Naomi_N's Exhibition Catalogues, Books & Goods Purchased: 2021 Spring Edition

Derived from the unexpectedly serialized series, "The Problem of What to Choose for Exhibition & Museum Goods", this is a project where I introduce items I bought at exhibitions held in Tokyo over the past few months.

Unfortunately, most art museums and museums in Tokyo are currently temporarily closed.
So, if they can be purchased online, I will include those links as well!!!

It is a time when it is difficult to go anywhere, but rather than focusing on what we cannot do, let's focus on what we can.
There are many things you can enjoy with a little ingenuity. I hope this serves as a hint for that.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

● "Special Exhibition: Old Imari Across the Sea - The Tragedy of Loosdorf Castle, Vienna" Official Catalogue (¥2,750)

Japanese-made porcelain that began to be produced in Arita, Saga Prefecture, during the Edo period (1610s).
The beautiful indigo "sometsuke" (blue and white) spread throughout the country as "Imari ware".
After the 1640s, when colorful "iroe" (polychrome) porcelain began to be produced, Japanese-made porcelain was exported to Southeast Asia and Europe as "IMARI," replacing Chinese porcelain, which was affected by domestic turmoil.

In this exhibition, I was able to follow the history of Old Imari born in Arita and world porcelain over several hundred years, from the Edo period to the end of the Shogunate and the Meiji era.
At the same time, it was also a rare project that exhibited a private collection of ceramics that had been destroyed by World War II, left in their broken state.

Sadly, beautiful ceramics are still beautiful even when broken. However, the exhibition room lined with piles of fragments sorted by type was a very strange sight.
There were also many pieces that had been restored but remained partially missing because the fragments could not be found.
Facing the fact that they were broken by war, I was truly chilled, and I also felt sad, thinking how foolish humans really are.
(By the way, there is also a project to restore these ceramics underway.)

Immersed in the lingering feeling of what a wonderful project it was, I went to the museum shop. Since it didn't have a barcode, I thought it wouldn't be available at bookstores, so I bought it right there.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

The exhibition was held at the Okura Museum of Art in Minato Ward over the New Year, but it is currently being held at the Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo, until Sunday, June 13th.
And it is also scheduled to tour to the Hagi Uragami Museum in Yamaguchi Prefecture from late September.

The catalogue alone is full of content. The photos were beautiful, and the commentary was good too.
Curators, the project supervisors, did not have it in their EC shop, but it might be worth inquiring if it can be ordered by mail.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

● "Katsura Funakoshi: The Spring Within Me" Exhibition
　Postcard (¥160)

I went to see the exhibition held at the Shibuya City Shoto Museum of Art in January and bought this.

Although I was familiar with Funakoshi's sculptures, this was my first time visiting his exhibition. The exhibition was fulfilling, and I found it interesting to see not only his own works but also those of his family.

The shop in the museum sold previously published collections of his works and past catalogues, but I chose this because I realized I like his drawings even more than his sculptures. As far as I could tell, it didn't seem to be an exhibition-exclusive item.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

● "Energy of Edo: Genre Painting and Ukiyo-e" Exhibition Official Catalogue (¥1,000)

This was an exhibition that showcased a stunning collection that the Seikado Bunko Art Museum is proud of. (Click here for the exhibition list)

It doesn't have that many pages, but it is packed with commentary and is a very rewarding read. I'm glad I bought it, as I was able to use it as a reference for a university report assignment.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

● François Pompon's Polar Bear (Large/Small) purchased at the "Toshinari Maeda: The Man Who Saw Pearls in the Spring Rain" exhibition

When it comes to the Maeda family and Meguro Ward, there is the Former Marquis Maeda Mansion in Komaba Park. This was an exhibition of the Maeda family collection held at a museum in Meguro Ward, which has such ties.

I couldn't believe that they were selling the polar bear by my favorite animal sculptor, François Pompon, which I had been looking for for years!!!

When I asked the staff, they told me that they had sourced them for sale only during the exhibition period from the Gunma Museum of Art, Tatebayashi, which holds a large collection of Pompon's works.

My encounter with Pompon's work was several years ago. I fell in love at first sight when I saw them exhibited at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. Even though this polar bear was also on sale at the shop, I hesitated and went home without buying it, and I hadn't been able to find it ever since... So, I was so happy I could almost cry.

Should I get the big one or the small one... No, both! I welcomed them home like a parent and child. I adore them every day. They are so cute. And I really want to go to the Gunma Museum of Art, Tatebayashi.

And speaking of Pompon! This summer, the first retrospective in Japan will finally start in Kyoto! Yay, yay!!!

I'm already looking forward to seeing what kind of catalogues, related books, and merchandise will be available. I want to go to Kyoto, and I want to visit every venue.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

● Art book and biography purchased at the "Hiroshi Yoshida" exhibition

The catalogue was a given, but the essays and other writings I saw in the exhibition room were so wonderful that I couldn't help but buy the art book and the biography.

Also, since I like modern print works, I picked up the "Easy to Understand" series by Tokyo Bijutsu to learn more about various artists.

Still, what an exquisite selection. They really know what they're doing, those museum shop folks...

Including the catalogues, you can order all of these online, and they are also available at bookstores!

.................................

● "Constable" Exhibition at Tate (¥2,900) & "Courbet and the Sea" Exhibition Official Catalogue (¥2,500)

John Constable (1776–1837), a landscape painter born in England, and Gustave Courbet (1819–1877), a landscape painter born in Switzerland who spent his time in France from the age of 20.

Exhibitions featuring these two landscape painters who lived in similar eras are, coincidentally, being held at almost the same time.
I especially love landscape paintings from this period, so I was really looking forward to the opening. When I went, both were even more wonderful than I had expected✨

Unfortunately, they are currently temporarily closed.
It seems there is no e-commerce site for the Courbet exhibition at the moment, butyou can order the Constable exhibition catalogue here, andsome of the goods here.

Neither catalogue has a barcode, so they probably won't be sold in bookstores.
The content and the binding are both great, so I really hope many people will at least pick up the catalogues.

The Constable exhibition catalogue, in particular, is a slightly larger size, B4 variant (310×240mm). You can really enjoy the works on the large pages, so the satisfaction level is high.

I mean,this is the first time in 35 years that a retrospective exhibition gathering Constable's works from his early years to his later years has been held in Japan!!!
Under these circumstances, it felt like a miracle that so many works arrived from the UK and the exhibition was able to open safely. It was such a precious exhibition that I really wondered if there would ever be another one.

You can watch the video broadcast by Nico Nico Museum in March.Please take a look. And,at least get the catalogue!!!

Also, the Courbet exhibition will be featured on E-Tele's "Sunday Art Museum" the day after tomorrow,May 2nd (Sun) from 9:00 AM / May 9th (Sun) from 8:00 PM.

Furthermore, there will be a video distribution of the work commentary by the curator in charge. If you have the time, please do watch it! (Pre-recorded / Same content on both days / Real-time viewing only)

May 6th (Thu) from 19:00 - https://youtu.be/6hVa1TDNykA
May 9th (Sun) from 14:00 - https://youtu.be/OVG6Owg2oOg

.................................

● Biography purchased at the "Watanabe Seitei" exhibition (¥3,080)

Just like with Hiroshi Yoshida, Constable, or Courbet, I am actually much more interested in what kind of person the artist was, what their life was like, and what era they lived in, than I am in just looking at the artwork itself.

So, I bought a biography at this "Watanabe Seitei" exhibition as well. By the way, I didn't buy the exhibition catalogue here because I figured I could buy it at a bookstore.

The catalogue and goods too! You can order them online here, so please do!!!

It's no wonder Seitei's work was loved by ordinary people and received so many commissions. Since they are bird-and-flower paintings with soft yet gorgeous colors, I think just decorating your room with a postcard will really brighten your mood.

Of course, I was planning to go see the second half of the exhibition, but then it closed... *sob* I wonder if it will reopen; I really hope they can open it, even if just for a little bit...

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

● "National Treasure: The All of Choju-giga" Exhibition
Official Catalogue (¥3,000)
Washi paper clear file, plaster mask case

I think everyone, from those who had booked tickets to the exhibition staff, cried from the bottom of their hearts when this exhibition was temporarily closed. It's painful, just too painful.

The exhibition-exclusive goods were really great, weren't they...
The A4-sized clear file I bought for the first time in a while actually has a washi paper surface.
The inside where you put documents is a regular clear file. I wonder how they made it. And I like it so much that I might not even be able to bring myself to use it.

The pure white, rough, thick-paper-like plaster mask case is, well, made the same way as the ticket file. It seems to have antibacterial properties due to the plaster coating. I like the combination of the ink painting and the red stitching on the pure white background.

Unfortunately, you can't order the exhibition-exclusive goods from anywhere. However, for various collaboration items like Miffy, some can be purchased through the e-commerce sites of the collaboration partners. Please try searching for "Choju-giga collaboration"!

And above all, the catalogue, which contains all scenes from all four scrolls (Ko, Otsu, Hei, Tei) in "almost actual size", is being sold at an impossibly good price.
Even though it's a thick catalogue with an unbelievable 474 pages in A4 size, the price is ¥3,000 (likely because they printed a considerable number of copies).

It doesn't have a barcode, so it won't be on bookstore shelves, but you can order it online.

One copy per household, this is all you need. You really won't regret buying it.

By the way, the original exhibition period was until Sunday, May 30th.
When will it reopen, and will it actually be extended?
I just hope that as many people as possible will be able to enjoy this exhibition somehow.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

● "Mysterious Pictures" Exhibition
　Clear file and postcards of Settai Komura's works

I went to this exhibition mostly because I wanted to see the works of Ayumu Tachibana and Settai Komura.
What I especially wanted to see was the painting of Anchin and Kiyohime by Ayumu Tachibana, which was scheduled to be exhibited in the second half starting Tuesday, April 20th. Oh my, I was mesmerized.

So, these are the goods I couldn't help but buy. I'll use the clear file at home, and I'll frame the postcards to display in my room.

I also thoroughly enjoyed his works at the Hibiya Library and Museum in February, but the more I see them, the more I fall in love with Settai's world.

I hope to write about Settai Komura again here at another time.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

So, in the end, 90% of this turned into a talk about catalogues and books lol. But since exhibition catalogues are such great value, I personally highly recommend them!!!

Click here for details

See you again in the Summer 2021 edition✨