These are my personal recommendation of art exhibitions you could go to during April or May. If you have a similar taste in art to me, you may find this interesting or helpful. I hope you enjoy my list!
- A dress in a picture, a picture of a dress
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When you think of an art exhibition, I believe that you are likely to imagine a hall with plenty of paintings … and only paintings. But this particular exhibition adds something new. The clothing that the people wear inside the painting is the main focus. There will be actual clothing works from that same era exhibited. This would make people feel much more immersed in the paintings and enjoy themselves a lot more. This exhibition is held at the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum in Hachioji City and is held during 2/13-5/9. The entrance fee is 800 yen, but you could get a 100 yen discount if you print this flyer and bring it. The museum also made its own map of the surrounding area for the visitors, mainly about food shops that seem to provide delicious stuff! Here is the URL for the website of this exhibition.
- Constable – A history of his affections in England
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If you have learned art, I bet you heard of John Constable. He is a famous British landscape painter, and this exhibition is all about him. His paintings are not just beautiful. Constable contributed to reviving landscape painting in the 19th century. His artworks are also used to study peoples’ changing perception of nature during the industrial revolution. This exhibition is remarkable since it is the first time in 35 years that his artwork from early years to the late years gather at once. This is held at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum in Chiyoda-ku during 2/20-5/30. There is also a cafe in the same building called “Café 1894”, and there are foods and drinks related to the exhibits. These foods are only served during the same period as the exhibition, so don’t forget to try the foods if you choose to go! The entrance fee for college students will be 1000yen, so it is necessary to bring your student ID card. Here is the URL for the website of this exhibition.
- Courbet and the Sea – Eyes on Nature in the 19th Century
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An exhibition about another famous artist, Gustave Courbet, will also be held in April. He is a French painter who also influenced the 19th century by leading the realism movement. This exhibition will focus on his side as a landscape painter and mostly on his sea drawing. By comparing Courbet’s painting of the sea with other paintings from the same era, it intends the visitors to feel his painting’s strangeness compared to others. What is so strange about Courbet’s painting? You have to go and see it for yourself! This exhibition is held at Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art in Minato-ku and is held during 4/10-6/13. The entrance fee is 700yen for college students, but by showing this discount ticket on your phone, you get a 100yen discount. The youtube above is about the same exhibition but for a different museum since I only could find this. Here is the URL for this exhibition.
- Seeking for brilliant landscapes – Ancient Rome to Paris at the end of the century
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If you are not interested in a specific artist, but you love landscape paintings, this is for you! By introducing the style of landscape painting in each era, this exhibition guides you through the history of landscape paintings between the 16 to 19th centuries. There are also exhibits of the items artist used to create their work in different eras. For example, there will be a camera obscura which many artists from the 17th century onwards used to plot composition. The exhibition is held between 4/24-6/27 at the Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, and the entering fee is only 450yen. There wasn’t a youtube video for this exhibition, but here is the URL to the website.
- Egypt, Land of Discoveries – from The National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, The Netherlands
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It seems that recently there are many Egyptian exhibitions in Japan, but one this is not like the others. It is held at the Bunkamura The Museum in Shibuya during 4/16-6/27. The exhibits are from the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, famous for having one of the most extensive Egyptian collections in Europe. There will be 250 exhibits, and about a dozen of them are sarcophaguses. It is extremely rare that around a dozen of Egyptian sarcophaguses could be seen in one place inside Japan! Another exciting part is that 3 human mummies and 1 animal mummy are CT scanned beforehand. Its research result will also be presented in this exhibition. I can’t wait to see it! An online reservation is needed if you would like to go to this exhibition between 6/12-6/17. Here is the URL for this exhibition.
I hope you at least found one exhibition you would like to go to! But even if you didn’t, do not worry. There are much more exhibitions that I didn’t write about here. You can check it at my favorite website, Internet Museum.