MASTERPIECES FROM BOSTON'S MFA TRAVEL TO JAPAN

THE PICTORIAL TREASURES OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, ARE BEING SHOWN IN TOKYO, IN A MAJOR EXHIBITION THAT EXPLORES FIVE CENTURIES OF EUROPEAN ART MADE BY SUCH MASTERS AS REMBRANDT, VELAZQUEZ, EL GRECO, PICASSO AND VAN GOGH. THE EXHIBITION TAKES PLACE AT THE MORI ART CENTER IN JAPAN'S CAPITAL, WHERE THE VISITOR IS GREETED AT THE ENTRANCE BY TWO PICTURES, VELASQUEZ' 'LUIS DE GONGORA YARGOTE' AND 'VICTORINE MEURENT' BY EDOUARD MANET, AS EVIDENCE OF THE INFLUENCE THAT THE FIRST PAINTER HAD ON THE SECOND. THE TOUR INCLUDES OVER 80 WORKS PAINTED BY 47 EUROPEAN MASTERS AND ARE ARTICULATED THROUGH VARIOUS THEMES ADDRESSING PORTRAITS TO RELIGIOUS PAINTINGS, LANDSCAPES AND SILL LIFE. IMPRESSIONISM, A MOVEMENT POPULAR IN JAPAN, HAS A SPECIAL SPACE IN THE EXHIBITION, WITH A SECTION DEDICATED ONLY TO THE LANDSCAPES OF CLAUDE MONET IN TEN PAINTINGS FEATURING HIS FAVORITE THEMES, INCLUDING 'THE WATER LILY POND' AND 'ROUEN CATHEDRAL FACADE AND TOUR D'ALBANE'. ONE OF THE JEWELS OF THE INITIAL STAGE OF IMPRESSIONISM HAS ALSO MADE ITS WAY TO TOKYO, 'AT THE RACES IN THE COUNTRYSIDE' BY EDGAR DEGAS, THE WORK WHICH WAS SHOWN IN THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS, IN 1874, ALONG WITH OTHER MASTERS SUCH AS MONET AND PAUL CEZANNE. THE WORKS ARE A SELECTION OF ABOUT 1,600 THAT MAKE UP THE COLLECTION OF EUROPEAN PAINTINGS AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, WHICH NORMALLY ARE NOT EXHIBITED OUTSIDE THE GALLERIES OF THE MUSEUM. THE EXHIBITION RUNS THROUGH 20.JUNE IN TOKYO AND FROM 6.JULY TO 29.AUGUST AT THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY IN KYOTO.