At the age of 11, John Everett Millais (1829-1896) became the youngest pupil ever to be admitted to the School of Royal Academy of Arts. However, he got soon tired of the classes and the outdated customs of the Academy, and in 1848 he founded the "Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood" with Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt. Millais played a central role in this group, which caused a veritable artistic revolution in Britain. This exhibition brings together some of his most representative works, such as Ophelia and Christ in the House of His Parents, borrowed from Tate Britain and other important collections in and outside the United Kingdom. Ranging from oil paintings to sketches and from work he produced in his teens to paintings from the end of his life, it presents a full and comprehensive view of the artist's career, making this event the first real retrospective Millais exhibition in Japan. [Image: "Ophelia" (1851-2), oil on canvas, from the Tate Collection]

The search for an individual style has unfolded and evolved with great vigor throughout the history of modern and contemporary art. Consider the Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet and Pierre-August Renoir, who looked beyond traditional painting in search of new forms of art, or Paul Cézanne, whose work was a major influence on the birth of Cubism. Explore Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, constant leaders in 20th century art. Then there came the birth and evolution of Abstract art. Rethink Western-style artists in Japan who, while mastering the techniques and themes of Western art, struggled with the challenge of establishing, as Japanese artists, their own voices and styles. This exhibition of 180 paintings and sculptures from the Bridgestone Museum of Art collection offers a delightful stroll, room by room, through these historic developments in the world of art. [Image: Claude Monet "Twilight, Venice" (c. 1908)]

This exhibition features around 70 works of "naïve painting" from a small village Kovacica in Serbia. These heartworming paintings depict daily scenes of farmers and the village people. Reflecting on the history of the locals and the social background, these paintings are poetic and powerful, celebrating everyday lives. Discussion "History and Culture of Serbia - Naïve Art from Kovacica" July 27th (Sun) 13:30 Location: 1F Alternative Studio Admission free.

Ryusei Kishida (1891-1929) is well-known for this "Portrait of Reiko", in which he used his own beloved daughter as model. He was one of the most outstanding and unique painters in the Japanese "yoga" style during the Taisho and early Showa periods. Although he passed away at the young age of 38, Kishida produced an oeuvre of disproportionate impact, with many works that brought about fruitful change for the genre. Kishida entered the Hakuba-kai for yoga painting at 17 and studied oil painting with Kiyoteru Kuroda, while simultaneously becoming influenced by the work of the late Impressionists, such as van Gogh and Cezanne, through the pages of the art and culture magazine Shirakaba. Later, Kishida fell for the photographic realism of northern European Renaissance painters like Durer, and began pursuing his own studies of painterly realism, seeking to evoke the "inner beauty" of things and people. From the latter half of the Taisho period onwards, Kishida did a volte-face and turned towards eastern art, in particular Chinese painting of the Song and Yuan dynasties, as well as early ukiyo-e woodblock prints. This eastern aesthetic attracted him and began to be reflected in his own work. In addition to works from the collection of the Kasama Nichido Museum of Art, this exhibition showcases self-portraits and other oil paintings, nihonga, watercolors, rough sketches and book binding illustrations - a total of about 70 works. Please visit the exhibition website for more details. [Image: "Portrait of Girl (Standing Image of Reiko)" (1923) oil on canvas, 53.2 x 45.5 cm. From the collection of the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art]

Part of the gallery, plus library, mini theater and lounge will be used as "ICC Open Space", a free communication space open to the public. ICC has consistently aimed at providing a space for the free appreciation of intersections between art and technology, developments in research, networks and archives through its "corners" and zones", as well as many works of art. Various materials, videos and recordings pertaining to the history of the ICC's activities are also available for reference purposes. A cafe, shop and rest space are also provided, allowing viewers to create their own encounters and exchanges with cutting edge technologies, means of communication and modes of culture. [Image: Hive Corner]