展覧会種類: Satellite Exhibitions

100th Anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s Birth: Japanese Fairy Tales

I think the cost of steady economic growth has been the gradual loss of spiritual enrichment. I hope people will soon realize this and deeply consider what this richness means. I am thinking about depicting in my picture books the various forms of kindness and beauty that Japan has lost. Presenting this to children is what gives meaning to my life.

— Chihiro Iwasaki, 1972

Chihiro Iwasaki created many illustrations based on Japanese fairy tales and literature. Those set in Japan express an emotional richness, a result of the artist’s intimate familiarity with the climate, the quality of the light, the feel of the wind. The subtle demeanor of the subjects wearing kimono in the works convey their personalities and their emotions, while the generous use of water in the application of the watercolors produces a blurring effect that almost enables the viewer to feel the humidity in the air and the texture of the snow. In this exhibition, we showcase piezographic artwork from picture books based on such Japanese tales as Tsuru no Ongaeshi (The Crane’s Reward) by Miyoko Matsutani, an interpretation of the Japanese “crane wife” folktale; Onita no Boshi (Onita’s Hat) by Kimiko Aman, which depicts the friendship between a child demon and a young girl on the night of the Japanese Setsubun holiday marking the end of winter; and Akai Rosoku to Ningyo (The Red Candles and the Mermaid) by Mimei Ogawa, Chihiro’s unfinished posthumous work.

*Piezography is a modern print technology used by the Chihiro Art Museum to digitally archive and create high-quality reproductions, called piezographic artwork, as a means of preserving the colors and textures of Chihiro’s artwork in its current state. Enabling highly detailed image representation using light-fast micro ink-dots, the technology greatly enhances the reproducibility of subtle watercolor paintings while also making possible the viewing of works under bright lighting.

100th Anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s Birth: The Path of Chihiro Iwasaki-An Exhibition of Piezographic Artwork

Chihiro Iwasaki was born on December 15, 1918, in Takefu (currently Echizen City), where her mother was living and working away from her husband. Accordingly, 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of Chihiro’s birth. Throughout her career, she never tired of creating illustrations of children, producing works that remain timeless and are still loved by many.

In this exhibition, we showcase the course of Chihiro Iwasaki’s life through approximately 100 items comprising piezographic artwork* and materials. The exhibition will be presented in two parts—Part 1 and Part 2—with featured works being rotated during the transition. Part 1, under the theme “Chihiro As an Artist who Depicted Children,” will feature works with a focus on children, presenting pieces spanning from the early stage through the later years of Chihiro’s career. In Part 2, we will showcase illustrations the artist created for picture book under the theme “Pursuing the Potential of Expression in Picture Books.”
We hope you will enjoy this comprehensive view of the artistic endeavors of Chihiro, who lived her life as both an artist and a mother.

*Piezography is a modern print technology used by the Chihiro Art Museum to digitally archive and create high-quality reproductions, called piezographic artwork, as a means of preserving the colors and textures of Chihiro’s artwork in its current state. Enabling highly detailed image representation using light-fast micro ink-dots, the technology greatly enhances the reproducibility of subtle watercolor paintings while also making possible the viewing of works under bright lighting.

For additional details, please refer to the Echizen City Takefu Memorial Hall website (in Japanese only).

100th Anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s Birth: Hope for Peace—An Exhibition of Piezographic Artwork

My experience of war, an experience that smashed all of the tender dreams of youth, greatly affected the course of my life. I genuinely love peace, abundance and lovely, pretty things and with all my being, I abhor the power that seeks to destroy them”

Chihiro Iwasaki, 1972

Chihiro Iwasaki spent her youth during a period when all of Japan was rushing headlong into war. As such, she confronted the reality that war destroys not only people’s lives, but also their hearts. Following World War II, Chihiro became an artist and, by creating illustrations of children throughout her life, continued to inquire into the nature of true abundance, kindness and beauty. Although her illustrations of children surrounded by love contrast with those of children exposed to warfare, both convey the artist’s wish for “peace and happiness for all the children of the world.”
In this exhibition we showcase piezographic artwork from Chihiro’s picture books based on the theme of war, including Watashi ga Chiisakatta Toki Ni (When I Was a Child) and Senka no Naka no Kodomo-tachi (Children in the Flames of War), along with Pochi no Kita Umi (What’s Fun without a Friend?), a picture book set at the seashore in summer.

*Piezography is a modern print technology used by the Chihiro Art Museum to digitally archive and create high-quality reproductions, called piezographic artwork, as a means of preserving the colors and textures of Chihiro’s artwork in its current state. Enabling highly detailed image representation using light-fast micro ink-dots, the technology greatly enhances the reproducibility of subtle watercolor paintings while also making possible the viewing of works under bright lighting.

100th Anniversary of Chihiro Iwasaki’s Birth The World of H. C. Andersen—An Exhibition of Piezographic Artwork

Transcending a century-long time difference, H.C. Andersen brings to my heart an enduring beauty. Though his writing may be old-fashioned, he is an author whose stories convey the sadness of ordinary people, a melancholy that still resonates in today’s society, offering much from which I can learn. H.C. Andersen’s fairy tales hold dreams that are quite real, which may be why they still speak to our hearts today.

Chihiro Iwasaki, 1964

Chihiro Iwasaki made illustrations for H.C. Andersen’s fairy tales almost every year since she first created the picture-story show The Story of a Mother in her late twenties. Some of the stories, such as Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, and What the Moon Saw, she illustrated repeatedly. Chihiro was attracted to and deeply empathized with the beauty, sadness, dreams and truth contained within the world that H.C. Andersen depicted, qualities that do not fade with the passing of time. Chihiro’s illustrations of these fairy tales, which fill the imagination and innovatively depict the stories’ characters and foreign settings, offer a unique perspective of Chihiro’s artwork that differs from her well-known depictions of children.

In this exhibition we showcase the world of H.C. Andersen’s fairy tales that Chihiro loved through piezographic artwork.*

*Piezography is a modern print technology used by the Chihiro Art Museum to digitally archive and create high-quality reproductions, called piezographic artwork, as a means of preserving the colors and textures of Chihiro’s artwork in its current state. Enabling highly detailed image representation using light-fast micro ink-dots, the technology greatly enhances the reproducibility of subtle watercolor paintings while also making possible the viewing of works under bright lighting.