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Past Exhibitions
[Special Exhibition]
Théodore Chassériau : Parfum exotique

[Special Exhibition]
Théodore Chassériau : Parfum exotique

Dates
Tuesday, 28 February 2017 - Sunday, 28 May 2017
Hours
9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Fridays, 9:30 am - 8:00 pm
Admission ends 30 mins. before closing time
Closed
Mondays, except 20 March, 27 March 2017 and 1 May 2017
Closed on21 March
Organized by
The National Museum of Western Art, TBS, The Yomiuri Shimbun
With the support of
Ambassade de France au Japon, Institut français du Japon, TBS Radio & Communications,
With the sponsorship of
Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance Inc., Nozaki Insatsu Shigyo Co., Ltd.
With the cooperation of
Les Amis de Théodore Chassériau, ESTEBAN, Nippon Cargo Airlines Co., Ltd., Japan Airlines, Nippon Express, The Western Art Foundation
Admission Fees
Adults 1,600 yen, College students 1,200 yen, High school students 800 yen
Advance purchase/Discount fees for groups of 20 or more
Adults 1,400 yen, College students 1,000yen, High school students 600 yen
Advance purchase tickets will be on sale from Friday 14 October to Monday 27 February 2017. At the museum ticket office, advance ticket will be available until Sunday 26 February 2017.
Full admission fees apply from Tuesday 28 February 2017.
Junior high school and younger children admitted free of charge.
Disabled visitors admitted free of charge with one attendant. Please present your disability identification upon arrival.
Number of visitors
130,484

This exhibition marks the first full display of the arts of Théodore Chassériau (1819-1856) in Japan.

Chassériau entered the studio of Ingres in his early teens, where his early talents made him an unusually young student. Gradually distancing himself from his master Ingres’ classicism, in the face of the rising Romantic trend, he created a painterly realm characterized by a distinctive melancholic passion and lyricism. Traveling to Algeria to paint, his colorful renderings of the people and land of that country made him one of the Orientalists of the day. And yet, his own internal exoticism -- fostered by his birth in an ex-Spanish colony in the Caribbean, his sad fatherless childhood and artistic difficulties he experienced with his teacher -- can also be seen to have characterized his search for artistic expression. Whether a scene from mythology, the Bible, or Shakespeare, or indeed in his portraits of actual people, the exoticism that forms the cornerstone of Chassériau’s arts will somehow resonate with viewers.

Today considered one of the major French Romantic painters, his early death at the age of 37 and the damage to his major mural works has meant that he has only recently been properly evaluated. Retrospectives on his work have only been held in France in 1933 and 2002. This exhibition, focusing on works from the Louvre, will display approximately 40 paintings, 30 drawings and watercolors, 10 prints, as well as photographic and historical materials. The inclusion of approximately 20 works by his teacher, compatriots, and those he later influenced such as Gustave Moreau, Puvis de Chavannes, will provide a reconsideration of the meaning of his works in the development from Romanticism to Symbolism, and the Orientalist lineage overall. This exhibition and its gathering of works will provide a rare opportunity for visitors to encounter his entire artistic realm, an event not even found in his homeland of France.

Lectures and Slide Talks will be also held at a museum. Please visit each page for detail.

Exhibition Checklist (PDF file, about 108KB)PDF