuji,” said to have been painted by the Edo-period literati painter Ike no Taiga (1723-1776) for his wife Gyokuran. The other four are held by the Tekisui Museum of Art in Hyogo, while the remaining one, “September — Green Shade with Scattered Reds,” had long been missing. Now that final scroll has been rediscovered and newly added to the university’s collection. For this exhibition, the four scrolls from the Tekisui Museum have been specially loaned, allowing all twelve to be shown together for the first time.
Highlight 2 — Masterpieces of the University Art Museum Collection
The collection is composed of artworks acquired as teaching materials even before the founding of the Tokyo Fine Arts School (the predecessor of today’s Faculty of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts) in 1887 (Meiji 20), along with student works including graduation projects, and works and materials by successive faculty members.
Through 130 years of continuous collecting, the total number of holdings has grown to over 30,000 items and evolved into a systematic collection that traces the development of modern Japanese art. This section introduces early premodern paintings as well as representative modern Japanese-style and Western-style paintings drawn from the pictorial holdings of the collection.
Highlight 3 — Collection in Focus: A Deeper Look at the Collection
The collection has 130 years of history, during which the wide-ranging results of art education at the Tokyo Fine Arts School and Tokyo University of the Arts have accumulated. In the section titled “Collection in Focus,” works that have rarely had a chance to be exhibited are examined from a variety of perspectives.
1. Painters Who Studied in Britain (throughout the run)
Since the Meiji era, many Western-style painters have gone to study in various European countries. In modern Western-style painting, French study and its outcomes often draw attention, but this special feature focuses on the works of painters who studied in Britain, such as Bushō Hara, Kunzō Minami, and Yoshio Makino.
2. Craft Designs of the Kiritsu Kosho Kaisha *Part 2 only
Kiritsu Kosho Kaisha was a Japanese trading company founded in 1874, the year after its successful showing at the 1873 Vienna World Exposition, and it played a role in the rise of Japonisme. Selected examples are presented from among the numerous craft designs (approximately 2,000 sheets in total) that it sent out into the world.
3. Landscape Paintings from the Japanese Painting Department of the Tokyo Fine Arts School *Part 2 only
From graduation works by art students to pieces by masters such as Eikyū Matsuoka, Settai Komura, and Hoshun Yamaguchi, the exhibition introduces landscape paintings connected to the Japanese Painting Department that reveal the influence of the Taishō and early Shōwa art world.
The University Art Museum Collection Exhibition 2019 is divided into Part 1 and Part 2, and we are told that a significant rehanging will take place between them.
Each part runs for about a month, so we encourage you to plan ahead and take in both.
Overview
The University Art Museum Collection Exhibition 2019
Venue: The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, Main Building, Gallery 1
Dates
Part 1: April 6 (Sat) – May 6 (Mon, hol.), 2019
Part 2: May 14 (Tue) – June 16 (Sun), 2019
* Significant rehanging will take place.
Hours: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (last entry 4:30 p.m.)
Closed: Mondays (open on April 29 and May 6)
Admission: general 430 yen (320 yen), university students 110 yen (60 yen), free for high-school students and under 18
* Figures in parentheses are for groups of 20 or more
* One group leader per 20 group visitors is admitted free
* Visitors with a disability certificate (and one accompanying carer) are admitted free
