CalendarPast Exhibitions
Jacques Callot : Theater of Realism and Fantasy
Jacques Callot : Theater of Realism and Fantasy
(PDF File, about 2.61MB)
- Dates
- Tuesday 8 April - Sunday 15 June 2014
- Hours
- 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Fridays 9:30 am - 8:00 pm (Admission ends 30 mins. before closing time) - Closed
- Mondays except 5 May
Closed on7 May - Organized by
- The National Museum of Western Art,
The Yomiuri Shimbun - With the cooperation of
- The Western Art Foundation
- Admission Fees
- Adults 600 yen, College students 300 yen
- Discount fees for groups of 20 or more
- Adults 400 yen, College students 150yen High school students and children under the age of 18 admitted free of charge. Please show your ID upon entrance to confirm your age.
Disabled visitors admitted free of charge with one attendant. Please present your disability identification upon arrival. - Number of visitors
- 57,701
Jacques Callot (1592–1635) was a talented and creative printmaker born in the Duchy of Lorraine, and active at the beginning of the 17th century. Callot spent his youth in Italy and there worked as a printmaker in service to the Medici family. After his return to France in 1621, he received commissions not only from the Lorraine palace and aristocracy, but also from religious clerics and rulers of surrounding countries, developing an active and successful career.
More than 1,400 works remain from his short life of just over 40 years. Religious events whose vibrant festivities still resound over the centuries, views of local town, Commedia dell’arte actors and street performers, along with a group of works reflecting the Counter-Reformation trends of the day, others that show the dark shadow of war cast across society, scenes of Italy, Paris, where he visited around 1630, and his home town of Lorraine. Amidst this diverse array of subjects Callot created a unique pictorial realm, one that turned his acute vision on reality that intersected with a rich and vivid imagination.
Callot is also recognized as having attained new ground in copperplate etching techniques, after years of trial and error experiments. The prints born from these new techniques at times contrast darkness with vivid brightness, and at other times present a lovely, richly lyrical and gentle linear expression. The surprising depths of these works emerge the longer you look at them.
This exhibition is comprised of works chosen from the NMWA collections, and features a thorough introduction to Callot’s works from throughout his life, taking both a temporal and thematic approach. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to trace his activities and view his print world enlivened by both the real and the fantastical. This exhibition further aims to reveal how Callot’s position was formed with regard to the various artistic and social trends of the day.
Lectures, Slide Talks and Concerts will be also held at a museum. Please visit each page for details.
Jacques Callot
《The Feast at the Arno(The Fan)》 1619
etching and engraving
The National Museum of Western Art
Jacques Callot
《Two Zanni》 ca. 1616 etching
The National Museum of Western Art
