Reflections of Nature
Reflections of Nature
Special Exhibit: Photography and Painting – The Rise of Pictorialism
This edition of the exhibition, titled "Reflections of Nature," in honor of the 33rd National Urban Greenery Fair Yokohama, uses works from the collection to examine how artists have captured and expressed nature. In conjunction with "The Elegant Other: Cross-cultural Encounters in Fashion and Art," a special event currently underway in the museum, the exhibition also features a section on exchange between the East and West.
The collection exhibition begins with a section focusing on how people deal with nature, as seen in works depicting familiar motifs such as cut flowers and landscapes. This is followed by a display of works by Eastern and Western artists that centers on gardens and parks. Next, viewers will enjoy a section devoted to Hasegawa Kiyoshi and Komai Tetsuro, who expressed a profound sense of spirituality through ordinary plant motifs, and the allure of Maruyama Banka’s watercolor landscapes, vividly portraying flowers in full bloom and verdant mountains.
Then, we shift our attention to contemporary artists, the way in which they confront nature, and the new types of expression they have developed as a result. This is followed by one of the exhibition’s highlights: a work by Suga Kishio, a prominent figure in the "Mono-ha" (School of Things) movement, who makes use of wooden boards and other largely unprocessed materials and creates works based on the reciprocal relationship between the overall space and “things.” Currently in the midst of a succession of solo exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe, Suga remains active on the front lines of the international art world. For this exhibition, he has reorganized a work from the museum collection in accordance with the gallery space.
Along with important bird-and-flower paintings from our "Nihon-ga" (Japanese-style painting) collection, in the photography gallery, we present a special feature on Pictorialism, which focuses on Japanese and foreign photographers such as Umesaka Ori.
In closing, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of those who have consistently helped make the museum collection substantial and supported the exhibition of these works.
