Upcomming / Current Exhibition
Upcomming / Current Exhibition
‘Premonition’ And That Period
“Art is Magic.” It was the mid-1960s when Taro Okamoto made this pronouncement.
Past Exhibition
Seventy Years in Aoyama
It was seventy years ago, in May 1954, that Taro Okamoto established his studio at this location.
It was an important place to him, the site of his parents’ home where he had lived from birth until he moved to Paris. However, when he returned after the war, he found the place covered in wheat fields—his house, his artwork, everything had been lost in the air raids. Taro had no choice but to make a fresh start from literally nothing, but he never lost heart and soon began to make inroads into the postwar Japanese art scene.
Kenji Yanobe: Taro, Cat, and Sun
Once again, the prodigy of the contemporary art scene will be hijacking the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum.
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Taro’s Dance
In 1952 Taro Okamoto created a tile mosaic entitled, ‘Dance.’ Unlike unique works of art, like oil paintings, it is possible to create numerous copies of mosaics and furthermore, these can be displayed outdoors. This allows art to become more accessible to society, that is what he thought. They represent the true the embodiment of Taro Okamoto’s philosophy of art.
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The Myth of Tomorrow and the Tower of the Sun
From October to November 2023, the Myth of Tomorrow will undergo the first major restoration to be carried out in fifteen years since it was installed in Tokyo’s Shibuya station. This year marks the initial phase of this long-term restoration project and will involve work on the rightmost four panels over a period of 40 days. It is the start of an effort to preserve this great work for the enjoyment of future generations.
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Commemorating the Museum’s 25th Anniversary—Unseen Treasures from the Collection
Established by Toshiko Okamoto, Taro Okamoto’s partner in both public and private life,
the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum first opened its doors to the public in May 1998, a mere two years after Taro’s death.
Twenty-five years have now passed but although the museum is housed a small, residential-sized building,
it has won the support of numerous visitors for the way in which it conveys Taro's life and spirit to the present day.
To date, the museum has held 84 exhibitions and welcomed a total of 900,000 visitors.
The Scars of Inspiration
‘When he decides he wants to paint, the picture is as good as finished.’ So said Toshiko Okamoto.
The usual process artists employ when creating a picture is to draw numerous esquisses as they gradually develop their concept,
tarobut Taro took the opposite approach. Once he felt the urge to paint,
an image of the finished work already existed in his head.
Kanji Yumisashi’s Banquet
The Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum was originally the home of Taro and Toshiko Okamoto, where they both lived and he carried out his creative activities. In 1998, following Taro’s death in 1996, Toshiko opened the space to the public. I want to return ‘everyday life’ to the building one more time, to see what Toshiko and Taro would have seen and prepare a space that will allow us to think back to the people who once lived there.
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One Century of Taro Okamoto
This exhibition will present an overview of the eighty-four years of Taro Okamoto’s life as an artist together with the projects that have taken place since his death and the activities carried out by the Memorial Museum over a period of more than twenty years.
We sincerely hope you will enjoy this short trip into ‘One Century of Taro Okamoto.’
Red and Black
“Red” and “Black.” These colors epitomize Okamoto’s paintings.
Taro Okamoto had liked the color “red” since childhood, saying, “It feels as if I was born from red and live my life in the midst of red,” and restarting his activities in Japan after the war, he made a sensational debut. He stirred up the Japanese art scene, daringly employing powerful primary colors to challenge the “grey world” of traditional aesthetic values.