A horde of Renoirs and other works from the high-water mark of Impressionism have descended on Tokyo — rampaging in their quiet, colorful way through the labyrinthine exhibition spaces of Tokyo's Mitsubishi Ichigokan.
"Great French Paintings from the Clark" mainly presents a riot of feathery brushstrokes, dappled surfaces, fluffy flowers, burnished apples and sloe-eyed maidens. There is lace and gossamer, hints of fragrant winds and a forgotten femininity that probably didn't quite exist even when these paintings were painted.
In other words, this exhibition aims its arrow directly at the big soft spot in the heart of the Japanese art public, who definitely like this sort of thing. In that sense the art from the Clark Art Institute in Massachusetts certainly delivers.