Touring Exhibition of National Museum of Art in FY2023　Adventures of Art in 20th century： appreciating Japanese and Western artworks through Masterpieces

　Since opening its doors in 1952, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT), has continued to lead the Japanese art world. This exhibition traces the history of Japanese and Western art in the 20th century through some western-style paintings and sculptures from the collection of MOMAT.

　After the Meiji era, new artistic expressions were cultivated in Japan concurrently with social changes due to modernization and westernization. This exhibition will give an overview of the Meiji period when art was popularized; the Taisho period when expression rooted in individualism was valued; the pre-war Showa when freedom and oppression clashed; and the postwar period which saw an increasing diversity of expression. In addition, Western modern art, indispensable to the development of Japanese modern art will also be featured.

　The path from modern art to contemporary art was a series of attempts to question the existing style to venture into uncharted territories of expression. It was a path of transformation that could be likened to an “adventure.” A total of 78 works, from the collections of MOMAT, Takamatsu Art Museum, and Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, one of the destination venues, will take you on a journey of adventure from modern art to contemporary art.