100th Birthday Celebration Fukasawa Shiro – The Artist Who Lived Freedom
Exhibit Period
Part 1: December 8 (Fri) to January 8 (Mon)
Part 2: January 12 (Fri) to February 4, 2007 (Sun)
Exhibit Times
9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(last admissions at 4:30 p.m.)
Museum closed
Closed Mondays, but open January 8 Closed December 25 to January 2, and January 9 to January 11
Admission Fee
Adult ----------------------------------500yen (450yen) High School, College Students----------300 yen(270yen) Junior High School Students -----------100yen (90yen) * Fees in parentheses are group rates for 20 or more patrons * Free admission for patrons aged 70 years and over * Half-price for patrons with accessibility and special needs,and for one accompanying caregiver.
Overview
Born in 1907, showered with praise abroad, this personality is from our very own Nakagawa-machi. Fukasawa Shiro was born in Kitamukada Mumo Village.
Shiro went to Tokyo with the aim to become an artist. He studied oil painting at Kawabata School of Art. He also studied under the tutelage of Umehara Ryuzaburo. However, it wasn’t until he changed his focus to engraving that he finally blossomed as an artist. This shift in his works came when he was nearly sixty years old. Clearly, he was a “late bloomer.” In 1966, Shiro received an award when he made his debut at the 5th International Biennale Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo. From then on, every year his works were invited for display in print exhibitions both in Japan and abroad and through these invitations his works continued to be made known.
Using the style of Ukiyoe artist Sharaku among others as his motif, he created vivid prints with stark, bold contrasts in color that evoke a sense of power. Continuing on past sixty years of age, Shiro thirsted to live freely. He engaged in debate with younger artists and was called the “artist of eternal youth.” This boundless vitality spilled over into his artwork.
In 2007 we look to Shiro’s 100th birthday. This exhibition, which is in commemoration of his life, is only made possible by the support of Shiro’s surviving family and the Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts. In order to offer a glimpse of all his works, we present alongside his Silkscreen Engraving masterpieces, some of his sketches, reverse glass paintings, objets d’art, and early oil paintings. In total we have about eighty works split into two viewing periods. Through these works, we hope you will retrace the steps of our very own Fukasawa Shiro.
Museum Talk
Discover what makes Fukasawa’s artwork so fascinating!
Takeyama Hirohiko, researcher and Senior Curator of Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts
January 27, 2007 at 1:30 p.m.
Payment of museum admission fee is required.
Museum Talk
Presented by one of our curators on the following Saturdays:
December 23, 2006, and January 13, 2007
All talks begin at 1:30 p.m. (in Japanese only)
Payment of museum admission fee is required
Panel Discussion
“A profile of artist Fukasawa Shiro”
- Experience a new depth to Shiro’s works through a discussion by those who knew him personally. This panel will carve in striking detail the works and life of Fukasawa Shiro.
- December 9, 2006 (Sat) at 2:00 p.m.
- Panel discussion by Shiro’s son Fukasawa Yoshito, print artist Saito Ryo, and artist Watanabe Toyoshige
- M.C.: Tsuda Takako (Hiroshige Museum of Art)
- Free admission, space limited, first-come-first-served basis. Please call ahead to reserve your spot. Tel. 0287-92-1199