Looking Human: The Figure Painting

Pliny the Elder’s encyclopedic Naturalis Historia (77 CE) includes the story of the daughter of a ceramic tile maker in Corinth, a city in ancient Greece, wanting a record of the young man she loved, who was setting out on a trip. She drew an outline of his shadow on the wall. In the latter half of the eighteenth and the early nineteenth century, that story was often mentioned as the origin of painting. In fact, if we look at the history of art in Europe, “depicting a person,” figure painting, has long been a significant element in creating works. For example, self-portraits have been both opportunities to display one’s skill and experimental settings for trying new styles. Portrait painting has been a staple source of painters’ livelihoods. In addition to actual human figures, portraits also depict the characters in stories. This exhibition introduces the abundance of paintings of the human figure.

*Online tickets must be purchased up to 10 minutes before the end of each time slot.
*Booking is not accepted when a time slot is full.
*In-Person ticket may be purchased at the museum, if the time slot is not full.
*This admission fee gives the visitor access to the concurrent exhibitions.