Collection Highlight 1: Masters Who Colored Art History

This exhibition features representative works from Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall and others, and will introduce you to the pieces that the Fukuoka Art Museum is best known for.

Salvador DALI
The Madonna of Port Lligat
1950　
©Salvador Dali, Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali, JASPAR Tokyo, 2019
G1884

Modern Art in Regions of Kyushu 1

Many great artists emerged from the Kyushu area. Their works trace the history of modern art, and are shown on rotation over four terms.

Artists featured during the first term: Kuroda Seiki, Okada Saburosuke, Wada Eisaku, Mizukami Taisei and others.

KURODA Seiki
Portrait of Woman
1897

Collection Highlight 2: Contemporary Art in and after 1945

You can look back over the history of art during and after 1945 through various art works by Andy Warhol, Kusama Yayoi and others that colored the art world at that time. (Some art works are subject to rotation.)

Yves KLEIN
Anthropometry (ANT 157)
1961

Fujimori Shizuo and The Other Members of Tsukuhae

Fujimori Shizuo, who was born in Kurume City in Kyushu, established Tsukuhae, a wood prints and poetry magazine, along with Onchi Koshiro and Tanaka Kyokichi in 1914.

We display their world of art and the friendship from the younger days of these print makers, who cultivated a new expression using wood prints.

FUJIMORI Shizuo
Dying Flesh (from “Tsukuhae” IV)
1915

Art after "Kyushu-ha" in Fukuoka

Art in Fukuoka after the latter half of the 1960s started from the point of seeking new contemporary art, escaping from the influence of the avant-garde artist group, Kyushu-ha. Artwork that conveys Fukuoka’s art scene after the Group Kyushu-ha have been carefully selected to be displayed.

URAKAWA Taishi
Saida-wo nominagara tochi wo aruku.
2017

Modern Art in Regions of Kyushu 2

Many great artists emerged from the Kyushu area. Their works trace the history of modern art, and are shown on rotation over four terms.

Artists featured during the second term: Ito Kenshi, Kojima Zenzaburo, Terada Masaaki, Wada Sanzo and others.

KOJIMA Zenzaburo
Mirror
1932

Modern Art in Regions of Kyushu 3

Many great artists emerged from the Kyushu area. Their works trace the history of modern art, and are shown on rotation over four terms.

Artists featured during the third term: Tatara Yoshio, Yoshimura Tadao, Matsunaga Kanzan, Tomita Keisen and others.

YOSHIMURA Tadao
Scene Like Hell
1950

Asakura Fumio, Setsu and Kyoko

You will trace the footsteps of sculptor Asakura Fumio (1883-1964) along with his two daughters, Setsu (1922-2014) and Kyoko (1925-2016).

ASAKURA Fumio
Rabbit

Watanabe Chihiro

Please enjoy the fine lines richly depicted by Watanabe Chihiro (1944-2009) who created a large amount of copperplate prints by using engraving techniques.

WATANABE Chihiro
Sky Forest
1987

Modern Art in Regions of Kyushu 4

Many great artists emerged from the Kyushu area. Their works trace the history of modern art, and are shown on rotation over four terms.

Artists featured during the fourth term: Yoshida Hiroshi, Koga Harue, Tasaki Hirosuke, Ueda Usaburo and others.

YOSHIDA Hiroshi
Rapids
1910

Introducing A New Collection "Woman Shooting Cherry Blossoms" by Yinka Shonibare CBE. As the First Anniversary of the Reopening of the Fukuoka Art Museum Open to public for free

We held the very first solo exhibition in Japan by Yinka Shonibare CBE, who is based in the United Kingdom and active worldwide, in celebration of the Fukuoka Art Museum’s grand reopening in the spring of 2019. Woman Shooting Cherry Blossoms, a commissioned work for the museum that had its world premiere at the exhibition, is Shonibare’s very first piece on a Japanese theme and was created to celebrate the museum’s reopening during the cherry blossom season. The museum acquired this commemorative piece of art in 2019. Woman Shooting Cherry Blossoms is open to public for free as the first anniversary of the reopening of the museum.

From April 28^th, it will be on view in the Collection Highlights exhibition at the Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery C.

©Yinka Shonibare CBE, 2019. Courtesy of James Cohan Gallery, New York
Photographer: Stephen White

Collection Highlights

The representative works of the artists who colored the 20^th century’s art history, such as Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol and Kusama Yayoi, will be exhibited along with Woman Shooting Cherry Blossoms by Yinka Shonibare CBE, which was recently acquired. You will trace the history of modern art over the last hundred years by viewing a variety of collections.

Yinka Shonibare CBE, Woman Shooting Cherry Blossoms, 2019
©Yinka Shonibare CBE, 2019. Courtesy of James Cohan Gallery, New York
Photographer: Stephen White

Images of the Japanese in the First Year of Heisei Era(1989)

The Images of the Japanese in the First Year of Heisei exhibition, organized by the Japan Advertising Photographers’ Association, shows 106 photographs of Japanese people of various ages, who lived and worked in different fields during the first year of the Heisei era (1989) all shot in particular settings. We look back anew on the Heisei era through these photographs as we move into the Reiwa era now.

画像：河原雅夫《山本一夫》1989年

Exhibition of New Collections

 The pieces that were recently acquired between 2016 and 2019 while we were closed for renovation will be displayed.

画像：リサ・ミルロイ《黒》2012年　© Lisa Milroy, Photograph by FXP Photography

TONOSHIKI Tadashi

Tonoshiki Tadashi (1942–1992), an artist who was born in Hiroshima and based in Yamaguchi, created his pieces based on his own experience as an atomic-bomb orphan, always with an awareness of abandoned objects and forgotten people. We will look back over his art activities through the 18 artworks that were acquired in 2018.

Image: TONOSHIKI Tadashi, HYDROGEN BOMB, c. 1981

Children's Art Museum during Summer Vacation 2020 Face Your Fears: The Wonderful World of Scary Paintings

You will explore the feeling of fear in paintings from our modern and contemporary art collections. Some paintings may not scare you at first site, but I hope you look a little deeper and discover what fears are hiding within.

Image: Henri MATISSE, Jazz: Sword Swallower, 1947

Between the Abstract and the Figurative　Including the Work of KAI Mihachiro and Others

It is said that “figurative painting” is a projected image of an object and “abstract painting” is comprised of simplified colors and figures – is it really true? We will introduce artwork that goes back and forth between the figurative and the abstract, centered on the Japanese-style paintings by KAI Mihachiro (1903-1979) that were acquired in 2019.

Image: KAI Mihachiro, Title Unknown (Kuchi), 1970s

KIKUHATA Mokuma: The World of Painting

A Fukuoka-based painter, KIKUHATA Mokuma (1935 – May 2020), was active in the Group Kyushyu-ha and emerged as an icon of avant-garde art. Though he withdrew from the art world at the end of the 1960s, he returned with a series of paintings, Ptolemaic Theory, in 1983. The exhibition will feature the world of his paintings, which are unique in texture.

Image: KIKUHATA Mokuma, Chanty 1, 1993

KYNE, Untitled, 2020

KYNE, that is pronounced as ki-ne, draws attention these years with his style of art. His thought and the museum’s policy coincided to challenge new things even in the coronavirus pandemic. A large mural painting, 3.14 x 13.00 meters, is on view open to pubic at the corridor just before the exit of the Collection Galleries on the second floor.

About the Piece
A woman who is lying and looking out the window is depicted on the whole white wall. KYNE had a theme of “publicness and freedom” to work on this mural painting. The art museum and the Ohori Park are both public facilities. What is publicness? What is being free? This woman might be thinking such things.

Artist’s Profile
KYNE is a Fukuoka-born artist, who lives and works in Fukuoka. He majored in Japanese-style painting at university, and started his activity as an artist from around 2006. He established the current style of painting portraying woman with a cool look around 2010, and now gets attention in and out of the country with his unique art inspired by 80’s popular culture.

The Painters Related to Fujita’s Art Activities　Associated with the Leonard Foujita and the Textiles He Loved Exhibition

Many painters had a keen interest in or were related to Leonard FOUJITA in some way, such as NAKAMURA Ken’ichi, YOSHIHARA Jiro and KIKUHATA Mokuma. Their artworks will be featured along with the special exhibition.

Image: NAKAMURA Ken’ichi, Chestnut Flowers, 1947

Wearing and Staring: YANAGI Miwa and Lisa MILROY

The shoes and dresses depicted by Milroy (b. 1959) and the female workers sitting around in the picture created by Yanagi (b. 1967) — we will attempt to review the relationship of women and clothes and the point of their view, by exhibiting the pieces of the two artists from the collection.

Image:YANAGI Miwa, Aquasienne in Paradise II, 1995
　　　Lisa MILROY, Black, 2012

Modern Photography I: Europe

Photographs from the collection, mainly from the pre-war period, will be displayed including by Man Ray, Laszlo MOHOLY-NAGY and Aleksandr RODCHENKO.

Image: Aleksandr RODCHENKO, Girl with Leica (Portrait of the photo-reporter Evgenia Lemberg), 1934 (reprinted in 1994)

Modern Photography II: Japan

Photographs from the collection, mainly from the pre-war period, will be displayed including by ONCHI Koshiro, EIKYU (EiQ) and HASEGAWA Denjiro.

Image: EIKYU (EiQ), Construction, 1936

TOMITA Keisen Exhibition

Masterpieces and sketches by TOMITA Keisen (1879–1936), a Japanese-style painter who was from Shimokawabata-machi, Hakata ward in Fukuoka City will be exhibited, such as Three Views of Okinawa and Cherry Blossoms in Omuro, which are characterized by fine lines with free-style brushing and rich and mild colors.

Image: TOMITA Keisen, Cherry Blossoms in Omuro, 1933

ODA Hiroki and HIRANO Ryo: From the Nishimoto Collection

ODA Hiroki, born in Fukuoka Prefecture, 1914–2012, worked actively mainly in Nika exhibitions, painting illusional images of women. HIRANO Ryo, born in Oita Prefecture, 1927–2012, who was active in Kitakyushu City, worked on human figures and sceneries that reflected his own mind. Main works of the two artists will be exhibited from the Nishimoto Collection.

Exhibition of New Collections

New acquisitions from 2020 will be introduced.

AKABOSHI Nobuko, Garden with Blooming Flowers, 1955

Collection Highlights

■Modern and Contemporary Art A
Collection Highlights I
From “The Fine Artworks Both Foreign and Domestic Which Show the Currents of Modern Art”
Within our museum’s acquisition policy is the line “to systematically collect fine artworks both foreign and domestic which show the currents of modern art.” In this corner, eight artworks representative of the ones acquired by following this policy will be exhibited.

■Modern and Contemporary Art C
Collection Highlights II
Rethinking the Gender Balance in the Acquisitions and Presentations
The theme of Woman Shooting Cherry Blossoms by Yinka SHONIBARE CBE, which was first presented at the exhibition in celebration of the reopening and added to the collection, is empowerment of women. In the background of the piece, there is a rooted fact even now of the inequality between men and women such as employment opportunities, not only in Japan but in the world. We cannot say that the acquisitions and presentations of the museum have no relation to it.
Focusing on artworks by women artists, this exhibition comprises their works as its axis. 

Image: Yinka Shonibare CBE, Woman Shooting Cherry Blossoms, 2019
Copyright Yinka Shonibare CBE, 2019. Courtesy of James Cohan Gallery, New York
Photographer: Stephen White & Co.

NOMIYAMA Gyoji, TOYOFUKU Tomonori, KIKUHATA Mokuma: Caught Between Home and Abroad

On what artists place their own ground for creation and where they do so is important for them.
We verify how the three artists, who were all related to Fukuoka and located their bases respectively in Fukuoka, Tokyo or overseas, consider the issues mentioned above by viewing their works.

NOMIYAMA Gyoji, Figure, 1961

Art in Modern Japan: From Meiji to the Beginning of Showa- Part 1

Artworks will be exhibited from the Modern and Contemporary Art Collection, including the works of YOSHIDA Hiroshi, YAMASAKI Choun, TSUBAKI Sadao, HASEGAWA Toshiyuki and KOBAYAKAWA Kiyoshi. You can discover the motifs of artworks and the expression techniques which spread during and after the Meiji era.

Image: HASEGAWA Toshiyuki, Hagenbeck Circus, 1936

The Creating Process of WADA Sanzo’s “Scene of Prospering Hakata”

Scene of Prospering Hakata is a masterpiece of WADA Sanzo (1883–1967), showing old Hakata as a prosperous trading town from a bird’s-eye view. We explore the creation process of this great work of art by examining both this masterpiece and part of the numerous studies he left.

Image: WADA Sanzo, Scene of Prospering Hakata, 1958

Minimal Forms

Minimalism is an artistic style of presentation consisting of minimized shapes and colors. In this exhibition, artwork by minimalists and some artists who follow minimalism will be introduced from our collection, including Frank STELLA, Sol LEWIT and EGAMI Keita.

Image: Frank STELLA, Basra Gate II (Protractor Series), 1968

© 2021 Frank Stella / ARS, New York / JASPAR, Tokyo  G2443

Art in Modern Japan: From Meiji to the Beginning of Showa- Part 2

We are going to display mainly oil paintings and Japanese-style paintings to tell how art was developed in Japan after it entered into the modern society.

Self-Portrait-Like Works

Artists have depicted self-portraits based on various motivations since the Meiji era to date. We explore, through the collection, the inseparable relationship of “expressing oneself” and modern and contemporary art.

Image: UEDA Kaoru, Self-portrait on Spoon A, 1990

Exhibition of New Collections

This exhibition introduces new acquisitions of modern and contemporary artwork to the museum in fiscal year 2021. (There are also works on display in the Modern and Contemporary Art C.)

Works by the following artists are on display:

Wada Sanzo, Societe IRF, Hisano Hisashi, Narahara Ikko, Terada Ken-ichiro, Akiyama Yutokutaishi, Kikuhata Mokuma, Moriyama Yasuhide, Kawabe Naho, Umeda Tetsuya, KYNE

Image: KYNE, Consider Others, 2021

In Search of the Picturesque Landscape, Featuring Artworks by Yoshida Hiroshi

How did artists since modern era express familiar and exotic landscapes when they rediscovered such landscapes as picturesque subjects? Focusing on the works of Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950), the exhibition introduces expressions using techniques ranging from watercolors to oils.

Image: YOSHIDA Hiroshi, Rapids, 1928

Paintings of Moriyama Yasuhide: From "Ode to Alumina" to the Hiroshima Series

After performing with Group “Kumo” in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Moriyama Yasuhide (1936-) started to paint in earnest in 1987. The exhibition is an in-depth exploration of Moriyama’s paintings, introducing works from the 1980s to the present.

Image: MORIYAMA Yasuhide, Window-51, 2017-21

Children’s Art Museum during Summer Vacation 2022: The Rhythm of Water

We take the water around us for granted, but water is a shape-shifter that makes all sorts of sounds. We introduce various artworks on the theme of the sound of water and host workshops during the course of the exhibition.

Image: UEDA Usaburo, Landscape, 1954

Collection Highlights

■Modern and Contemporary Art A

Collection Highlights I: Two Highlights

The collection of modern and contemporary art at Fukuoka Art Museum highlights two areas: local art that has developed in Kyushu and Western Japan, and trends of Western art. The principal works in the collection shed light on the similarities and differences between trends of these two areas.

■Modern and Contemporary Art C

Collection Highlights II: Art for Sharing, Art for Understanding

This display of works from the collection looks at the relationships between ourselves and art in the contemporary world through the works of Kusama Yayoi, Anish Kapoor, and other artists from Japan and abroad.

          The works gathered here address social issues or use diverse expressions to delve into familiar themes and sensations. Putting the imagination to work by looking at artwork that is sometimes appealing, sometimes crude, may be the first step to understanding others.

Image: Jean-Michel BASQUIAT, Untitled, 1984
©The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat / ADAGP, Paris & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2022  
 G2777

Transformation of Paintings: Art Informel, Gutai and Kyushu-ha

After World War II, painting underwent a major transformation. Young Japanese painters were strongly influenced by the fierce brushstrokes, shapes without shape, and bright colors that emerged in European painting. This exhibition presents paintings that were created under the influence of Art Informel.

Image: Jean DUBUFFET, Beat the Wing, 1961
© ADAGP, Paris & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2022 
G2777

For the Sake of a Single Line

Trembling lines. Unwavering lines. Gashes. Scrawls… No line is the same as another. Lines tell the story of the physical movement and the creative activity of the one who did the drawing. This exhibition decodes artwork by focusing on lines.

Image: Jean FAUTRIER, Parallelepiped Rectangles, 1959

Narahara Ikko: "Stateless Land"/ "Human Land"

A leading photographer in postwar Japan, Narahara Ikko (1931-2020) grew up in Omuta, Fukuoka. The exhibition introduces each series of his works starting with his realistic debut work Human Land (1954-57) and its prologue Stateless Land (1954).

Image: NARAHARA Ikko, Island Without Green—Gunkanjima: The tunnel：Human Land, 1954-57（print 2016）

ⒸNARAHARA IKKO ARCHIVES

Looking at Fukuoka

The exhibition introduces the region of Fukuoka as captured in works by artists in our collection. Maps and aerial photographs identify some of the places where the works were created, allowing us to explore undiscovered aspects of the artwork.

Image: MATSUNAGA Kanzan, Landscape of Itoshima, Date unknown

Women Painters in Kyushu

This exhibition of works from our collection of modern and contemporary art reflects on the work and activities of female artists with a connection to Kyushu.

Works by the following artists are on display:

Yoshida Fujio, Inoue Masako, Takamiya Kazue, Kinoshita Kuniko, Aoyagi Sumika, Shimauchi Kimi, Akaboshi Nobuko, Takeoka Yoko, Oniki Miyoko, Tabe Mitsuko, Yamada Yoriko

Image: AKABOSHI Nobuko, Woman in a Rubashka, 1939

Tanaka Chisato: Living Mural

This mural was painted by Fukuoka-based artist Tanaka Chisato as part of the special exhibition Tanaka Chisato: Horizon and Road (5 January – 21 March 2023). The artist painted the first phase of the mural at the end of January 2023, the second phase in January 2024, and finally the third phase in January 2025. The mural painting is now completed and will be on display until the end of December 2025.

About the artist
Tanaka Chisato (born in 1980)
After graduating from the Oil Painting Course at the Tama Art University, Tokyo in 2005, Tanaka started her career as an artist in Fukuoka the following year. She has established her own style using acrylic paints to create smooth black backgrounds in which subjects in front are brilliantly painted with oil paints. Tanaka’s paintings give viewers a vivid impression and stimulate their imagination through combining contrasting elements, such as figures who look smiling and angry at the same time, or glittering landscapes in the pitch-black darkness. Nowadays, she has become one of the leading artists in Fukuoka through a wide range of creative activities, including many solo and group exhibitions, book-cover design, and a large-scale mural on the new building of SHOGAKUKAN Inc., a publishing company.

Exhibition of New Collections

Modern and contemporary artworks newly acquired in fiscal year 2022 are introduced.

Image: YAMAUCHI Terue, Crossing Tides, 2018

Painters Who Love Mountains

Modern mountaineering in Japan began in the Meiji Period. Since then, mountains have attracted not only numerous climbers but also painters, who have depicted mountain activities and life as well as scenery in diverse approaches. This exhibition introduces each painter with their works and looks into their fascination with mountains.

Image: YOSHIDA Hiroshi, Sea of Clouds at Mt. Hoozan, 1928

Collection Highlights

Modern and Contemporary Art A
Collection Highlights 1: The Jewels of the Fukuoka Art Museum
The Fukuoka Art Museum has collected outstanding works that illustrate various art movements of the 20th century. Among them, a selection of artwork, the so-called highlights from the museum’s collection, is displayed in this gallery.

Modern and Contemporary Art C
Collection Highlights 2: Let’s Take a Stroll through the World of Art
In this gallery, works from the Fukuoka Art Museum’s modern and contemporary art collection are exhibited by theme in four sections, which are designed to represent different places.

　　　　The four sections consist of: 1. The Forest of Reality and Fantasy, 2. The Sea of Materials and Sensitivity, 3. The Universe of Color and Shape, and 4. The City of History and Memory – Toward the Future. In these sections, the artworks are arranged roughly chronologically, allowing viewers to trace the history of art since the 20th century.
　　　　Why don’t you take a look around these various places with a light heart, as if taking a stroll, and find your favorite work of art?

Image: Joan MIRO, Dancer Hearing an Organ in a Gothic Cathedral, 1945
©Successió Miró /ADAGP, Paris & JASPER, Tokyo, 2023 G3105

Art by Period: The 1940s

In varied ways, artworks can reflect the periods and situations in which the artists are placed. This exhibition brings together pieces created in the 1940s, a turbulent time before and after World War Ⅱ, from the museum’s collection and reveals the backgrounds of these works.

Image: MURAI Masanari, City 2, 1940

Narahara Ikko: "Domains”

Narahahara Ikko (1931-2020) was born in Fukuoka Prefecture and became one of the leading photographers in postwar Japan. Introducing his works by series, the second of these exhibitions is dedicated to the series Domains (1985), which captured two isolated worlds: a monastery and a prison.

Image : NARAHARA Ikko, Within the Walls (1) from Domains, 1956-58 (printed 1998)
Image : NARAHARA Ikko, Garden of Silence (3) from Domains, 1958（printed 1977）
© Narahara Ikko Archives

Women Painters in Kyushu Ⅱ

Following on from last year, this exhibition reflects on works and activities of female painters who are related to Kyushu through the museum’s modern and contemporary art collection. Paintings by Oguro Aiko, Oura Kokoro, Kuwano Yoko, and others are introduced this time.

Image: OURA Kokoro, Girl Spitting Out Water, 1995

Expressions of Human Figures in Japanese Paintings

Since the Meiji Period, Japanese-style painters have experimented with a new way of expressions while respecting tradition. How have they painted human figures? This exhibition focuses on Japanese paintings of human figures, such as historical figures, beauties, families, and children.

Image: YOSHIMURA Tadao, Holy Sword, 1939

The 2nd Fukuoka Art Award Exhibition

The Fukuoka Art Award was established to reward artists who have made remarkable achievements in Fukuoka City and are expected to make further strides in the future, and the award-winners’ works are purchased as the museum’s acquisitions. This exhibition displays the winning artworks of the second Fukuoka Art Award competition.

Image: Soh Souen, Bellybutton and Breathing, 2022

Exhibition of New Collections

Among modern and contemporary artworks newly acquired in fiscal year 2023, this exhibition introduces eighteen gifted pieces, including works by Takasu Noriko, Fujino Kazutomo, Yoshida Hiroshi, and Yamamoto Sakubei.

Image: TAKASU Noriko, Under the Sun, 1996

Collection Highlights

This exhibition features artworks by leading modern and contemporary artists from Japan and abroad, including Chagall, Dali, Warhol, and Kusama Yayoi. Through a variety of works from the museum’s collection, this offers an opportunity to discover the expansion of themes and means of expression in visual art after the 20th century.

Image: SHIOTA Chiharu, The Ship of Memories, 2023
©JASPAR, Tokyo, 2024 and Chiharu Shiota

Children’s Art Museum during Summer Vacation 2024

Roads: What Lies Ahead?

Roads that stretch to faraway landscapes, ordinary roads that we take every day, or roads that lead to the past, the future, or someone’s heart. This exhibition focuses on “roads,” a motif that connotes a range of extensions and developments. Workshops are also to be held during the course of the exhibition.

Image: YOKOO Tadanori, Anya Kouro: Traveler’s Night, 2001

The Legacy of Nomiyama Gyoji

Painter Nomiyama Gyoji, who passed away in June 2023, was based in Tokyo and Fukuoka and faced expressions and paintings throughout 102 years of his life. To introduce his legacy, this exhibition displays thirty-four works from the museum’s collection and long-term loans.

Image: NOMIYAMA Gyoji, Figure, 1961

What is Watercolor?

Watercolor may be familiar to many Japanese people as it is often introduced in elementary school arts and crafts classes. Watercolor paints are in fact made by mixing a pigment, which imparts a color, with a binder such as gum arabic. This exhibition draws attention to watercolor techniques in particular.

Image: OURA Kokoro, Expanding Body 14, 2002

Snowy Landscapes

It is not often that landscapes are covered with snow in the mild climate of Kyushu. This exhibition brings together Japanese paintings, oil paintings, prints, and other works on winter subjects such as snow-covered worlds and people walking in the snow, offering an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of snow and winter.

Image: YOSHIDA Hiroshi, Twelve Scenes of Tokyo: Snow in Nakazato, 1928

Narahara Ikko: Venice-Nightscapes and Japanesque

Narahahara Ikko (1931-2020) was born in Fukuoka Prefecture and became one of the leading photographers in postwar Japan. The museum has introduced his works by series for the past few years, and the third exhibition is dedicated to Venice-Nightscapes and Japanesque.

Image: NARAHARA Ikko, Sunset (1) from Venice-Nightscapes, 1964-85 (printed 1983)
© Narahara Ikko Archives

Exhibition of New Collections

This exhibition introduces modern and contemporary artworks and pre-modern artworks newly acquired in fiscal year 2024.

Image: TANAKA Chisato, Journey of Consciousness, 2014

The 3rd Fukuoka Art Award Exhibition

This exhibition introduces the winning artists and artworks of the third Fukuoka Art Award competition.

Image: USHIJIMA Tomoko, House Woman, 2020 (Mayor’s Award)

Nostalgic Scenery: Summer in Japan

This exhibition introduces artworks that expressively depict scenes from early to late summer in Japan, such as fans and fireworks, which may look nostalgic today.

Image:ITO Shinsui, Beautiful Woman in Modern Times Series Vol. Ⅱ: Firefly, 1934

Drawings for Leaping Forward

Let’s look at drawings not as preliminary sketches of the finished works, but as the core of the works or even something in which the artists’ intentions are hidden. In this exhibition, drawings by Yanagi Yukinori, Kawamata Tadashi, Kusama Yayoi, Takamatsu Jiro, and others are on display along with works that developed from these drawings.

Image: YANAGI Yukinori, Icarus Project Flight Dairy No.1, 2005

Collection Highlights

This exhibition displays artworks by leading modern artists such as Miro and Dali as well as pieces by modern Western-style painters associated with Kyushu and also works by contemporary artists from Japan and abroad. Through a variety of works from the museum’s collection, this is an opportunity to discover the expansion of themes and means of expression in art since the 20th century.

Image:Anish KAPOOR, Mother as a Void, 1989-90
© Anish Kapoor. All rights reserved, DACS & JASPAR 2025 G3823

Gaze toward the North

This exhibition displays landscapes and genre paintings of the Korean Peninsula and mainland China depicted by artists after the Meiji period. In association with the special exhibition featuring “the south,” this show focuses on “the north.” Let’s also visit the exhibition Eyes on Foreign Lands in the Matsunaga Memorial Tea Ceremony Collection gallery.

Image: TOMITA Keisen, Balmy Breeze, the 1910s

Kikuhata Mokuma

Kikuhata Mokuma (1935-2020), one of the leading artists in Kyushu, presented the series Ptolemaic Theory in the 1970s after remaining silent, following his withdrawal from the Group Kyushu-ha. This exhibition features his paintings, including prints that led to Ptolemaic Theory. Additionally, Roulette (Target) from the Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art’s collection is on display along with Roulette No.1 and Roulette from the Fukuoka Art Museum’s collection. This is a rare opportunity to see that some works from the Roulette series are brought together.

Image (above): KIKUHATA Mokuma, Roulette (Target), 1964, Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art
Image (below): KIKUHATA Mokuma, Ptolemaic Theory Ⅴ, 1983

Narahara Ikko: Where Time Has Vanished

This exhibition introduces about forty-five photographs from the series Where Time Has Vanished by Narahara Ikko (1931-2020), one of the leading photographers in postwar Japan.

Hanami at the Museum!

This exhibition introduces brilliant pieces featuring not only cherry blossoms but also various flowers and plants of the four seasons. This offers an opportunity to enjoy hanami at the museum before spring comes!

Image: FUKUDA Heihachiro, Ume Tree with Bird, date unknown

【Work in Progress】Urakawa Taishi, Split Island    

To coincide with the opening of the special exhibition Urakawa Taishi Solo Exhibition: Split Island (from Jan. 6 to Mar. 22, 2026), artist Urakawa Taishi from Fukuoka Prefecture will create a mural live in front of visitors on the gallery wall from January 6 through the end of January. Titled Split Island, the same as the exhibition, his new work will be composed of multiple boards, creating a composition that evokes “split islands.” The completed mural will be on display for three years until the end of December 2028.

Creation Period (Scheduled): Tue. Jan. 6th, 2026 – the end of January 2026

※The mural can be viewed only during the museum’s opening hours.
※Tickets to the Collection Galleries are required.
※There may be times when the artist is not present due to breaks or other circumstances.

Photo: Takehisa Naoki

About the Artist

Urakawa Taishi (born in 1994) is a Fukuoka-based artist who creates paintings that explore contemporary landscapes (perspectives) by combining motifs such as color gradient lines and images found on the internet.

Exhibition of New Collections

This exhibition introduces modern and contemporary artworks newly acquired in fiscal year 2025.

Image: KATAYAMA Nampu, Beautiful Woman Sleeping, 1919
（ｃ）Hisako Katayama 2026/JAA2600047

The 4th Fukuoka Art Award Exhibition

This exhibition introduces the winning artists and artworks of the fourth Fukuoka Art Award competition.

Image (above): MIYAMOTO Hanako, Everyday Life at Home, 2024 (Mayor’s Award)
Image (bottom left): TANIZAWA Sawako, The Power of Chatter, 2025 (Merit Award)
(bottom center): KAWABE Naho, In Search of Utopia (-Et in Arcadia Ego), 2024 (Merit Award)
(bottom right): HIRANO Kaoru, Covering Emptiness (untitled -war kimono-), 2025 (Merit Award)

Collection Highlights

Through a variety of works from the museum’s collection, this exhibition presents the expansion of themes and means of expression in art since the 20th century.

Image: Mark ROTHKO, Untitled, 1961
 © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / ARS, New York / JASPAR, Tokyo G4171

Yoshida Hiroshi: Traveler, Poet, and Painter—The 150th Anniversary of His Birth

Yoshida Hiroshi was a painter who traveled extensively in search of subjects, journeying not only throughout Japan but also abroad, from Europe and the United States to Africa and Asia. Through prints and watercolors, this exhibition presents the poetic world of Yoshida’s painting, inspired by his travels.

Image: YOSHIDA Hiroshi, Farmhouse in the Mist, c.1903

Tomita Keisen: 90th Memorial Exhibition

This exhibition features works by Tomita Keisen (1879–1936), a Japanese-style painter born in what is now Shimokawabata-machi, Hakata Ward, who produced many works as a member of the Japan Art Institute.

Image: TOMITA Keisen, Chinese Superhuman Boy, 1932

Sukita Masayoshi: The Light Through the Viewfinder  

In fiscal year 2025, the museum received a donation of thirty-five works by Sukita Masayoshi, a photographer from Nogata City in Fukuoka Prefecture, known for his film stills and portraits of world-renowned musicians. This exhibition presents a wide range of photographs capturing iconic figures of their time, including David Bowie, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and Imawano Kiyoshiro.

Image: SUKITA Masayoshi, David Bowie: Watch That Man Ⅲ, 1973 (printed 1992)

“Hope is for the Free”: Artists from the Demokrato Artists Association  

Founded by Ei-Q in 1951, the Demokrato Artists Association sought to create a place where artists could freely express themselves, independent of authority. Bringing together diverse artists, the association fostered mutual inspiration and played a significant role in the postwar art world. This exhibition focuses on Ei-Q and Ikeda Masuo from this group and presents their works that have been donated to the museum.

Image: Ei-Q, Circle 2, 1958