The history of European printmaking goes back to the later 14th century. Woodcuts are the earliest printmaking technique, and from as early as the 15th century, copperplates began to be used to create even more detailed prints. As the Renaissance spread throughout Europe, printmaking became part of the culture, playing a prominent role in the development of religion, literature, politics, ethics, geography, science and other aspects of society. From the Renaissance to modern times, this exhibition presents prints by major European artists. Included artists are Dürer from 15th century Germany, Pieter Brueghel from 16th century Flanders, Rembrandt from 17th century Holland, Goya from 18th century Spain, Redon and Beardsley from the 19th century, and finally Rouault, Picasso, and Escher from the 20th century. Related Events: -Gallery talk "Focusing on Old Prints" April 13th (Sun) 15:00-16:00 Gallery 2F Introduction to symbolism and techniques in prints from the early periods. Lecturer: Michiko Sagawa (Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts) Admission ticket for this exhibition required. -Lecture "Introduction to Printmaking Techniques" April 20th (Sun) 13:00-15:00 Workshop room, 3F An introduction to the history and techniques of printmaking with a simple workshop. Lecturer: Seiichiro Miita (Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music) For high school students and above. Capacity: 30 people Fee: Free Reservation required. Send a reply-paid postcard to the museum's education department with your name, address, phone number, age, and desired workshop title by April 7th (Mon). -Gallery Talk by a Museum Curator April 26th (Sat) 15:00-15:40 Gallery 2F Admission ticket for this exhibition required.

Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art changes their permanent collection display four times a year. The current exhibition in the main building presents works by artists that are from or lived in Yamanashi, depicting beautiful and graceful scenes in spring. In the Western art gallery, prints by German expressionist Kathe Kollwitz and Ernst Barlach and paintings by Millet and other Barbizon school painters are on display.

Takada has produced environmental sculptures in Asia, America, and Russia. His large-scale work exists in harmony with the ponds, rivers and deserts around them.

Tanks, airplanes, ships, robots...in the late 1950s and 1960s, plastic models grew to become a favorite pastime of many in Japan. Children were drawn to the fact that they could now own a piece of the action, a miniature version of the object of their affection, fueling the development of the model industry that continues up until today. The particular pleasure of the plastic model was the fact that it could be customized with additional parts and built according to one's preferred specifications. "Box Art" was the face of these plastic model kits. Drawn and designed in order to catch the eye of consumers and get them to purchase the toys contained within, such artwork on the boxes of these plastic models became mainstream in the years following the war, and is even read today as a comment on postwar Japanese society. This exhibition examines "box art" in the context of postwar visual culture in Japan and its reception. The exhibition showcases about 160 examples of the genre, from the birth of the plastic model in its early days right up until the present, examining even how certain wooden models were used as teaching aids. Also on display will be dioramas using nostalgic classic plastic models assembled by master modelers. The organizers are delighted to be able to hold the exhibition in Shizuoka city, one of the most important manufacturing centers of plastic models in Japan. Special lectures are also planned. For details, see the website.

Celebrating the museum's 20th anniversary its reopening after a renewal program, this exhibition presents 175 masterpieces from the museum collection along with an introduction to the museum's 60 years of history. Related Events: -Gallery Talk: April 26th (Sat), May 17th (Sat), 13:30-14:30 Location: Exhibition space (admission ticket required) -Evening Gallery Talk: April 25th (Fri), May 2nd (Fri), 9th (Fri), 16th (Fri), 23rd (Fri), 18:00-18:20 Location: Exhibition space (admission ticket required) -Workshop & Lecture "Feeling the Light - the Beauty of Watercolors" May 11th (Sun) 10:00-16:30 Lecturer: Akira Yanagida (painter) Location: Exhibition space, and around the Senba Lake. -Art Seminar for Educators: May 24th (Sat) 10:15-15:00 Location: Lecture Room (basement level) and exhibition space For kindergarten, elementary, junior high, and high school teachers. Reservation required. -1st Art Academy "Studies on Body Expression" May 24th (Sat) 10:30-12:00 Lecturer: Tsuyoshi Shima (Ibaraki University) Location: Lecture room (basement level) For students of Ibaraki University as well as the general public. -Museum Theater "Dunhuang" April 27th (Sun) 13:30- Location: Lecture Hall (basement level) Capacity: 250 people Free. -Hey! Museum Kids (exhibition tour and workshop): April 26th (Sat), May 10th (Sat), 10:00-12:00 Location: Lecture room and exhibition space (admission ticket required, free for high school students and younger) -Golden Week Special Event: "Hello! Museum: Exploring the Collection" May 3rd (Sat), 4th (Sun), 5th (Mon/ Holiday), 13:30 Location: Art Forum Screening Corner Free, special stickers available for participants. [Image: Claude Monet "Grotte de Part-Domois" (1886) Oil on canvas 65 x 83cm]

The Edo period lasted for more than 250 years, during which time several formidable painters came to prominence, especially in the 18th century, contributing to a golden age in the visual arts. Jakuchu, Oukyo, Rosetsu, Daiga and Shohaku were all major figures belonging to this elite Edo coterie of artists, and who have in recent years come to be much appreciated by the public. The Kano school, however, has a rather stiff and formal reputation, in stark opposition to the aforementioned artists, but even the masterworks of the Kano school were produced out of a solid grounding in a similar technique. This exhibition introduces work by the representative painters of 18th century Japan, from Jakuchu up to the Kano school.

This exhibition presents the richly colored worlds of two great painters of the twentieth century: Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947). The two stood out amidst the emerging new art movements of the time, and their influence continues to this day. In the course of establishing their own unique artistic styles, both eventually chose southern France as the place to pursue their art. Matisse settled for extended periods in Nice and Venice, while Bonnard settled in Le Cannet near Cannes. In the bright sunlight of the Mediterranean coast, their art deepened and matured with palettes that reflected the vitality of life itself. Matisse and Bonnard also built a lifelong friendship. In their letters, they exchanged ideas on painting as well as news about their respective families and the happenings around them. For this exhibition the museum has received a generous loan of important works from the Matistse and Bonnard families, from two Matisse museums in Nice and Le Cateau-Cambrésis, and other domestic and overseas museums including the Pompidou Center and private collections. Owing to their support, the museum has been able to assemble this exhibition of approximately 120 works. Photographs of Matisse and Bonnard at work, photographs taken by Bonnard and other items are also on display. The exhibition catalog contains Japanese translations of the letters exchanged by the two artists. Lectures: "Bonnard's Paris and the Mediterranean" April 5th (Sat) 14:00-16:00 Norio Shimada (Bridgestone Museum of Art/ Art historian) "Henri Matisse and th 20th Century American Art" April 19th (Sat) 14:00-16:00 Masayuki Tanaka (Mosashino Art University) "Environments Surrounding Matisse and Bonnard" May 10th (Sat) 14:00-16:00 Haruki Yaegashi (Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art/ Art historian) [Image: Pierre Bonnard "Coin de table" (1935) Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris]

In the midst of WWI, Antonin Raymond and Noémi Pernessin met each other on a ship while escaping the upheaval of Europe. When Antonin was 26 years old and Noémi 25, they got married and began a creative career spanning more than 60 years, Antonin as an architect and Noémi as a designer. They constantly moved around different countries, going back and forth between Europe, Japan, and America, in order to sustain their lives. Even under such circumstances, they successfully achieved various projects. Despite the fact that their achievements have been highly appraised worldwide, no comprehensive exhibition dedicated exclusively to Antonin and Noémi Raymond has yet been held. What made this difficult was not only the fact that their projects and artifacts have been scattered over Japan and the U.S., but also the fact that they were "outsiders" in the countries where they lived. This is the first retrospective exhibition to gather and exhibit the exemplary design work of the Raymonds. This exhibition will take place at three different locations in Takasaki; this museum, the Takasaki Tetsugakudou Foundation, and the Gunma Music Center. -Takasaki Tetsugakudou Foundation (89 Yashima-cho, Takasaki) 10:00-18:00 -Gunma Music Center (28-2 Takamatsu-cho, Takasaki) 10:00-17:00, exhibition starts from April 15th (Tue). Related Events: -Lecture "A. Raymond and Modernism" (April 19th, reservation required) -Lecture "Works of Noémi Raymond" (May 10th, reservation required) -Raymond Architecture Bus Tour in Karuizawa (May 11th, reservation required) -Music Center & Tetsugakudou Foundation Museum Trip (April 27th, May 4th, reservation required) [Image: Antonin Raymond "Gunma Music Center" Collection Kitazawa Koichi]

Location: Exhibition Room 1

Amid the mess of reckless change in the world today, Kojiro's still lifes and landscape paintings emanate a calm and stability all his own. Kojiro inherits a venerable tradition among Japanese artists resident in Paris, which city's Museum of Modern Art contains the work of Tsuguharu Fujita, Shikanosuke Oka and Kiyoshi Hasegawa. In Japan, Kojiro has continued to attract a strong following and critical accolades without having exhibited institutionally. In recent years, in addition to taking inspiration from "primitive poetry," Kojiro has taken on murals, religious Christian iconography and other icons in his work. This exhibition showcases his small-scale 2D work and objets d'art. Around 130 works, mostly of oil paintings, will be on display. -Gallery Talk Dates & Time: May 10th (Sat) & May 17th (Sat) 14:00-

Chagall was born to a Jewish family in Vitebsk, a city in western Russia, after which he moved successively to Moscow, Berlin, Paris and New York. He availed himself of a spectacular palette of color in his work, coupled with an imagination that knew no limitations, constantly dreaming up pictorial worlds that transcended art and appeared to approach the sublime. The violinists, villagers, wedding ceremonies and festivals, cows, goats and chickens that populate his work were subjects taken from his lingering childhood memories in Vitebsk. Talks and other related events will also be held. Check website for more details.

Solo exhibition of new works by Nobuaki Yamanaka, an artist living in Tsukuba City. An active participant in solo and group shows abroad, Yamanaka is also a member of the Nikakai group. His mixed media panel works seem to be simple abstractions at first sight, but display a refined, somewhat suppressed sense for movement and color.

Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art changes their permanent collection display four times a year. The current exhibition in the South Building presents paintings, prints and glass works by Hideo Hagiwara, who passed away last fall. This is a retrospective exhibition of this artist presenting around 40 masterpieces. Prints, antiques, and craft works that Hagiwara collected over the years are also on display.

Born in Chiba prefecture, the artist studied under Masaaki Horie and Gaho Hashimoto. This exhibition presents Japanese-style paintings by the artist, who was active from the later phase of Meiji period to Showa period.

Opening: May 9th (Fri) 19:00

Prints by Donge Kobayashi and Shin Taga who reside in Chiba Prefecture, as well as copper prints by Masuo Ikeda, Keiko Shimizu, and others will be shown in this exhibition. [Image: Donge Kobayashi "A Woman and a Cat" (1975) Copper print 32.3 x 23.2cm]

In the 19th century, many of the Barbizon and French painters, such as Millet, depicted lives of farmers and scenes in the countryside. These particular subjects were nostalgic for people living in the urban areas, and in a way they portrayed utopia and all the gifts of nature. This style of painting influenced painters who were active in the salon scene, such as Julian du Pré and Lhermitte and the impressionists Monet and Pissaro. There were also Japanese painters who were inspired by the works by Millet and Pissaro, like Chu Asai, Kiyoteru Kuroda, and Keiichiro Kume. Consequently, scenery from the countryside became part of these Japanese painters' major topics. This exhibition comprises a total of 150 masterpieces by modern Japanese painters as well as 19th century French painters, including two centerpieces, Millet's "Summer, the Gleaners" from the collection of the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art and Monet's "Grainstacks at Giverny; the Evening Sun" from the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama. Related Events -Lecture 1 "Rural Anthem: Granstacks by Millet and Monet" Lecturer: Norio Shimada (Bridgestone Museum Director) Date: May 4th (Sun) Where: Sougou Jisshu Shitsu No reservation required. Free. -Lecture 2 "Granstacks Seen in Modern Paintings" Lecturer: Kyoko Kagawa (Curator of this venue) Date: May 25th (Sun) Where: Sougou Jisshu Shitsu No reservation required. Free. -Gallery Talk by Museum Staff (3 times) Dates: April 19th, May 6th, May 17th/ 14:00 Where: Exhibition space, no reservation required, admission required. -Silver Art Lecture (2 times) Dates: May 6th, May 17th/ 13:00-13:30 Where: Sougou Jisshu Shitsu No reservation required. Free. Please check the museum's website for more information and other events details.

Location: Exhibition Room 3

Utsunomiya-born artist Takao Usui has been active in his hometown since graduating from the graduate school at Tsukuba University. Since the latter half of the 1990s, his painting style developed away from a penchant for geometric composition towards a spatial orientation, favoring pure colors and forms. In line with this shift, Usui sought a new type of expression in terms of perspective and shading, the most important elements in the production of a painting. For example, in a work like the one in which the repetition of arch-shaped forms gets eaten away by background colors, he attempted to create a sense of spatial composition by contrasting darker and lighter colors. He sometimes chose only bright colors (yellow and green-yellow) in order to successfully depict spatial depth. In the "Shoaling Beach" series, he rendered a beach with its shoals using abstract forms, combining effects obtained through the use of overhead views and floating cloud-like figures. Usui's world is filled with tranquility - suffused with the beauty of colors, the sensitivity of his expressions, his and poetic titles. -Artist Talk & Concert "Prominence in the Shallow Water" Date & Time: May 11th (Sun) & June 1st (Sun) 14:00- A ticket for either project exhibition or colleciton exhibition is required. [Image: "Shoaling Beach 0702" (2007)]

Exhibiting the artist's innovative color Mezzotint work.

Since their establishment in July 1995, the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts has been collecting and exhibiting works based on 3 principles, "affinity towards living things", "eternal platinum prints" and "young, powerful photographers: young portfolio". "Young Portfolio" is an especially significant activity that the museum has been involved in annually: it entails calling out for photographs produced by people under 35, selecting the best pieces, and purchasing them for their collection. Rather than giving out awards, the Museum believes that purchasing the works will help support and give confidence to young artists. This is the 13th time that the event is being held, and consists of the following: For Young Portfolio 2007, 411 people from 35 countries submitted 5931 works. The 2007 portfolio judges, Morinaga Jun, Eiichiro Sakata, and Eikoh Hosoe selected 284 photos by 59 photographers (31 Japanese, 28 foreign) to be purchased for the permanent collection. [Image: Abdul Munem Washifi (Bangladesh) "Jute mill crisis" (2006) (c) Abdul Munem Washifi]

Celebrating the reopening of Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, we are pleased to introduce seven art galleries that Isozaki has designed since 1960, introducing the whole picture from developing the concept to realization through a variety of materials including original drawings, models and photographs. Upon this reopening, the audience will realize that the Museum was actually a prototype of "white cube", a pronoun to describe contemporary art spaces of the world. There will also be "Seven Tea-Ceremony Rooms" on display, presenting an architectural concept of this exhibition from a different angle. Related events: -"Erased Utopia 1968-1973" Interview with Arata Isozaki Dates & Time: April 30th (Wed) 14:00-17:00 Location: 2F Auditorium Fee: Free -Curator's Talk Dates & Time: May 14th (Wed) & May 31st (Sat) 14:00-15:00 Please come to Exhibition Room 1. (Reservation not required. Ticket required.)

This is a retrospective exhibition of the graphic designer Mitsuo Katsui, who carved out a new niche for himself in the field of graphic design. The exhibition looks back on his 50-year career and focuses on the concept of "light" to trace milestones in his career and his achievements.

Works from the museum's collection will be on display, with 5 different themes. 1. "Yearning for Blue": introduces painters, such as Rene Magritte, Marc Chagall, Raoul Dufy and Shunsuke Matsumoto who rendered the world in shades of blue. 2. "To Make Invisible Visible": from the museum's collection of contemporary Japanese art, this section showcases artists who devoted themselves to abstract expression, focusing particularly on Takeo Yamaguchi and Jiro Yoshihara. 3. "Where is Utopia?": introduces the notion of utopia and images of paradise that artists associated with Utsunomiya envisioned. 4. "Producing Images": art and design work will be presented alongside each other in the same exhibition space, arranged with the techniques of knitting, weaving and producing in mind. 5. "Revolutionary Russia -Adventures in Design": Russian avant-garde posters from the 1920s and the design work of Japanese artists who took hints from the former will be on display. Location: Exhibition Room 1

Media is now an integral part of modern life, as it is in the world of art. More and more works of art areincorporating media-based technologies, with video and computer being the most representative. Thisexhibition presents a selection of media art from the Hara Museum’s permanent collection of approximately 1,000 works, from the video imagery of Hinohari Mori to the light-incorporating works of Piotr Kowalski. The excitement of the selected works derives not only from the freshness of their forms, but also the possibilities that they invoke. Included in the exhibit is midnight sea, Tabaimo’s acclaimed video installation from her solo exhibition at the Hara Museum in 2006, specially arranged to suit the space of Hara Museum ARC.

- "Recently Donated Modern Nihon-ga from the Okuma Collection" Including 10 masterpieces by Taikan Yokoyama, a total of 47 works from the Okuma Collection are on display. The exhibition is divided into three parts [April 22nd (Tue) through May 18th (Sun), May 20th (Tue) through June 15th (Sun), June 17th (Tue) through July 13th (Sun)] - Modern Painting and Sculpture" Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Maurice Denis, Georges Rouault, Moise Kisling, Ryusei Kishida, Harue Koga, etc. - "A Chair with Casted Roses - Shiro Kuramata 'Miss Blanche'" Recently fabricated Kuramata's chair "Miss Branch" is on display. [Image: Shiro Kuramata "Miss Blanche" Designed in 1988/ Produced in 2007]

The Jewish painter Pascin (1885- 1930) cavalierly cast off the experience he had absorbed from 20th century avant-garde art movements as if ridding himself of a cheap shirt, and pursued a world of his own by constantly traveling through Europe, the Caribbean and America. This Bulgaria-born artist changed his last name "Pincas" to "Pascin" simply by jumbling up the spelling, and made a contract with a well-known magazine company at the age of 19, embarking on a new chapter in his life as a painter. Pascin is said to have produced countless drawings, sometimes by using a matchstick as a drawing implement, as if he didn't want to waste even a minute. He often chose a woman to be his sitter, making nude portraits of her. This instinctive attitude toward his art was also reflected in his own way of living. In June 1930, at the height of his popularity, Pascin committed suicide by cutting his wrist. Perhaps what was most inspirational to his creative work were the 45 years of his profligate life. In this exhibition, 149 paintings selected from the Pascin Collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Hokkaido will be on display. Please see the museum website for more details. [Image: "Little Girl with a White Ribbon" (1928)]

William Morris (1834-1896) was the most prominent artist and thinker of the 19th-century England, and still has a great influence today. In this exhibition, approximately 90 works, including stained glass model, which became the basis of his career as a decoration artist, original wall paper, textiles, furniture and small rooms with interior accessories of his time, will be on display. -Special Talk by Harumi Tsuda This exhibition's editorial supervisor Tsuda Harumi will consider with her audience the artist's thoughts and dreams by tracking back his artistry and social climate of his time.

The world of colors is entering a new era. Thanks to the development of computers, LED and display technologies, we can now freely choose colors from an infinite selection with a single switch. Colors are generated from relationships between light, objects and the sense of sight. Techniques of color arrangement have developed mainly from the colors (pigments and dyes) of non-moving objects. But now that we can freely control light, we are encountering a new problem: how to show moving colors. Changes in our sense of color have a powerful influence in the fields of household goods, fashion and interior design. More people are not simply passively choosing colors but are doing so as a way of expressing themselves and conveying messages. Gathered under a single roof at this exhibit are works that lead a new generation of colors, such as interactive art, visual works and interior goods and lighting from advanced companies.

Throughout his career, Marc Chagall not only depicted fantastical imagery in rich colors, but also gave expression to his childhood memories with a sense of rustic poetry. Chagall never ceased to project a part of his intimate memories, life and love onto his canvases, regaling viewers with stories that were uniquely his own. In this exhibition, the entire Chagall collection of the Pola museum will be on display.

This exhibition introduces the past, present, and future of city development in Sengawa (Chofu City, Tokyo), along with the ongoing design of road layout. The project consists of 6 facilities that designed alongside the road, and is one of the largest projects that the world has seen.

Works by Chiba prefecture's pioneering modern Western-style painter, as well as by his masters Fontanesi and the Barbizon school painters, will be on display. Location: Exhibition Room 2

The Hakone Open-Air Museum was opened in 1969 to create a harmonic balance of the great nature of Hakone and Art. The unique experiences of open-air museum await you, as different seasons and weather create an ever-changing sensation of true art. The Museum realizes the philosophy of Henry Moore “Sculpture is an art of the open-air” with a grand backdrop of Hakone's great nature.

With works from the Ibaraki area as the nucleus, objects in the museum's permanent collection are shown systematically so that the history of modern and contemporary art can be easily understood.

The museum collection consists of 1210 pieces centering upon 20th century works depicting the . 540 are works by Renoir, Bonnard, Picasso, Matisse, Leger, Chagall, Kokoschka, Milo, Dali, and de Kooning, and 670 are by unique Japanese artists. 130-200 selections from the permanent collection are on display at any given time, and will rotate every quarter.

Our permanent exhibition, held on the first floor, features the work of metal-cast artists Hotsuma Katori and Shinobu Tsuda. Both being born in the same period, in the Hokuso area of Chiba Prefecture, the two were opposites in artistic viewpoints; Katori emphasized tradition while Tsuda called for revolution. Works on display will be rotated every three months.

Artist Motohiro Tomii will create sculptural works using ready-made objects. The sculptures will then become permanent collections of ARCUS Project and exhibited inside Building B. Moriya Manabi-no-sato, where ARCUS Studio is located, has a music room, cooking room, and craft shop, and the facilities are used by neighborhood residents regularly. The exhibition does not have a closing date, and all works will be exhibited until they decay naturally. Opening Reception: March 22nd (Sat), 18:30- at ARCUS Studio Please contact venue to attend by phone or fax. (0297-46-2600)

Niki de Saint Phalle, a French-American, was born in 1930. She kept challenging new materials, while pursuing a life-long theme of self-reflection and wish for freedom. The Niki Museum owns about 200 pieces of work by the artist. About 100 of them, centered around large sculptures, are on permanent exhibition.

The Hakone Open-Air Museum’s Picasso Collection consists of a substantial number of Picasso’s ceramic creations, purchased from his eldest daughter Maya Picasso, as well as his paintings, prints, sculptures, gold objets d’art. They are permanently exhibited to the public. The photographs of David Douglas Duncan, who documented the artist’s last 17years, also play a vital role in this collection.

Walking through the Rodin Wing is like a stroll through a garden of sculptures. Natural light through a rugby-ball shaped roof provides the illumination. The whole wing is visible from the entrance floor. 32 works by Rodin are displayed on the skip floor, including the famous “Gates of Hell”. Sculptures pre- and post- Rodin are also on exhibition for a sum total of 47 works on display. An aural guide commentary is also available at no extra fee.

Works by artists from Izura who were tutored by Tenshin Okakura will be on display. Exhibits will rotate six times a year.

Utsunomiya Museum of Art collects post-20th century works of art and design. The permanent exhibition is rotated 3 to 4 times a year, and a thematic mini-exhibition is also held 1 to 2 times a year.

The masterpieces that adorn Venice, the city of canals. Over 70 masterpieces spanning three centuries by Titian, Tintoretto, Canaletto and others.