Sculpture « The Art Amateur

Have you ever felt you’ve stumbled across a perfect combination of nature and art – a juxtaposition that is wo/man’s contribution to their surroundings – this for me is what art truly represents. About the only negative thing about this fantastic collection was the frigid weather that we at The Art Amateur braved to relish exposure to such gargantuan specimens of the human condition.

The open-air museum, the first of its kind in Japan, carries over 300 works by Picasso and 26 pieces by Henry Moore, the former housed in a specially purpose-built pavilion. As it proudly quotes Henry Moore in their brochure, “sculpture is an art of the open air”, and indeed there can be no doubt that the stunning mountainside retreat is an honour to these goliaths of contemporary and modern art.

With so much to choose from, I really would advise you leave several hours to wander your way amongst the 100 or more free-standing pieces as well as 45 minutes each for the pavilion and the separate building that housed the museum shop, which had substantial trinkets that hit the mark without seeming too tacky – including and not limited to high quality prints that all could afford (a personal crusade of my own) as well as another unexpected treasure trove upstairs which isn’t to be missed.

Foremost in my mind was the quality of the curation throughout. For those of you attuned to Japanese culture, you will no doubt know that their pursuit of perfection in everything, from flower arranging to zen gardens, arms them with an acute eye for an artistic exhibition of this nature (pardon the pun) and it comes through in spades. This collection has not just gravitas with names such as Picasso (thanks to the Japanese asset bubble of the 80’s and the subsequent ability for their organisations to acquire treasures of this magnitude) but each sculpture, large or small, feels like it has a place here – not just placed in a hodgepodge way with no order. There are odes to many of the artists and explanations on the works themselves, even in English (not so common in Japan even in many museums), which always in my opinion helps the viewer connect more with the piece in front of them. Excellent job.

The Picasso collection came as a surprise to me. While a lot of it revolved around a significant amount of pottery bought from Picasso’s eldest daughter, Maya Picasso, there were a multitude of other objects including and not limited to paintings, prints, sculptures et al. Again the curation was of the kind of quality you’d expect from an internationally recognised Biennial, with much thought given to spacing of each work, ample descriptions and lighting. I was blown away by the beauty of the back-lit glass and non-precious stone works, which opened up an entirely new way of enjoying this form of artwork, while the tapestries had just the correct amount of natural and artificial light to open every corner to the hard-working spectator. I do have the same old grip though that no photos were allowed inside – I don’t understand this if it’s digital and non-flash, not only is the artwork protected most of the time under glass, it’s an unnecessary precaution.. a niggle that I seem to constantly face and one that I’m sure will remain in such a rule based society as Japan.

So without further ado, here are just some of my favourite pieces, and while in no particular order, the first one, really did speak to me – perhaps a darker side to the Art Amateur’s nature: