Upcoming Exhibitions

• A Mokubei Retrospective

  February 8 to March 26, 2023

  This exhibition marks the 190th memorial of Mokubei (1767-1833), a leading Kyoto potter and literati painter in the latter half of the Edo period. Mokubei passionately researched antique ceramics as he set out to create his own works, producing a wide variety of ceramics, including superb sencha utensils and tea bowls. His paintings, which he created as an avocation, especially from about the age of fifty-five on, are fascinating for their free style. This exhibition brings together the finest of Mokubei’s masterworks, overflowing with the individuality that the literati and others of his day admired. It is a rare opportunity to assemble and introduce his ceramics, paintings, and written materials together.

  

  Uji Choton-zu (Morning view of the Uji River) (Important Cultural Property), Mokubei, Hanging scroll, Edo period, 19th century, Private collection
  Three-color Glazed Bowl, Mokubei, dated ca. 1807-1808, Suntory Museum of Art

• Blown Glass: Captivating Forms,
  Ancient and Modern (TBD)

  April 22 to June 25, 2023

  Glass blowing forms vessels by forcing air into hot, molten glass. The emergence of this technique, which makes effective us of the material qualities of glass, gave rise to forms only possible in glass. In this exhibition, we begin with the techniques used by the glassblower to create styles unique to blown glass, then present distinctive works of blown glass from East and West, and from ancient and contemporary times. This exhibition introduces the results of contemporary glass artists’ research on techniques, while also exploring the creative originality of unknown glassblowers of the past.

  

  Nef (Ship-shaped Ewer), Italy, 16th-17th century, Suntory Museum of Art
  Indigo-blue Sake Ewer, Japan, 18th century, Suntory Museum of Art

• The Insect Lovers of Japan (TBD)

  July 22 to September 18, 2023

  Insects have long appeared in waka poetry, prose fiction, and works of art, where they play a vital role in expressing the changing seasons and emotional states. In the visual arts, sōchūzu, paintings of flowers and insects, a genre introduced from China and treasured in Japan, include depictions of many insects. Particularly in the Edo period, the rise of natural history studies was one of several factors that inspired the creation of a great variety of sōchūzu. This exhibition focuses mainly on the Edo period, when insect fans emerged in vast numbers, exploring the Japan’s insect-loving culture as fostered from times past and handed down to the present.

  

  Vegetables and Insects (detail) (Important Cultural Property), Ito Jakuchu, Handscroll, dated ca.1790, Yoshizawa Memorial Museum of Art, Sano

• Tumultuous Times
  ―Painters in the Bakumatsu and Meiji (TBD)

  October 11 to December 3, 2023

  During the Bakumatsu years of turmoil, as Japan transitioned from the Edo to the Meiji period, painters dared to tackle new styles while carrying on Japanese painting traditions. The harsh Tempō Reforms of 1841 to 1843, the arrival of the American Black Ships in 1853, natural catastrophes, and the movement to overthrow the shogunate: in this chaotic context, a great variety of works were created. Those paintings included works with dramatically compelling forms, painting styles that incorporated Western painting techniques, and styles that combined tradition and new creativity. This exhibition explores the compelling work of a wealth of talented artists who displayed their abilities amid the turmoil of the last decades of the Tokugawa shogunate and the rise of the new Meiji government.

  

  Western Ships, Yasuda Raisyu, Hanging scroll, Edo period, 19th century, The Japan Folk Crafts Museum
  Reception Room Scene in the Foreigners Trading House, Yokohama, Gountei Sadahide, Vertical ōban triptych, dated 1861, Suntory Museum of Art

• Masterpieces from the Suntory Museum of Art Collection (TBD)

  December 20, 2023 to January 14, 2024

  The Suntory Museum of Art has continued over many years to carry out its mission under its fundamental principle, “Art in Life.” The outcomes of those efforts are symbolized by the wide variety of special exhibitions we have held thus far. In the process, we have built a unique collection through acquiring works of art rooted in Japanese lifestyles. In this exhibition, we display our collection anew, including all the works that have been designated a National Treasure or Important Cultural Property. This mass display of masterpieces boldly states, “The Suntory Museum of Art―This is it!”

  

  Box with Fusenryō Design in Mother-of-pearl Inlay and Maki-e (National Treasure), Kamakura period, 13th century, Suntory Museum of Art