Remaking Tradition: Modern Art of Japan from the Tokyo National Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art will present Remaking Tradition: Modern Art of Japan from the Tokyo National Museum which features over 50 masterpieces of modern Japanese art from the Tokyo National Museum. Exhibition highlights include six objects considered ‘Important Cultural Properties of Japan.’ These include Dancing Lady Maiko Girl by Kuroda Seiki and Portrait of Reiko by Kishida Ryusei as well as other important works in Japanese modern art history such as Mount Fuji Rising above Clouds by Yokoyama Taikan and Spring Rain by Shimomura Kanzan. This will be one of the largest exhibitions focused on Japanese modern art on view in the United States since World War II.

Modern Japanese artists re-formed and explored the visual presentation of the traditional arts from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries, inspired by their cross-cultural explorations of Western art and its paradigms. The masterworks assembled in Remaking Tradition: Modern Art of Japan from the Tokyo National Museum reflect a confluence of influences drawn from the Japanese traditional style of painting in concert with the emerging crafts tradition and Western styles of oil painting and sculpture.

By reinterpreting tradition in Japanese modern art, they maintained the continuity between the pre-modern Edo period and the beginning of the Meiji period as well as integrating cultural influences from the West. Japanese artists invented new traditions for a new age employing a variety of mediums, including painting, crafts and sculpture. To further cultural exchange and collaboration between the two institutions, the Tokyo National Museum will present Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art from January 15 to February 23, 2014, and will feature highlights of the Cleveland Japanese art collection. The most important works are from the Kamakura, Muromachi, and Edo periods, such as Dragon and Tiger by Sesson Shukei (a pair of folding screens). Also included in the exhibition are select works from the museum’s European collection. Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art will travel to the Kyushu National Museum from July 8 to August 31, 2014.

Several of the light-sensitive objects displayed in this exhibition, including Mount Fuji Rising above Clouds by Yokoyama Taikan (1868–1958), Meishō by Tsuchida Bakusen (1887–1936) and Spring Rain by Shimomura Kanzan (1873–1930), will rotate with other works. The first rotation is through Sunday, March 30 and the exhibition re-opens to the public on Wednesday, April 2. Please follow the link to the Exhibition Checklist above for a complete list of what’s on view in each rotation.

Ticketed Exhibition
Adult combination tickets for Remaking Tradition: Modern Art of Japan from the Tokyo National Museum and Van Gogh Repetitions are $20 each and include admission to both exhibitions. The exhibition is free for museum members. Combination tickets must be purchased by phone at 216-421-7350 or in person; no online ticketing is available for this exhibition. Advance reservations are strongly recommended.