Dream Museum: The Osaka Collection

Thru Mar 25

Kokuritsu Kokusai Bijutsukan (The National Museum of Art Osaka)

This exhibition is a collaborative project between three facilities: The Osaka City Museum of Modern Art, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, and Suntory Museum, Tempozan. It is a special exhibition that is designed to introduce the charms of invaluable and outstanding works from each museum's collection. Among the featured works from the Osaka City Museum of Modern Art collection are a nude by Amedeo Modigliani, paintings by Surrealist masters such as René Magritte and Salvador Dali, a masterpiece by the Cubist sculptor Raymond Duchamp- Villon, a black painting by one of the US's most representative artists, Frank Stella, and a figurative work by the German painter Gerhard Richter, who has received much attention in recent years. The National Museum of Art, Osaka also boasts a tremendous collection of great works, ranging from a late painting by Paul Cézanne, an extremely important landscape from Pablo Picasso's Cubist period, work by the Surrealist great Max Ernst, and the deeply poetic boxes of Joseph Cornell, to a masterpiece by the American painter Barnett Newman, whose work is seldom found in Japanese collections, and rare early works by the prominent German painters Georg Baselitz and Sigmar Polke.

Getting there: Subway Yotsubashi line, Higobashi stn, exit 2
Open: 10am–5pm. Closed Mon
Admission: ¥1,000/¥500/¥300
06-6447-4680

Taisho Retro - Showa Modern
Poster Exhibition

Thru Mar 25

Himeji City Museum of Art

Although posters are widely accepted as an art form now, we must not forget that these posters were created to advertise something and it would be difficult to completely grasp their true meaning if only considered as an art form. To accurately display the true meaning of these posters, the exhibition is divided into two sections. First, the poster as printed matter is introduced, where it looks back at the history of printing technology and innovations used to create these posters. In the second section, posters which are mainly for advertising are exhibited to see how the marketing aspects were placed in the designs and colors of the posters. Approximately 160 original posters from the end of the Meiji era to the Showa pre-war days will be displayed with 40 other related items.

Getting there: JR/Sanyo Himeji stn, near Himeji Castle Park
Open: 10am–5pm. Closed Mon, Feb 13, Mar 22
Admission: ¥800/¥500/¥200
0792-22-2288

Nabeshima -
Porcelain for Shogunate

Thru Mar 25

Museum of Oriental Ceramics Osaka

Nabeshima ware was first produced during the period of the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu by the Nabeshima clan of northern Kyushu as gift porcelain to the shogunate. Characterized by the innovative, sophisticated beauty of the design, it was produced by potters of highest skills under strict control, leaving profitability out of consideration. Based on the latest studies on Nabe-shima ware, this exhibition traces the development to the ware through the movements of the Nabeshima clan and potters that susceptibly reacted to the political and economic situation, or even the personal taste of the Tokugawa shogunate that possessed absolute power. It offers a new perspective on the evolution of the most celebrated porcelain.

Getting there: Subway Midosuji line/Keihan line, Yodoyabashi stn, exit 1
Open: 10am–5pm. Closed Mon
Admission: ¥900/¥600
06-6223-0055

Aomori Jomon Culture

Feb 11-18

Osaka Museum of History

The Sannai-Maruyama site is a Jomon period site which was occupied for a long period of time (about 5,500-4,000 years ago). From excavations carried out since 1992, remains of pit-dwellings, long houses, graves, mounds of debris, remains of pillar-supported structures, storage pits, clay mining pits, refuse disposal pits and roads have been found, revealing the characteristics of the settle-ment and the natural environment of the period. In addition, a huge amount of Jomon pottery, stone imple-ments, clay figurines, clay and stone ornaments, wooden objects such as digging sticks, woven bags and fabrics, and lacquered and bone items have been unearthed as well. Jade and obsidian were brought in from other areas. Over 300 items will be displayed from this Special National Historical Site.

Getting there: Subway Tanimachi/Chuo line, Tanimachi 4-chome stn, exit 9
Open: 9:30am–5pm. Closed Tue
Admission: ¥600/¥400
06-6946-5728

Kansai Art Listings February

ART section compiled by Maki Nibayashi