A retrospective exhibition of the woodblock print artist Hasui Kawase (1883-1957), who was active during the Taisho and Showa eras. Hasui was inspired by breezes, and spent his days travelling with the sun, clouds, and rain, painting the scenery of all four seasons of Japan. This was also a journey to seek the scenery of old times. One of the key supporters of woodblock production was Shozaburo Watanabe, a woodblock print publisher and leader of the shin-hanga (new prints) movement. Their strong desire to create something special lead them to strive for woodblock prints that could also be appreciated overseas. Hasui’s landscape prints are admired for their soothing effects. This exhibition invites you to the world of Hasui, and consists of valuable works including some series that can rarely be seen together. This group of prints rich in poetic sentiment, and which makes full use of traditional woodblock printing skills, offers a moment of calm in a bustling city.

This exhibition outlines the development of 19th century landscape paintings, from Corot to Impressionism, through a selection of masterpieces from the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims in the Champagne of France. In 19th century France, the popularity of landscape paintings, which had been regarded as a lower-class genre until then, spread through the process of establishing a modern society after the French Revolution. Explore the history of the establishment of modern French landscape art through around 50 oil paintings and 20 woodblock prints from the Barbizon school and artists such as Michallon, Corot, Courbet, Boudin, Renoir, Pissarro, and Monet.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Piet Mondrian, we will be exhibiting 50 works by Mondrian from Kunstmuseum Den Haag in the Netherlands, and around 20 other Mondrian and related works owned by domestic and overseas art museums. Mondrian’s works are diverse, including Hague-style landscape paintings from the early century, works devoted to symbolism and theosophy, works influenced by cubism, and compositions of horizontal and vertical primary colors from the later years of his life. Mondrian’s geometrical painting compositions continue to provide inspiration in the fields of design and fashion, and cause people to re-examine the breadth of Mondrian’s artwork.

The Sompo Fine Art Foundation established the “Shorei-Sho Award” (or the “Outstanding Rising Artists Award”) for emerging artists and the “Seiji Togo Memorial Museum Grand Prix Award” for established artists in 1977. Since then, the foundation has been organizing exhibitions of award winners. We decided to start a public entry competition called FACE to carry forward our 35-year mission of raising and supporting emerging artists.

The 9th FACE exhibition saw the entry of many attractive works from 1,193 emerging artists throughout Japan. The jury members selected 83 works of international appeal through a process of time-consuming consideration. Four Excellent Work Award winners each year will exhibit their works at a group show of 12 artists to be held every three years.

Seiji Togo (1897 - 1978), who was well-known for his depictions of the beauty of modern women (“Seiji Beauties”), lived in France for seven years from the age of 24, and from the age of 63 travelled overseas almost every year.

In this exhibition, we consider internationality that originated from Japan and France to be one of Togo’s core qualities, and follow in the footsteps of Togo, who continued to be deeply interested in foreign countries throughout his life, through the works that were inspired by the things he saw on his travels and the things he brought home.