Hara Museum ARC

This exhibit marks the first public display of the Important Cultural Property Female passing through a reed portiere since restoration work on it was completed. As a predecessor to the many paintings of beautiful women that appeared during the Edo period, this work is a valuable example from a transitional period that led to a new representation of feminine beauty focused on a single standing figure. With this work as its centerpiece, this show presents a selection of paintings in which women are depicted, such as Jasoku’s “Reishojo with flower basket” and Kano Sotoku’s “Yang Guifei playing chess.” It shines a spotlight on the idea of feminine beauty and how it is expressed and represented in the various works. Joining these selections from the Hara Rokuro Collection of traditional East Asian art is one contemporary piece from the Hara Museum Collection that takes as its subject a woman of the present age. We invite you to enjoy the different expressions of women as they engage in a dialog that transcends time and place.

Featured works (selected):
Traditional Art: Female passing through a reed portiere (Important Cultural Property), Edo period, 17th century／Attributed to Jasoku, Reishoj with flower basket, Muromachi period, 16th century／Kano Tan’yu, Avalokitesvara appearing from the clam, Edo period, 17th century／Kano school, Birds and flowers (part of paintings used for wallpaper and sliding doors at Nikko-in guest hall in Mi’idera temple), Momoyama-Edo period, 16th-17th century／Kano Sotoku, Yang Guifei playing chess (part of a set of twelve hanging scrolls by painters of the Kano school), Edo period, 17th century／Kano Shiro-jiro (Sadanobu), Wang Zhaojun (part of a set of twelve hanging scrolls by painters of the Kano school), Edo period, 17th century／Tier of boxes decorated with a squirrel and grape vine design in maki-e, Edo – Meiji period, 19th century
Contemporary Art: Yasumasa Morimura, Self-Portrait with Hand Mirror, 1994／Kaoru Ijima, Tamao Series, 1984-86／Marta Pan, Sculpture 93, 1965／Noe Aoki, Tateyama, 2007／Shiro Kuramata, Flower Vase #3, 1989