Audio Tour The audio tour introduces a selection of sixteen important works from the collection, divided into four parts. We hope you will enjoy the audio tour and accompanying images. Please clickfor artist information. About artist ZAO Wou-Ki Beijing, 1921– Nyon, Switzerland, 2013 Born into an illustrious family descended from the Song dynastic family, Zao grew up in a highly cultivated environment. After graduating from the School of Fine Arts in Hangzhou and becoming an instructor there, he found himself despising the conventional art world. In 1948, at the age of 27, he moved to Paris. There he met the poet Henri Michaux and the painters Hans Hartung, Georges Mathieu, and Pierre Soulages. He also became aware of Paul Klee and, while emulating his use of symbolic materials, noticed Klee’s interest in Chinese art. That led to Zao’s own reassessment of the art of his native land. In 1957, he traveled to the United States, where he became acquainted with Franz Kline, Mark Rothko and other artists associated with American Abstract Expressionism. In the sixties, indeterminate shapes reminiscent of Chinese calligraphy began emerging in his paintings; his vigorous brushwork gradually extended to the entire picture plane. Since the eighties, Zao has turned to work in which color is liberated in space, producing sublime paintings that combine the influences of Chinese landscape painting and Abstract Expressionism. About artist Pablo PICASSO Málaga, Spain, 1881–Mougins, France, 1973 When Picasso was fourteen, his family moved to Barcelona. He had already displayed extraordinary artistic talent. His first visit to Paris was in 1900. After his “Blue Period” and “Circus Period,” he was strongly influenced by the works and theories of Cézanne while in the midst of creating his Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) and, together with Braque, began the explorations that led to Cubism. During World War I, he painted realistic portraits. Then, in 1920, he produced a monumental classical nude and began his “Neoclassical Period”. Starting around 1925, he was influenced by Surrealism, but found the Surrealists’ realistic reproduction of dreams and unconscious materials uncongenial. In 1936 the war in Spain broke out, and in 1937 he produced Guernica, depicting the bombing of the city by Franco and the Fascist forces. He remained in Paris during World War II, but after the war’s end, he established households in Antibes and Vallauris in the south of France, then later moved to Cannes. There he lived until his death, with his art constantly developing in new ways. He represented, in all respects, the quintessence of twentieth-century art. About artist Gustave MOREAU Paris, 1826–Paris, 1898 Moreau’s father was an architect who taught him to draw and to paint while he was still a child. After studying under Picot, a Neoclassicist, he was admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1846. After failing to win the Prix de Rome, he threw himself into studying on his own and increasingly admired the work of Delacroix and Chassériau. While studying in Italy, he was strongly influenced by Michelangelo and Carpaccio. His work was awarded a prize by the Salon in 1864. To mythical and religious themes he brought noble and luxuriant colors and a fineness of line, developing a personal style overflowing with exotic feeling. In 1888, he was elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, and in 1892 was appointed a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where the freedom he gave his students was instrumental in cultivating the talents of, for example, Matisse, Rouault, and Marquet. He taught that for an artist the most important qualities are imagination and being able to communicate psychological states through painting. His color sense, interiority, and originality made Moreau a bridge between the Romantics of the early nineteenth century and the Symbolists at that century’s end, an artist whose influence remains visible in such twentieth century movements as Surrealism and Art Informel. About artist AOKI Shigeru Kurume, Japan, 1882–Fukuoka, Japan, 1911 Aoki was born the eldest son of a samurai who had been the service of the Kurume domain, on Kyushu. In 1899, he moved to Tokyo, intending to study Western-style painting. He began at Koyama Shotaro’s Fudosha painting school, but the following year was accepted into the Western Painting Faculty of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, where he studied under Kuroda Seiki. During this same period he began to visit the Ueno Library where he cultivated his knowledge of mythology and religion by reading, among other texts, the Kojiki and Nihonshoki. In 1903 his Yomotsuhirasaka was exhibited at the Hakubakai Exhibition and received the Hakuba Award. In 1904, after graduation from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, Aoki went on a sketching trip with Sakamoto Hanjiro, his lover Fukuda Tane, and others to the southern Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture. There he painted his A Good Catch, which received a huge response when exhibited at another Hakubakai exhibition. Aoki, having eagerly soaked up Romantic literature, the work of the Pre-Raphaelites, and French fin de siècle art, produced work with richly decorative qualities that attracted great interest. However, his Paradise under the Sea, which he submitted with great confidence to the Tokyo Industrial Exhibition in 1907, achieved only last place in the third rank of works submitted. He then returned to Kyushu, following his father’s death, and traveled aimlessly here and there throughout Kyushu. His dream of returning to the heart of the art world unrealized, he died at the age of 28. About artist YASUI Sotaro Kyoto, 1888–Yugawara, Japan, 1955 Yasui decided to become an artist while still in his teens. While he was studying at the Shogoin Institute of Western Art along with Umehara Ryuzaburo, his instructors were Asai Chu and Kanokogi Takeshiro. In 1907, at the age of nineteen, he traveled to France and lived for seven years in Paris. During that period, he received a renewed grounding in painting through his art school studies and absorbed even more from being exposed to the art of his time on its home ground, in the museums and galleries of Paris. He was deeply impressed by Pissarro, Renoir, and especially Cézanne. When World War I began, he returned to Japan. There the work he had produced in Europe attracted an enormous response when shown at the Nika Exhibition the year after his return. His work stagnated for a time after his return to Japan, as he found himself torn between the competing customs and atmospheres of Japan and France. After a long struggle, 1929 saw the emergence of what came to be called the Yasui style, in which clear lines and rich, mellow colors are combined. He then produced a wealth of figure paintings, landscapes, and still lifes with carefully planned compositions and gorgeous colors. As a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University of the Arts) from 1944 to 1951 he also provided guidance to many younger artists. About artist Henri MATISSE Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France, 1869–Nice, France, 1954 Matisse initially studied law, but started to paint while recuperating from an illness. He then decided to become a professional artist. Admitted to the studio of Gustave Moreau at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, he met Rouault, and then became good friends of Manguin and Camoin. While taking a night course at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, he got to know Marquet. Influenced by Signac, he experimented with Pointillism. The appellation “Fauves” (wild beasts) was applied to a group of artists who exhibited together in a gallery at the 1905 Salon d’Automne: Matisse, his art school friends, and Derain and Vlaminck, in whose work Matisse was taking an interest. From 1907 on, most of the Fauves were drawn to Cubism, under the influence of the art of Cézanne. Matisse, however, continued his own exploration of the effects of large, simplified large blocks of color. Starting in 1916, he resided most of the time in Nice, in the south of France, where he worked on traditional themes imbued with a Mediterranean atmosphere. He produced not only paintings but also drawings, prints, sculptures, and ceramics. In his last years he worked in colored paper cutouts and also designed a chapel in Vence. About artist Edouard MANET Paris, 1832–Paris, 1883 Born into the bourgeoisie, Manet began his art education under the tutelage of an academic, classical painter. Influenced, however, by Spanish art and his friendship with the poet Baudelaire, he became involved with the quest for realistic forms of expression. In contrast to Courbet, whose realism took its subjects from the masses and working class, Manet’s themes were the customs and manners of modern Paris. His paintings, including in particular Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe and Olympia, were sharply criticized but received the support of such poets and novelists as Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Zola. Since Manet was on good terms with literary figures, he became a link between the worlds of art and literature. He learned much from his studies of Japanese ukiyo-e and boldly introduced such elements as shallow expression of space, greater emphasis on planar composition, and use of large brushstrokes to painting in the West. His use of black is brilliant; its contrast with bright colors generated new effects. While Manet is generally regarded as a leader among the artists who later constituted the Impressionists, despite his strong influence on them, he himself never exhibited at an Impressionist exhibition, preferring to show his work at the official Salon. About artist Paul CEZANNE Aix-en-Provence, France, 1839–Aix-en-Provence, 1906 While still young, Cézanne was engrossed, along with Zola, in writing poetry and was passionately involved in painting. Many of the works of his early period represent his internal suffering. On Zola’s urging, he went to Paris to study at the Académie Suisse and became good friends with Pissarro, Guillaumin, Bazille, and other artists. He put in an appearance at the Café Guerbois, where young avant-garde artists gathered around Manet, but did not feel that he fit in there. Unable to accustom himself to city life, he moved back and forth several times between Paris and his hometown of Aix. With Pissarro’s support, he participated in the first (1874) and third (1877) Impressionist exhibitions, but his works met with almost total incomprehension. Starting in 1880, he secluded himself in his hometown and continued his explorations of form in the landscapes of Provence, still lifes, portraits, and bathing scenes. He deliberately constructed paintings that were the antithesis of Impressionist over-analysis, while remaining faithful to Pissarro’s instruction to respect the perceptions that he experienced in observing the natural world. In his later years, he won high praise from younger artists and was recognized as a precursor of twentieth-century art. About artist Vincent VAN GOGH Zundert, the Netherlands, 1853–Auver-sur-Oise, France, 1890 Before beginning to study painting, Van Gogh was apprenticed to an art dealer and served as an evangelist, but did not continue long in either calling. In the spring of 1886, he came to Paris depending upon his younger brother Theo for support. There he became acquainted with Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism of the avant-garde and also Toulouse-Lautrec’s work, among others. In his search for more light, however, he felt compelled to move to “another Japan,” the south of France. In 1888, he set out for Arles. On October 23, Gauguin accepted his invitation to join him in Arles, but two months later, their relationship came to a sudden and tragic end. After Gauguin set off for Paris, Van Gogh was hospitalized in Arles, then moved to Saint- Rémy. There he felt threatened by everything around him, and painted work after work filled with his distress. In May 1890, he moved to Auver-sur-Oise, on the outskirts of Paris, and tried to compose himself under treatment by Dr. Paul Gachet. Just 71 days later, he took his own life. About artist SEKINE Shoji Shirakawa, Japan, 1899–Tokyo, 1919 Sekine was fifteen in 1914, when through a connection provided by a childhood friend, Ito Shinsui, he found work at a printing company. While working there, he also, for a time, took classes in the night division of the Hongo Western Painting Institute. He was, however, almost entirely self-taught. Influenced by his colleague at the printing company, he became familiar with anarchism, Oscar Wilde, and Nietzsche. A year after he began working, when he was only sixteen, his Thinking of Death was shown in the second Nika Exhibition. It was there that he saw the works that Yasui Sotaro, who had just returned from Europe, had painted during his stay there and became aware of the importance of color. Then, during a period of repeated rovings and unrequited loves, he produced works with fantastic or religious themes, in which cinnabar red and other brilliant colors predominate. In 1918 he showed his Sorrow of Faith, in which five women holding fruits and flowers in their hands are shown walking across a meadow, in the Nika Exhibition. It was inspired, he himself said, by an illusion created by the light seen in Hibiya Park in Tokyo. Poverty and neglect of his health led to his contracting tuberculosis, from which he tragically died in 1919, at the age of only 20 years and two months. About artist Pierre-Auguste RENOIR Limoges, France, 1841–Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, 1919 Renoir moved to Paris with his family at about the age of four. His family was poor, and the young Renoir contributed to its livelihood by painting designs on porcelain. While studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris and the studio of the Academic painter Charles Gleyre, he became close friends with Monet, Sisley, and Bazille. The paintings of people enjoying themselves at La Grenouillère on the lower Seine that Renoir and Monet produced in 1869 marked the birth of Impressionism. Renoir participated in the first Impressionist Exhibition, organized by the Batignolles Group, who were influenced by Manet, in 1874 and enthusiastically participated in the second (1876) and third (1877) as well. While continuing with Monet to explore the effects of light and air when painting landscapes en plein air, he was also among the Impressionists who were, from early on, interested in life in the city. Early in the 1880s, he traveled to Algeria and Italy. Following that trip, he studied the classical paintings of Ingres and Raphael. It was about then that he married Aline Victorine Charigot, with whom he had three children. In his last years, he lived in Paris and Cagnes-sur-Mer, producing many voluptuous nudes and other paintings of women. About artist Paul KLEE Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, 1879–Paris, 1940 Klee’s father was a music teacher and Klee himself an accomplished violinist. In 1898, he moved to Munich, where he studied painting with the Symbolist painter Franz Stuck. In 1911 he became acquainted with Kandinsky and Marc and joined the avant-garde group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). A trip to Tunisia in 1914 opened his eyes to color, and he abandoned his earlier style with its emphasis on line. From 1920 to 1931, he and Kandinsky were instructors at the Bauhaus. He constructed a precise theory of form and color in which painting is compared to music. He developed his own unique style, which, while deeply connected to Expressionism, Surrealism, and Abstraction, is distinct from all three. When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, he returned to his hometown near Bern in Switzerland. In his later years he suffered from scleroderma, a severe condition affecting the connective tissues, and was also greatly threatened by the Nazi menace. The themes of malice, sarcasm and depravity frequently appear in his works, but his pursuit of form continued to the end of his life. About artist Pablo PICASSO Málaga, Spain, 1881–Mougins, France, 1973 When Picasso was fourteen, his family moved to Barcelona. He had already displayed extraordinary artistic talent. His first visit to Paris was in 1900. After his “Blue Period” and “Circus Period,” he was strongly influenced by the works and theories of Cézanne while in the midst of creating his Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) and, together with Braque, began the explorations that led to Cubism. During World War I, he painted realistic portraits. Then, in 1920, he produced a monumental classical nude and began his “Neoclassical Period”. Starting around 1925, he was influenced by Surrealism, but found the Surrealists’ realistic reproduction of dreams and unconscious materials uncongenial. In 1936 the war in Spain broke out, and in 1937 he produced Guernica, depicting the bombing of the city by Franco and the Fascist forces. He remained in Paris during World War II, but after the war’s end, he established households in Antibes and Vallauris in the south of France, then later moved to Cannes. There he lived until his death, with his art constantly developing in new ways. He represented, in all respects, the quintessence of twentieth-century art. About artist Amedeo MODIGLIANI Livorno, Italy, 1884–Paris, 1920 Modigliani was born into a prominent Jewish family in Italy and studied art in Florence and Venice before moving, at the age of 21, to Paris. Between 1908 and 1914, Modigliani received instruction from Brancusi and devoted himself to sculpture. Since stone is an unforgiving medium, the sculptor must clearly envision what he wishes to produce before he begins carving. To do so, Modigliani produced enormous drawings, closely investigating the modeling and volume of his subjects. For economic and health reasons, he was forced to give up sculpture, but he took away from the experience an unwavering clarity of line and a sense of space. At that time, artists from all over the world were flocking to Paris, giving rise to an extraordinary passion for art. Through interactions with artists and poets, Modigliani was exposed to avant-garde art in all its variations, but he remained true to portraiture, depicting his subjects in his own unique, representational style. Modigliani, with his Italian roots, built on the solid foundation of Italian Renaissance art to create a style that blossomed in his twentieth-century approach to the portrait. About artist FUJISHIMA Takeji Kagoshima, Japan, 1867–Tokyo, 1943 Fujishima began his study of art with Nihonga, Japanese-style painting, then switched to Western style painting, in which he was instructed by Matsuoka Hisashi. In 1896, when the Faculty of Western Painting was established at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, Kuroda Seiki invited him to become an assistant professor. Until the end of his life, he provided guidance to a host of successors. He produced numerous works colored by Meiji Romanticism, including his 1902 Reminiscence of the Tempyo Era. From 1905 to 1909, he studied in Europe at government expense. There he received conventional instruction from Cormon and Carolus-Duran but also imbibed new ideas on his own. He left us many figure paintings and landscapes from his stay in Italy and distinguished by his making effective use of the qualities of his pigments, laid down in broad sweeping brushstrokes. In the early 1920s, he painted women in profile in the style of the Italian Renaissance, pursuing a fusion of Western and Oriental art. At the end of that decade, a commission from the Imperial Household spurred him to travel widely in pursuit of sunrises and to paint landscapes. He roamed from Zao in Honshu to Taiwan and ended finding material in Inner Mongolia for completing Rising Sun Illuminating the Cosmos, the culmination of that series.
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