The great charm of ryijy textiles, which exude the air of a soft color field, lies in their intricately structured expressions of color. The turning point for the textiles, often said to exemplify the Finnish identity, dates to an exhibition of works by the painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela at the 1900 Paris Exposition. In the 1950s, ryijy textiles garnered international acclaim in conjunction with Finnish design and won a number of awards at successive Milan Triennials. Today, the textiles encompassed a more diverse range of styles and materials, and a wider range of expressions.
This exhibition of approximately 40 ryijy textiles, dating from the 1950s and later, marks the first time that works from the Tuomas Sopanen Collection have been presented in Japan.
The Collection Gallery exhibits selected works of nihonga (Japanese-style painting), yōga (Western-style painting), prints, sculpture, crafts (ceramics, textiles, metalworks, wood and bamboo works, lacquers and jewelry) and photography from the museum collection. Also shown are outstanding and monumental works of modern art in Japan, as well as modern and contemporary European and American art.