Release Date: December 9, 2011

National Gallery of Art Cherry Blossom Music Festival Celebrates Cherry Blossom Centennial and Landmark Exhibition of Japanese Bird-and-Flower Paintings by Itō Jakuchū

This spring, the National Gallery of Art Cherry Blossom Music Festival celebrates the exhibition Colorful Realm: Japanese Bird-And-Flower Paintings by Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800), on view from March 30 through April 29, 2012, as well as the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs from March 20 through April 27, 2012. This year marks the centennial of Japan's gift of 3,000 cherry trees to the nation's capital.

All programs are presented free of charge. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

National Gallery of Art Cherry Blossom Music Festival

Saturday, March 31, 4:00 p.m.
Taikoza
Taikoza was formed in New York City by members of Ondekoza, a performance group that began the renaissance of Taiko in Japan during the 1960s
West Building Mall entrance

Sunday, April 1, 6:30 p.m.
Anraku-Miyata Duo
Mariko Anraku, principal harpist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Mayumi Miyata, shō player
Music to include Utsuroi for harp and shō by Hosokawa
West Garden Court
Special family-friendly performance at 11:30 a.m., West Garden Court East Building Auditorium

Wednesday, April 4, 12:10 p.m.
Ayano Ninomiya, violinist
Winner of Astral Artistic Services' 2003 National Auditions
Music by Takemitsu and other composers
West Building Lecture Hall

Wednesday, April 11, 12:10 p.m.
Jack String Quartet
Blossoming by Toshio Hosokawa and String Quartet by Charles Ives
East Building Auditorium

Friday, April 13, 12:10 p.m.
Yoko Owada, flutist
Music by Takemitsu and other Japanese composers for flute, piano, and percussion
West Building Lecture Hall
This concert is made possible by Toshiba

Sunday, April 15, 6:30 p.m.
Billy Fox and the Kitsune Ensemble
Music to include Fox's Anagowa, a piece for Japanese flute and percussion
East Building Auditorium
Special family-friendly performance at 11:30 a.m., East Building Auditorium

Friday, April 20, 12:10 p.m.
Claire Huangci, pianist
Winner of the grand prize at the 1999 World Piano Competition and the 2006 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition
Music by Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and other composers
West Building Lecture Hall

Sunday, April 22, 6:30 p.m.
National Gallery Orchestra
Chosei Komatsu, guest conductor
Charles Wetherbee, violinist
Music by Hisaishi, Noadira, and other composers
West Garden Court

Wednesday, April 25, 12:10 p.m.
Piano Recital: Yoshikazu Nagai and Robert Henry
Yoshikazu Nagai and Robert Henry shared first prize at the Washington International Piano Competition in 2002
Music by Haydn, Scarlatti, Schubert, and other composers
West Building Lecture Hall

Sunday, April 29, 6:30 p.m.
Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo with Yu Kosuge, pianist
Thierry Fischer, conductor
Music by Mozart and Beethoven
West Garden Court
This concert is made possible in part by Nippon Steel Corporation

About the Exhibition

One of Japan's most renowned cultural treasures will come to Washington, DC, in honor of the centennial of Japan's gift of 3,000 cherry trees to the nation's capital. Entitled Colorful Realm of Living Beings (J. Dōshoku sai-e; c. 1757–1766), this 30-scroll set of bird-and-flower paintings on silk is the centerpiece of the landmark exhibition Colorful Realm: Japanese Bird-and-Flower Paintings by Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800), on view at the National Gallery of Art's West Building from March 30 through April 29, 2012. Exhibited for four weeks only (owing to their fragility), these works will be in Washington during the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs from March 20 through April 27, 2012.

Never before shown in its entirety outside of Japan, Colorful Realm of Living Beings provides a panoramic pictorial survey of flora and fauna, both mythical and actual, reflecting the highest standards of artistic and technical accomplishment in Japanese painting. To evoke the work's original religious context, the Gallery will install it with Jakuchū's Śākyamuni Triptych (The Buddha Śākyamuni, Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, and Bodhisattva Samantabhadra), which belongs to the Jōtenkaku Museum, Shōkokuji Monastery, Kyoto. In 1765 Jakuchū―who was active in Kyoto during the mid-Edo period―had donated Colorful Realm (then comprising 24 scrolls) and the triptych to Shōkokuji, where they were displayed in a large temple room during Buddhist rituals. Colorful Realm was donated to the Imperial Household in 1889; since then, it has been shown together with the triptych only once, in 2007 at the Jōtenkaku Museum, Shōkokuji.

Exhibition Organization and Support

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, The Imperial Household Agency, and Nikkei Inc., in association with the Embassy of Japan. It has been made possible through the generous support of Toyota, Nikkei Inc., Airbus, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and The Exhibition Circle of the National Gallery of Art. Additional sponsorship from Japan has been provided by Daikin Industries, Ltd., Ito En, Ltd., Mitsubishi Corporation, and Panasonic Corporation.