400 Years of Western Painting

If you’ve ever wished you could travel through centuries of European art—from the courts of Renaissance Italy to the studios of French Impressionists—all in a single afternoon, you don’t need a passport. You just need a free weekend and a subway ticket to Fushimi.

Now through June 8, the Nagoya City Art Museum is hosting the exhibition:
“Masterpieces from the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Collection: 400 Years of Western Paintings.”

It’s an immersive and thoughtfully curated show that invites visitors to explore how European painting evolved over four centuries—from religious epics and aristocratic portraits to quiet rural scenes and the surreal dreams of the modern era.

While all of the works come from a collection based in Japan, most are rarely shown in Nagoya. It’s unusual to see such a broad historical arc brought together in one exhibition, especially outside of Tokyo. For residents of Aichi and nearby areas, it’s a great opportunity to engage deeply with Western art without needing to travel to a Tokyo museum or fly abroad.

A Compelling Collection

This is more than an art exhibit—it’s a crash course in European cultural history told through paint and canvas. The exhibition is organized not chronologically but thematically, with sections that explore everything from mythology and religion to portraiture, everyday life, still lifes, landscapes, and abstraction. Each room opens up a different way of seeing and understanding how artists tried to make sense of their world—and ours.

One especially captivating corner of the show is the six-part series on the life of Hannibal, painted by Claudio Francesco Beaumont in the 1730s. This narrative sequence is something you rarely get to see as a whole. It moves like a storybook in oil—from a vow of eternal hatred against Rome to a dramatic crossing of the Alps. Beaumont’s work isn’t as well-known internationally, but this series offers a vivid reminder that history painting was once the most celebrated and noble of genres.

Claudio Francesco Beaumont – Scene from the Life of Hannibal — Claudio Francesco Beaumont – *Scene from the Life of Hannibal*

And then, there’s Monet’s Water Lilies—the painting featured on the exhibition poster. This 1908 piece has a soft, almost meditative quality. The brushwork seems to dissolve into mist; the pond reflects not just light, but time. Standing in front of it, you can understand why Monet kept returning to this subject again and again—it’s not just about flowers, it’s about perception, memory, and change.

What Will You Discover?

Whether you gravitate toward classical compositions or modern abstraction, this show has plenty to keep you looking—and wondering.

You’ll find works by names you may already know:

Van Dyck’s regal portraits, Goya’s haunting realism, Renoir’s warm-toned elegance, and Van Gogh’s earthy early work are all here.

Frans Hals – *Portrait of a Man* (1633) Dynamic brushwork and presence from the Dutch Golden Age master.

Vincent van Gogh – *Cottage with Peasant Woman Digging* (1885) An early and earthy piece from Van Gogh’s Dutch period.

Francisco de Goya – *Infante Don Sebastián Gabriel de Borbón y Braganza* (c.1815–20) A complex portrait reflecting power, subtlety, and Goya’s psychological insight.

And then there are the quieter discoveries: a glowing still life by Henri Fantin-Latour, a pair of surreal paintings by René Magritte, or a delicate 1909 portrait by Modigliani, rendered with just enough line and shadow to suggest a whole personality.

Each room reveals a shift in how artists viewed the world—and how they wanted to be seen. And for international residents of Nagoya, this is also a window into how Western painting has been collected, studied, and appreciated in Japan.

So, Who Is This For?

If you’ve ever been curious about how Western painting went from gilded halos to swirling dreamscapes—or if you want to stand in front of something beautiful and be reminded of how much humans have seen and imagined—this exhibition is worth your time.

It’s ideal for people who love art history, of course, but also for anyone who wants to understand European culture a little better, or simply take a break from the everyday and wander through a few centuries of light, shadow, and storytelling.

You don’t need to know your Rococo from your Realism to enjoy this show. You just need to bring your eyes—and a little bit of wonder.

The Details

Masterpieces from the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Collection:
400 Years of Western Paintings

Venue:
Nagoya City Art Museum (inside Shirakawa Park)
5-minute walk from Fushimi or Osu Kannon Station

Dates:
Until Sunday, June 8, 2025

Hours:
Open 9:30 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30 )
Closed Mondays (except May 5) and May 7

Tickets:
Adults: ¥1,400 (advance ¥1,200)
University students: ¥800 (advance ¥600)
Junior high school students and younger: Free

Exhibition Website (Japanese)

Access

By Subway

Take the Higashiyama Line to Fushimi Station Exit at Exit 5, then walk south for about 8 minutes through Shirakawa Park

The Nagoya City Art Museum is located at the southern end of Shirakawa Park, next to the Nagoya City Science Museum (with the giant silver dome planetarium). The area is walkable and family-friendly, with cafes and public art installations nearby.