Exhibitions
2025
Mokumo Sensei and Illustrations: Aoki Library and Modern Japanese Paintings from the Museum Collection
This exhibition presents the "Aoki Shigeru Bunko (Aoki Library)" collection, comprising approximately 10,000 books once owned by Aoki Shigeru (1932–2021), a distinguished researcher of Meiji-period art and a passionate bibliophile affectionately known as "Mokumo Sensei (Prof. Mokumo)." Following the 2024 exhibition, this year’s display will feature books, magazines, and original illustrations related to sashi-e (illustrations) and manga (comics) from the Meiji period to the early Showa period. Alongside these works, masterpieces of modern Western-style painting by Asai Chu (1856–1907), Kuroda Seiki (1866–1924), Fujishima Takeji (1867–1943), Nakazawa Hiromitsu (1874–1964), and Kishida Ryusei (1891–1929) will also be featured.
Image: Nakamura Fusetsu, Hokusai Uses a Rooster's Footprints to Draw a Picture of Tatsutagawa River, c. 1908, Museum collection (Aoki Shigeru Library)
Rediscovered Japanese-style Paintings in the Collection
and "Ukiyo-e Artists Related to Tsutaya Juzaburo" by Kataoka Tamako
From the museum’s collection of Japanese paintings, this exhibition highlights works that have not been displayed in over 20 years, as well as pieces being presented to the public for the first time. Visitors will have the rare opportunity to view works such as Flowers, an early Edo-period folding screen by Kano Tansetsu (1655–1714), and A Sketch for "Dragon in Clouds", the ceiling painting at Kenchoji Temple in Kamakura by Koizumi Junsaku (1924–2012). Also featured are folding screens from Kataoka Tamako's (1905–2008) Tsurugamae series and works depicting ukiyo-e artists associated with Tsutaya Juzaburo (1750–1797).
Image: Koizumi Junsaku, A Sketch for Dragon in Clouds, 1997, Museum collection
Nakanishi NatsuyukiーThe Condition of Radiance
From the Museum Collection
Nakanishi Natsuyuki (1935–2016), one of the most prominent painters of postwar Japan, explored the dynamic relationship between painting, space, and the body. In 2025, we mark thirty years since his first installation from the Touching Down on Land and Touching Down on Water series, a defining work from his later years, originally exhibited in the former Kamakura Museum. This exhibition features the newly acquired Perforated Screen, the second large-scale piece from the same series, alongside Two Apples, presented together for the first time. These works collectively examine the evolution of Nakanishi’s painting process, his places of creation, and his perspective on artistic practice.
Image: Nakanishi Natsuyuki, Perforated Screen, installation view of 1997. Photo by Goto Mitsuru © Natsuyuki Nakanishi
Iwatake Rie + Kataoka Junya, and the Museum Collection
An Illustrated Guide for Gravity and Materials
Through exhibiting selected works from the museum’s collection of Japanese art, such as Tawaraya Sotatsu’s (n.d.–ca. 1640) Puppy, and Mandala of Both Realms, alongside works by the collaborative unit Iwatake Rie + Kataoka Junya (both 1982–), this project will cast a new light on the museum’s extensive catalog. Kinetic works inspired by daily life and natural phenomena, as well as paintings and prints incorporating the scenes captured by telescopes and microscopes, will be installed to provide a unique method to explore the sculptural characteristics found in Japanese art, such as visual association and multiple viewpoints.
Images: (left) Iwatake Rie, Bodyscape, 2024, Collection of the artist; (right) Tawaraya Sotatsu, Puppy, Edo period, Museum collection