Press Release 2013/2/20

Elegant Pastimes – Selections from the Hara Rokuro Collection
March 16 (Saturday) – April 24 (Wednesday), 2013
Kankai Pavilion (Traditional East Asian Art)
Featured in this exhibition are selections of calligraphy and painting from the Hara Rokuro Collection thatembody bunga, the quality of refinement and elegance found in classical poetry and literature. These include aseries of four hanging scrolls, Landscape of Four Seasons by Xu Lin (Ming dynasty), one of which depicts thestory of Wang Xizhi, the Sage of Calligraphy, accompanied by a seven-character poem on the state of mind of ahermit. Assembly at the Orchid Pavilion, a painting in the style of the Kano school, shows Wang Xizhi's famed
poetry gathering of distinguished literati at the Orchid Pavilion. Reiso-dai is a collection of model handwriting.
Such collections, highly popular during the Edo period, consisted of fragments of sutras and poetry (kohitsu)
dating from before the early-modern period) assembled together in the form of hanging scrolls or folding books.
We hope visitors will take this opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of bunga through these and other early-modern
masterworks from the Hara Rokuro Collection.
[Featured Works] Traditional Art: Landscape based on an old Chinese anecdote “Assembly at the Orchid Pavilion” (paintings usedfor wallpaper and fusuma at Nikko-in Mi’idera temple), attributed to Kano school, four hanging scrolls, Momoyama – Edo priod /Landscape of four seasons, XuLin, four hanging scrolls, Ming dynasty / Book of model handwriting, called “Reiso-dai”, Nara –Muromachi period and others Contemporary Art: Jae-Eun Choi, Homage to Mozart, 1988 / Anish Kapoor, Void, 1992 and others

From the left: Landscape based on an old Chinese
anecdote “Assembly at the Orchid Pavilion”(paintings
used for wallpaper and fusuma at Nikko-in Mi’idera
temple), attributed to Kano school, four hanging scrolls,
Momoyama – Edo priod / Wang Xizhi watching a goose(part of a set of Landscape of four seasons), XuLin,
Ming dynasty

Exhibition Details
Title: Elegant Pastimes – Selections from the Hara Rokuro Collection
Dates: March 16 (Saturday) – April 24 (Wednesday), 2013
Place: Hara Museum ARC (2855-1, Kanai, Shibukawa-shi, Gunma 377-0027) Tel: 0279-24-6585
Organized by: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
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Hours: 9:30 am - 4:30 pm (last entry at 4:00 pm)
Closed: Thursdays (except March 28 and May 2) *Closed temporarily in the event of severe weather.
Admission: General (over 12) 1,000 yen, Children (over 3) 500 yen; 10% discount for a group of 20 or more
Combination ticket for Hara Museum ARC and Ikaho Green Bokujo (except during Golden Week): General 1,800
yen, Children 900 yen *Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Getting There: By train: Take the Joetsu Shinkansen to Takasaki, change to the Joestu Line, and disembark atShibukawa. From Shibukawa, ARC is 10 minutes away by taxi or 15 minutes by bus (take the Ikaho Onsen busto ″Green Bokujo Mae″). By car: 8 kilometers (about 15 minutes) from the Kan-etsu Expressway Shibukawa
Ikaho Interchange (in the direction of Ikaho Onsen).

[Upcoming Exhibition]

Flowers, Birds and Animals – Selections from the Hara Rokuro Collection
April 26 (Friday) – May 29 (Wednesday), 2013
Kankai Pavilion (Traditional East Asian Art)
Bird-and-Flower painting is a genre that originated in China but was widely adopted throughout East Asia. It
included not only bird and flower motifs, but also insects and animals. Brought to Japan by Zen monks, it waswidely adopted during the Momoyama period by the Kano and Hasegawa schools in paintings that decorated theinteriors of large residences. The early-modern era saw dramatic development of the genre within idealized
representations of the four seasons. The detailed realism introduced by the Chinese painter Shen Nanpin wasactively adopted during the 18th century.
At the heart of this exhibition are monochrome-ink paintings in the style of the Kano school which once adorned
the Nikko-in Guest Hall at Mi′idera Temple and hanging scrolls done in saturated colors by Shen Nanpin.
Selected works of contemporary art share the space to highlight the contrasting techniques and perspectives usedin traditional and contemporary treatments of the same motifs. We invite you to view this genre of art which hasdelighted viewers through the ages.
[Featured Works] Traditional Art: Tiger in a bamboo grove (part of paintings used for wallpaper and sliding doors at Nikko-in guest
hall in Mi’idera temple), Kano Eitoku, Momoyama period / Birds and flowers (part of paintings used for wallpaper and sliding doors
at Nikko-in guest hall in Mi’idera temple,) attributed to Kano school, Momoyama - Edo period / A pair of cranes and an old pine tree,
Shen Nanping, Qing dynasty and others Contemporary Art: Kazumasa Nagai, SARU, USAGI, 1991 / Yoshihiro Suda, Tessen, 2001 /Kouichi Tabata, 960 fly, 2003 / Hiroe Saeki, Untitled, 2009 and others

From the left: A pair of cranes and an oldpine tree, Shen Nanping, Qing dynasty /Tiger in a bamboo grove (part of paintings
used for wallpaper and sliding doors at
Nikko-in guest hall in Mi’idera temple),
Kano Eitoku, Momoyama period

For publicity material, please contact: Hara Museum ARC, 2855-1, Kanai, Shibukawa-shi, Gunma 377-0027
Tel: 0279-24-6585 Fax: 0279-24-0449 E-mail: press@haramuseum.or.jp