Exhibition Details

Dates	11 July 2026―11 January 2027
Information	Opening hours / Admission / Tickets

Following the Second World War, a succession of new art organisations was established in Japan, committed to democratic reform and the restoration of freedom of artistic expression. Having produced official war paintings during the conflict, however, Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968) found himself increasingly regarded as a wartime collaborator and deprived of his place within the Japanese art world. Determined to pursue his artistic vision freely, he resolved to leave Japan. In March 1949, his first destination was not Paris but New York. As direct travel from Japan to Paris, where he had long hoped to return, was not possible, he was believed to have travelled first to the United States before eventually returning to Paris. By the time Foujita finally departed Japan, nearly three years had passed since he had resolved to leave.

What Foujita sought after leaving Japan was to create works of enduring significance for future generations. In New York, experiencing a newfound sense of freedom unavailable to him in Japan, inspired by an abundance of new artistic materials, he immersed himself in his work while experimenting with fresh subjects and techniques. His solo exhibition at the Mathias Komor Gallery (10-26 November 1949), presenting the results of approximately six months of work in New York, proved even more successful than anticipated and reaffirmed the artistic statue of ‘Foujita’ within the New York’s art world. The exhibition proved pivotal not only in affirming his place on the international art scene, but also in paving the way for his long-waited return to Paris, his ultimate destination. His stay in New York had a profound and lasting influence on his subsequent artistic development.

Musée Ando à Karuizawa is home to Class of Cats, one of Foujita’s finest works, painted in 1949, together with several other important works believed to have been exhibited in his New York exhibition. This exhibition, entitled Foujita in New York, has been organised to mark the 140th anniversary of the artist’s birth. With the generous cooperation of the Pola Museum of Art and the Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo, both of which house important collections of Foujita’s work, it explores his artistic activities from post-war Tokyo to New York, and ultimately his return to Paris, through works produced during this period. Looking beyond the celebrated 1949 exhibition itself, the exhibition also examines works produced immediately before his departure for New York and after his return to Paris, tracing both the continuity and the transformation of his artistic style.

Press contact information

Musée Ando à Karuizawa

Adress	389-0104 43-10 Karuizawa Higashi, Karuizawa-machi, Kitasaku-gun, Nagano Prefecture JAPAN
Phone	+81-267-42-1230
FAX	+81-267-42-1220
Email	pr@musee-ando.com