Tag - national-museum

 
 

NATIONAL MUSEUM

Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 6, 2013
'Treasures of the Imperial Collections: The Quintessence of Modern Japanese Art'
Featuring historical masterpieces that were once part of the decor of the Imperial palace, this exhibition showcases some of Japan's finest royal treasures from the Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras. Coming from the Imperial Household Agency's Sannomaru Shozokan (Museum of the Imperial Collections), these furnishings were works commissioned by emperors, received as gifts during significant occasions or ceremonies, or purchased by the Imperial family.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2013
Exploring Japan's ancient capital inside and out
Beneath Kyoto, the destination par excellence of tourists, aesthetes, and historians, are the scars and ashes of a much older capital of Japan. Founded in 794 as the seat of imperial authority, after a devastating civil war from 1467 to 1477, the city was rebuilt with opulent temples and palaces, which were decorated by the Kano school, the preferred artists of the ruling warrior class. "Kyoto from Inside and Outside" at the Tokyo National Museum, offers two compelling views of this ancient city: that of a bird, and that of an intrusive housefly.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2013
A Michelangelo appetizer
This has been quite a year for fans of Renaissance art in Japan, with all three of its giants — Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and now Michelangelo — featuring in exhibitions. While the da Vinci show was weak in content and the Raphael quite well stocked, the latest show "Michelangelo Buonarroti" seems to fall somewhere in between.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2013
Explore the many ways to read cinema
Marcel Broodthaers' films mostly deal with relations between images and words, which is unsurprising given that he was a poet first who turned to film because he came to understand the medium as an extension of language. In their combination, he sought harmony between poetry, visual art and cinema. It is this lineage of artistic activity inaugurated by Broodthaers in the postwar period that the Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, seeks to trace to its postmodern flowering in the 1990s through to the present.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2013
'Captivating Qing-dynasty Ceramics'
Chinese ceramics made during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) are considered some of the finest in the world. Their delicate aesthetics and attention to elaborate detail, made such works particularly popular with the European nobility of that time. As their popularity and value increased overseas, more works were made for exportation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2013
'Kyoto from Inside and Outside: Scenes on Panels and Folding Screens'
Kyoto, the old capital of Japan, has harbored a rich traditional culture that has remained strong for generations. Focusing on large-scale works that present depictions of town life as well as seasonal views of the city, this exhibition reveals a detailed glimpse into the aesthetics of Kyoto culture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2013
'Reading Cinema, Finding Words: Art after Marcel Broodthaers'
Marcel Broodthaers (1924-1976) was a man of many talents — a poet, filmmaker and artist — whose cerebral and witty approach to art often resulted in unusual and amusing works. He used found objects, everyday items, photography and text to create visual puns in collages and installations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2013
'Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Relocation of the Mitsuo Aida Museum: Even One Simple Thing'
Poet and calligrapher Mitsuo Aida (1924-1991) is well-known in Japan for his tanka poetry and original style of handwriting. He spent his life developing and honing his craft, focusing on the preciousness of the life as a subject.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 24, 2013
Crawling through the mud in style
It's quite fitting that the major Osamu Suzuki (1926-2001) retrospective, the first since the ceramicist's passing, is taking place at The National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, the hometown of the artist.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2013
Surveying the city from a different viewpoint
Beside Stephan Balkenhol's sculpture "Big Head with Three Part Relief" a note reads, "Nothing here is as it should be." This figureless "head" set against a black void represents "Mr. Everyman," that common figure, detached from his surround and considering his place in the world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2013
'Play'
This exhibition focuses on recreation in ancient Japan. More than 100 artifacts from the Kyoto National Museum's collection are being displayed, categorized under nine types of "play," such as festivals, indoor games, children's toys, and song and dance. Artifacts include toys and board games that once belonged to Japanese nobility, as well as prints and paintings depicting people enjoying themselves.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 13, 2013
'Playback Artist Talks'
Since 2005, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, has provided artists with a platform to discuss their works housed at the museum. The event, called Artist Talk, has been held 30 times since its inception, each time giving an artist the opportunity to explain his or her aesthetics and career to members of the public.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 16, 2013
Seeing where Shinto and Buddhism cross
"The number of Shinto shrines in Japan has changed over centuries due to various political and social changes. There were about 190,000 shrines during the early Meiji Era (1867-1912), before a drastic change came about in the merging of shrines and temples. The number of shrines was greatly reduced, and now there are only around 80,000. That's not much more than the number of convenience stores across Japan."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 16, 2013
'The Shibakawa Collection: Tribute to a Patron of Aoki Shigeru, Kishida Ryusei and Others'
During the late1800s, westernization in Japan brought about a new art style — yōga, for which Japanese artists emulated western conventions and techniques, inspired in particular by European painters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 2, 2013
The disconcerting unity of Raphael
Harmony can sometimes have a disconcerting side. This is one insight to emerge from the Raphael exhibition at the National Museum of Western Art, the centerpiece of which is one of the artist's acknowledged great works, the "Madonna del Granduca" (c. 1505).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 28, 2013
Francis Bacon: The restlessness of human existence
In the 1989 Tim Burton film "Batman," there is a famous scene where the Joker and his gang break into an art museum and vandalize masterpieces by the likes of Rembrandt, Degas, and Vermeer. But, just as one of his henchmen is about to slash a Francis Bacon canvas, the Joker steps in to stop him, saying, "I kind of like this one."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 28, 2013
'What We See' is not always what you get
Rendered as "What We See" in English, the title of this show should perhaps more accurately follow the Japanese one, which would be: "Dream, Reality, Illusion?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 31, 2013
Seeing the wood for Enku's Buddhas
While a golden age for secular arts, Japan's Edo Period (1603-1867) is broadly dismissed by art historians as a period of stagnation for Buddhist sculpture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 16, 2012
Izumo: The myths and gods of Japan's history
"Shinkoku is the sacred name of Japan — Shinkoku, 'The Country of the Gods'; and of all Shinkoku the most holy ground is the land of Izumo," wrote Lafcadio Hearn more than 100 years ago in his book "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan." For Hearn, it had been an ambition to visit Shimane Prefecture's Izumo, "the land of gods" as he described it, ever since he learned about it from the "Kojiki" ("Record of Ancient Matters"), the oldest extant manuscript in Japan. Since his visit, the writer's depiction has enchanted many others and persuaded them to visit the site.
Reader Mail
Nov 15, 2009
Christian principles abandoned
Democratic Party of Japan secretary general Ichiro Ozawa's comments about Christianity are based on a common impression of those who neither know nor understand the essence of Christianity. The West is "stuck in a dead end" precisely because it does not live according to the Christian principles upon which it was founded. Look at Europe now, progressive but caving in to moral decadence. I admire the Japanese people for the human virtues they live so well. If these virtues were based on a solid and authentic spiritual foundation like Christianity, I believe Japan would be a far more powerful nation. ramon antonio

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces