In it for the Monet

By Emily Millar | Saturday, Dec 27, 2008

Japan loves modern art, just none of its own. In the past year, the Nagoya City Art Museum has staged exhibits by the likes of such European luminaries as Modigliani, Picasso and Klee, and now it’s everyone’s favorite fuzzy French landscape painter Claude Monet’s turn. Japan’s love affair with the godfather of impression was returned fervently by monsieur Claude himself; he amassed an impressive collection of Japanese ukiyoe prints by masters like Hokusai and Hiroshige, fascinated by their ability to create such stunning landscapes with simple lines and flat colors. Monet works are always a star attraction in any museum’s collection, and to celebrate the Nagoya City Art Museum’s 20th anniversary (and 150 years since the first favorable trade treaties between Japan and France), the museum presents Claude Monet [Impression, soleil levant] until Sunday February 8th 2009. 

'Soleil levant' refers to the work Impression: sunrise that Monet painted over the harbor of Le Havre in 1873, where he captured the luminous sun and its reflection across the water in a quick sketch. 

Not only are the represented works by Monet alone, but an all-star supporting cast of fellow impressionists are also included; Renoir, Pissarro, Morisot and Cezanne all make an appearance. Hard to believe that the very first exhibition by the impressionists, held in the photographer Nadar’s studio in Paris, caused critics to lambast the artists, particularly Monet, by comparing their paintings to children’s (they must have been too close to the canvases).

A few pieces from Monet’s famed Waterlilies series are here, as well as some lesser-known works from his pre-impressionist days, complemented by the work of the other artists and assembled from collections both in Japan and overseas.

Claude Monet [Impressionism, soleil levant] runs until Sunday February 8th at the Nagoya City Art Museum. Entry to the exhibition plus the permanent collection is ¥1300 for adults, ¥900 for high school and university students, and ¥500 for elementary students. If you’ve got your daily subway pass, knock off an extra ¥100. 

Nagoya City Art Museum 

Shirakawa Koen

Higashiyama Subway Line, exit 5

Fushimi St (5 minutes walk)

Phone 052-212-0001

www.art-museum.city.nagoya.jp

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