Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Eugène-Louis Boudin, Paul Signac, Henri-Edmond Cross et al.
Seijiro Matsuoka's collection of Western paintings began in his later years. The collector's eye, which honed his own intuition for beauty by thoroughly enjoying oriental art, especially Chinese ceramics, formed a collection with a unique worldview. This year's exhibition brings together paintings by Monet, Renoir, and other French Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists from the museum's Western painting collection.
Paris in the late 19th century, when Impressionist painters were active, under the reign of Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann undertook large-scale urban reforms that expanded roads, installed gaslights, and established a railroad network, all of which drastically changed the lives of Parisians. In response to these changes, the world of painting, where tradition was considered the high road, was also transformed.
The 20th century, when the museum's founder, Seijiro Matsuoka, lived as an entrepreneur, was also a time of rapid changes in people's lifestyles due to innovations in industrial technology. Starting with trading, Matsuoka focused his attention on people's lives through a number of businesses related to their daily lives, such as cold storage, hotels, education, and real estate leasing. Matsuoka Reizo, founded in 1923 and celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, is a pioneer in Japan's food cold chain, supporting Japan's kitchens. Perhaps Matsuoka was attracted to Impressionist paintings because he sympathized with the painters' view of life and their spirit to create new expressions with an eye toward the current situation.
10 minute walk from exit 1 at Shirokanedai Station on the Toei Mita or Namboku line. 15 minute walk from the East exit of Meguro Station on the JR Yamanote line.
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