This fall, Fukuda Art Museum is celebrating its fifth anniversary.  Since opening in October 2019, the museum has held well-received exhibitions and has continued to collect fascinating Edo and modern-period works of art.  One of the most notable recent acquisitions is Kaso Zukan [Fruits and Vegetables] a scroll by Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800).  After being held privately for many years in Europe, it returned to Japan last year and took its place as a jewel in the crown of the Fukuda Art Museum collection.

Here in Kyoto, where the artist was born and raised, on show for the first time in the world to the public, you can see this richly colored scroll of fruits and vegetables which Jakuchū painted 240 years ago, when he was in his seventies.  Complementing this latest special acquisition, you can also see
about 30 excellent works painted by the artist during his early to his later career.  Among these is Turnip and Two Roosters, one of Jakuchū’s earliest
known colored paintings, which was discovered in spring 2019, the year when the museum opened. In addition, the exhibition will also feature paintings by Shen Quan, a Chinese painter who visited Nagasaki and whose work influenced Jakuchū, and by Quan’s Japanese student Yūhi.  You can also see works by other painters who were active in Kyoto and Osaka.

If you already know Jakuchū, this exhibition will round out your knowledge and understanding.  If you are unfamiliar with the amazing work of Jakuchū, you are sure to be impressed by its vibrancy and originality.