This exhibition takes a compelling approach to displaying over 130 masterpieces drawn from the vast and wide-ranging Ishibashi Foundation Collection. Diverse works by Claude Monet, Jackson Pollock, Yayoi Kusama and other artists are presented here with a deep consideration of the circumstances under which they were created, and their subsequent passing down over generations. Works that now hang in world-class institutions such as the Artizon Museum, the show emphasises, may have originally been produced as decor for an individual’s home, while some have had intriguing journeys down to the present day.
Visitors are invited to imagine the places that an exhibit has occupied at various times, and this visualisation is greatly assisted by the contributions of leading designers and stylists. Lighting designer Shozo Toyohisa, for example, has devised lighting that recreates how people would have viewed 19th-century works by Rinpa school painter Suzuki Kiitsu, in the era in which they were created. Works from legendary names such as Constantin Brancusi, Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian and Pablo Picasso are joined by pieces from some lesser-known artists who are well worth discovering.
The exhibition is closed on Mondays (expect August 12, September 16 and 23, October 14) as well as August 13, September 17 and 24.