20th Anniversary ExhibitionGeorges Rouault: Form, Color, HarmonyClosed
Timed-entry reservations are required for visits on weekends and holidays.
Exhibition overview
Georges Rouault (1871–1958) was one of the most innovative French painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. To this day, many viewers find themselves enthralled by his depictions of religious subjects, his late-period oil paintings with their luminous colors, and his distorted yet approachable human figures. The Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art presents this sweeping retrospective of Rouault’s career in celebration of the museum’s 20th anniversary. With a focus on “form, color, harmony”—a phrase frequently invoked by the artist to speak about his art—the exhibition explores Rouault’s decorative forms while touching on his influences, such as contemporary trends in art and society and events such as the two World Wars. The exhibition will feature an impressive approximately 70 items from museums around France and Japan. Highlights include Homo Homini Lupus (Man is a wolf to man) and The Little Sorceress, one of his later masterpieces, as well as letters and poems in the artist’s own hand. With some of the artworks being exhibited in Japan for the first time, this will be one of Japan’s most comprehensive retrospectives of Rouault to date.
- Dates
- April 8 Saturday - June 25 Sunday, 2023
- Hours
- 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. (Open until 8 p.m. on May 12, June 2, June 23, and June 24.)
Admittance until 30 minutes before closing time.
- Closed
- Wednesdays (Except for May 3 and June 21)
- Admission
- Adults: ¥1,200
Visitors aged 65 or over with valid documentation: ¥1,100
Students (High school and college): ¥700
Admission is free for children in middle school or younger. Admission is free for disability passbook holders and up to one accompanying adult.
※Admission will be ¥500 for all visitors on international Museum Day (May 18). Click here to access the discount voucher page.
- Organizers
- Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art, NHK, NHK Promotions Inc.
- Supporter
- Ambassade de France / Institut français du Japon, Minato City Board of Education
- Cooperation
- Japan Airlines Co.,Ltd.
- Special cooperation
- Fondation Georges Rouault
Exhibition highlights
I. At the École des Beaux-Arts: Studying Classical Painting and Challenging the Salon
In 1890, Rouault enrolled in the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts de Paris. Under the tutelage of Gustave Moreau (1826–1898), he studied classical painting but also received a liberal, boundary-pushing education. This section introduces rare sketches and studies from Rouault’s earliest days as an artist, as well as works he exhibited at the Salon during this period. Also on display are several works by Moreau that demonstrate his influence on Rouault’s art.
Self-Portrait
Autoportrait
1895 Charcoal and black chalk on paper lined onto linen
Fondation Georges Rouault
© ADAGP, Paris & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2023 E5037
II. Nudes and Bathers: In Pursuit of a Personal Style
Rouault saw nudes and bathing scenes as important subjects, depicting them time and again in various compositions and color palettes. This section presents several nudes and bathing scenes by Rouault, from prostitutes depicted in his early Expressionist style to paintings that reveal the influence of Cézanne in his growing interest in a more decorative style. The artworks in this section trace Rouault’s journey in pursuit of a signature artistic style.
Two prostitutes (recto)
Deux prostituées (recto)
1906 Watercolor on paper
Courtesy of Galerie Taménaga
© ADAGP, Paris & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2023 E5037
III. Circuses and Judges: Experiments in Decorative Composition
The circus and the judge are two subjects that Rouault returned to throughout his life. Paintings of these subjects reveal his brilliant talent for capturing the essence of humanity as well as his explorations of a decorative compositional style. Showcasing works depicting circus performers and judges from throughout his career, this section of the exhibition examines the intersection between Rouault’s art and his understanding of the society and culture of the world in which he lived.
Pulcinella
Polichinelle
Ca.1910
Oil, ink and gouache on paper lined onto linen
Centre Pompidou, Paris Musée national d'art moderne / Centre de création industrielle
Photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Philippe Migeat / distributed by AMF
© ADAGP, Paris & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2023 E5037
IV. Two World Wars: Human Suffering and Hope
The two world wars that Rouault lived through had a great impact on his psyche and his art. Some of the works he created during this time, such as Homo Homini Lupus (Man is Wolf to Man), depict the cruelty of war and the depths of human suffering. However, he also produced richly colored pieces for Verve, an art magazine published by the famous art critic and editor Tériade, during the same period. This section of the exhibition examines the impact of war on Rouault’s art through a selection of works produced during the war years.
Ouf of the Depths
De Profundis
1946 Oil on canvas
Centre Pompidou, Paris Musée national d'art moderne / Centre de création industrielle
Photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / distributed by AMF
V. The End of a Journey: A Singular Style of Decorative Composition
The bright colors and soft, defined forms that began to appear in Rouault’s art around 1930 gradually became more prominent and distinctive in his work from around 1939. His colors grew still more brilliant in the last decade of his career, when he produced a great number of oil paintings featuring a beautiful harmony between form, color, and texture. This section examines the manner in which Rouault explored “form, color, harmony” during his final years.
The Little Sorceress
La Petite Magicienne
1949
Oil on canvas mounted on parquet panel
Centre Pompidou, Paris Musée national d'art moderne / Centre de création industrielle
Photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Bertrand Prévost / distributed by AMF
On the Rouault Collection at the Centre Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou in Paris has loaned thirteen of Rouault’s most famous works for this Rouault retrospective, including some pieces that will be displayed in Japan for the first time. This public cultural institution is home to many works by Rouault, most of them donated by the artist or his family following his death. Rouault himself donated two oil paintings between 1949 and 1956, including Homo Homini Lupus (Man is Wolf to Man), which will be exhibited in this retrospective, as well as the 58 original plates from his Miserere series. Many more works were donated to the French state by his widow, Marthe, and their four children following his death, including an initial donation of 28 works in 1959. Four years later, the Rouault family donated an additional 891 paintings, studies, watercolors, and sketches, including unfinished works left in Rouault’s studio at the time of his death. These donations make up the majority of the Rouault collection at the Centre Pompidou today.
This photograph was taken during the Georges Rouault exhibition at the Louvre in 1964, the year after the Rouault family donated the artist’s remaining body of work to the state. From left to right, the three central figures are Jacques Jaujard, an influential civil servant in fine art administration; André Malraux, the Minister of Cultural Affairs at the time; and Isabelle Rouault, Georges Rouault’s second-oldest daughter.
Highlight 01
A Moreau work that belonged to the Rouault family!
Gustave Moreau is credited with teaching Rouault about the importance of texture, a lesson that he clearly took to heart. This exhibition will include a special exhibition of Moreau’s The Pain of Orpheus. This oil painting from late in his life, which was once owned by Rouault’s family, employs many techniques that Moreau passed on to Rouault.
Pain of Orpheus or Orpheus weeping on the ground (study)
Douleur d'Orphée, dit aussi : Orphée pleurant à terre (étude)
Ca.1891 Oil on cardboard
Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art
Highlight 02
Artworks and poems dedicated to Cézanne!
Before his death, Rouault participated in an effort to build a fountain in Aix-en-Provence as a tribute to Paul Cézanne. Although the project never came to fruition, Rouault did create an oil painting as part of the planning process. The exhibition features this painting as well as Rouault’s “Homage to Cézanne,” a poem translated into Japanese by French scholar and poet Shoichiro Iwakiri.
Tribute to Cézanne (La Fontaine Cézanne)
Hommage à Cézanne (La Fontaine Cézanne)
1938 Oil on cotton
Nakata Museum of Art
© ADAGP, Paris & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2023 E5037
Highlight 03
High-resolution images of Rouault’s artwork!
The Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art continues to research and study its collection of Rouault’s art. As part of this effort, our researchers photographed each work in the collection in high resolution. The images are currently being projected in enlarged form in the permanent Rouault Gallery to highlight the exceptional detail of Rouault’s textures, one of the most fascinating elements of his work.
The Flight into Egypt
La Fuite en Egypte
1952
Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art
Georges Rouault (1871–1958)
Rouault was born and raised in the working-class Parisian neighborhood of Belleville. At the age of 14, he apprenticed under a stained glass craftsman while attending evening classes at the École des Arts Décoratifs. In 1890, when he was 19, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, where he studied under Gustave Moreau (1826–1898). Moreau’s respect for the individuality of his students above all else attracted such artists as Henri Matisse (1869–1954) and Albert Marquet (1875–1947), with whom Rouault enjoyed close friendships. After Moreau’s death, Matisse, Marquet, and Rouault helped found the Salon d’Automne, for which they produced a great number of innovative works. In the 1890s, Rouault found himself deeply impressed by the work of Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) upon viewing it at the Ambroise Vollard gallery. The influence of Moreau and Cézanne gradually inspired Rouault to strive for harmony between form and color; he frequently invoked the phrase “form, color, harmony” when writing about his art. While he is best known for his works on Christian themes, he also created many pieces that capture the essence of humanity in ordinary people, from circus performers and prostitutes living on the bottom rung of society to judges who held positions of authority. He continued painting even after temporarily fleeing Paris during both world wars, an experience that inspired him to produce works on the theme of war, most famously the print series Miserere. In his later years, Rouault painted many portraits and landscapes full of luminous colors and a distinctive use of thickly layered paint.