Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Supports Japan Tours of Russian and Impressionist Art

The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (TFAM) in Hachioji, Tokyo, has been supporting the Japan tours of two exhibitions: "Masterpieces of the State Russian Museum from Late 18th Century to Early 20th Century," and "Impressionism and its Origins."

The exhibition of Russian masterpieces opened on August 25, 2007, at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, and will show through September 24, 2007. The exhibition includes around 100 selected pieces from the Russian museum's collection, including paintings, sculptures and crafts. Featured are works by artists such as Ilya Repin (1844-1930) and Ivan Kramskoy (1837-87) who rebelled against the conservatism of the Imperial Academy of Arts and depicted the real lives of ordinary people and the Russian landscape, attempting to make art relevant to people's lives.

"Impressionism and its Origins," currently showing at the Musée d'Art Mercian Karuizawa in Karuizawa City through November 25, 2007, presents 48 works from TFAM's collection. Included are major works of the Barbizon School such as those by Millet and Corot, and of the Impressionist School including Monet and Renoir; landscape paintings of Troyon, James Smith and Edward Waite; impressionist works of Cézanne and Pizarro; paintings by artists of the École de Paris such as Utrillo and Kisling and masters of modern painting such as Klimt and Chagall.

[Adapted from articles in the August 11, 2007 issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan]