Calendar
Current Exhibitions
Exhibition
Artists by Artists in Western Prints
- Dates
- Saturday, 28 March - Sunday, 21 June 2026
- Hours
-
9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Fridays, Saturdays 9:30 am – 8:00 pm
Admission ends 30 mins. before closing time - Closed
- Mondays and 7 May（Opens on 30 March and 4 May）
- Venue
- Prints and Drawings Gallery, New Wing
- Admission Fees
-
Adults 500 yen (400 yen), college and university students 250 yen (200 yen)
- * Admission is free for Special Exhibition or The Collection ticket holders.
- * Numbers in parenthesis indicate discount fees for groups of 20 or more.
- * Free for high school students, under 18, seniors (65 and over), "Campus Members". Please show your ID upon entrance.
- * Disabled visitors admitted free of charge, with one attendant. Please present your disability identification upon arrival.
- * Free admission of this exhibition and The Collection on 12 April, 10 May, 14 June (Kawasaki Free Sunday) and 19 May .
- Organized by
- The National Museum of Western Art
Images of artists began to appear in Western art during the Renaissance, and self-portraits became a widely established genre. This exhibition traces the historical transformation of depiction of artists, including self-portraits, through almost 50 works, primarily prints, from the NMWA collection.
The emergence and development of the artist’s likeness in the visual arts is closely tied to their own changing conceptions of self, and their evolving social status. As anonymous artisans in the Middle Ages, they seldom depicted their own likenesses in their works. However, from the sixteenth century onwards, artists theorized about their own work and aligned themselves with learning and science, establishing themselves as practitioners of the liberal arts and as “artists” endowed with intellectual agency.
This elevated social status invited an increased interest in the individual behind the artwork. As a result, artists themselves became the intended subject and the purpose of representation. Then, in the nineteenth century, artists came to have a more focused view of themselves as unique, thinking individuals, which led to a transformation of their images into that of isolated, often tormented, creators.
The exhibition is organized into two chapters: the first focuses on the Old Masters (artists active through the end of the 18th century), and the second on modern artists from the 19th century onwards. Each chapter is subdivided into two sections: "The Artist at Work," which explores collective or idealized archetypes, and "Self-Portraits and Artist Portraits," which focuses on capturing individual likenesses. Through this diverse array of imagery, we invite viewers to reconsider the question – what is an artist? – as we reflect on the intertwined histories of creativity and self-expression.
