Andrew Wyeth Exhibition at Abeno Harukas Art Museum Until December 6; 15 of 100 Works Shown in Japan for the First Time

The “Andrew Wyeth Exhibition” is on view at the Abeno Harukas Art Museum (Abeno-ku, Osaka) until Sunday, December 6. It is a retrospective of the American painter Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009). In five chapters, it presents 100 works, including 15 shown in Japan for the first time, using as a clue the “boundaries” indicated by the windows and doors that appear again and again in his work. The museum positions it as the first retrospective in Japan since Wyeth’s death.

Who was Andrew Wyeth? A painter who kept depicting his hometown and his summer home

Wyeth was born in 1917 at his family home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, the fifth child of the illustrator N.C. Wyeth (Newell Convers Wyeth). At his 1937 solo exhibition, every work sold.

The settings he painted were limited to his native Pennsylvania and Maine, where he spent his summers. Keeping his distance from the avant-garde movements of postwar American art, he continued to paint the people and landscapes close to him in tempera and watercolor. In 2007, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bush.

In 1945, he lost his father and his young nephew in a railroad crossing accident, and in 1950, his heart briefly stopped during surgery for a lung disease. In Maine, he painted the Olson siblings, Christina and Alvaro, for about 30 years.

Why see it now? The first retrospective since his death, and the first in Japan in 17 years

Wyeth is a painter who has often been introduced in Japan. According to the exhibition’s official website, since his first solo exhibition in Japan in 1974, which drew 330,000 visitors in Tokyo and Kyoto, exhibitions were also held in 1995 and 2008–09. The Abeno Harukas Art Museum introduces this exhibition as “the first large-scale touring exhibition in Japan in 17 years.”

The exhibition was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum from Tuesday, April 28 to Sunday, July 5, 2026, and traveled to Osaka via the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art (Saturday, July 18 – Wednesday, September 23, national holiday). As an example of works shown in Japan for the first time, the official website cites “Winter Fields” (1942) from the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York). “Cooling Shed” (1953) from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and “Boarding Party” (1982) from the Philbrook Museum of Art are also being shown in Japan for the first time.

Works from collections in Japan are also on display. Besides those of the special cooperators, the Marunuma Art Park and the Unimat Group, works owned by the Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation appear in the list of works. Works that have come from museums abroad and works owned by Japanese museums and companies are brought together in one venue.

Highlights: “boundaries” read through five chapters, with half the works devoted to the Olson House

Chapter 1, “Wyeth the Painter,” presents the image of an artist who kept his distance from the avant-garde of his time and painted the people and landscapes close to him. “Self-Portrait” (1945) and “Winter Fields” are shown in this chapter. Chapter 2, “Light and Shadow,” interprets his use of light and shadow in relation to the themes of life and death.

Chapter 3, “A New England House: The Olson House,” is a group of works depicting the Olson House in Maine and the siblings who lived there. In the list of works, the 51 works numbered 30 to 80 belong to this chapter, more than half of the total. “Christina Olson” (1947) is shown with two pencil studies, and “End of Olsons” (1969) with four studies. As a reference work, a model of the Olson house made by Yosuke Naoe (2005, Marunuma Art Park) is also displayed.

Chapter 4, “Expanding Gaze,” focuses on his commitment to painting the same subjects over and over: Christina, his neighbor Karl Kuerner and Helga Testorf, who later became his model, among others. Chapter 5, “Boundaries, or Windows,” shows how windows, doors, ice and the like were painted as symbols connecting life and death. “Olson’s Front Door” (1954), “Floating Ice” and “Thin Ice” (both 1969) are on display.

What can be seen? Main works on display

• “Self-Portrait,” 1945, tempera on panel, National Academy of Design (New York)

• “Winter Fields,” 1942, tempera on panel, Whitney Museum of American Art (shown in Japan for the first time)

• “Cooling Shed,” 1953, tempera on panel, Philadelphia Museum of Art (shown in Japan for the first time)

• “Laundry,” 1961, watercolor on paper, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens (Jacksonville)

• “The Mill,” 1962, tempera on panel, Philadelphia Museum of Art

• “Christina Olson,” 1947, tempera on panel, Myron Kunin Collection (Minneapolis)

• “End of Olsons,” 1969, tempera on panel, Cleveland Museum of Art

• “Boarding Party,” 1982, tempera on panel, Philbrook Museum of Art (Tulsa; shown in Japan for the first time)

• “Petals,” 1991, watercolor on paper, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

• “Geraniums,” 1960, drybrush and watercolor on paper, Farnsworth Art Museum (Rockland)

• “Thin Ice,” 1969, tempera on panel, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

In the list of works, display periods are noted for three works from the Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art. “Breeze” (1978) is on view until November 3, and “On the Farm” (1988) and “Mill in Winter” (1978) from November 4.

Tickets, prices, opening hours and access

Same-day tickets are 2,200 yen for adults, 1,800 yen for university and high school students and 500 yen for junior high and elementary school students. Groups of 15 or more pay 2,000 yen (adults), 1,600 yen (university and high school students) and 300 yen (junior high and elementary school students). Advance ticket sales ended on Friday, October 2. Holders of a disability certificate and up to one companion pay half the same-day price.

Showing a ticket (stub accepted) for the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts’ special exhibition “Dynamic Calligraphy of the Ming Dynasty” (October 9 – December 20) gives 100 yen off a same-day ticket for this exhibition. A ticket (stub accepted) for the Tsutenkaku observatory also gives 100 yen off.

Opening hours are 10:00–20:00 Tuesday to Friday and 10:00–18:00 on Mondays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. The only closing day announced is Monday, October 5. The audio guide (700 yen) is narrated by actress Michiko Kichise and is available as a rental device and as an app.

The museum is on the 16th floor of Abeno Harukas, reached by a dedicated shuttle elevator from the boarding points on the first basement floor and the second floor. It is about 2 minutes from Tennoji Station (West Gate) on the Midosuji subway line to the shuttle elevator, and about 3 minutes from JR Tennoji Station (Central Gate) and Kintetsu Osaka-Abenobashi Station (West Gate). There is no parking.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a catalogue?

The official catalogue costs 3,300 yen (tax included); it is a modified A4-size hardcover of 256 pages. It reproduces all of the more than 100 works on display in color, with commentary on almost all of them.

What related events are there?

On Saturday, November 14, from 14:00 to 16:00, “The Terroir of Painting and Sake” will be held in collaboration with Harukas University. It combines a talk by Daisuke Natsume, toji (master brewer) of Kitaoka Honten, and Maki Asakawa, senior curator at the museum, with a sake tasting. The fee is 5,000 yen (capacity 40; those under 20 cannot participate). The tempera technique workshop on Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday) has sold all its planned tickets.

What other exhibitions can I see?

At the Abeno Harukas Art Museum, “Lucie Rie: Graceful Vessels Connecting East and West” begins on Saturday, December 26. Autumn and winter exhibitions in the Kansai region are introduced in [Autumn/Winter 2026] Exhibitions in Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Hyogo, and Western art exhibitions in [2026–2027] Guide to Western Art Exhibitions in Japan.

Overview

Name: Andrew Wyeth Exhibition
Dates: Saturday, October 3 – Sunday, December 6, 2026 (first period: until Tuesday, November 3, national holiday; second period: from Wednesday, November 4)
Hours: Tuesday–Friday 10:00–20:00; Mondays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 10:00–18:00 (last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Monday, October 5
Venue: Abeno Harukas Art Museum
Address: 1-1-43 Abenosuji, Abeno-ku, Osaka (Abeno Harukas 16F)
Admission: Adults 2,200 yen, university and high school students 1,800 yen, junior high and elementary school students 500 yen (groups of 15 or more: adults 2,000 yen, university and high school students 1,600 yen, junior high and elementary school students 300 yen)
Organizers: Abeno Harukas Art Museum, The Sankei Shimbun, Kansai Television
Sponsor: DNP Dai Nippon Printing
Special cooperation: Marunuma Art Park, Unimat Group
Cooperation: Wyeth Foundation for American Art, Japan Airlines
Support: Embassy of the United States of America
Official website: https://www.aham.jp/exhibition/future/wyeth/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: “Christina Olson,” 1947, tempera on panel, Myron Kunin Collection, Minneapolis, photo: Curtis Galleries, Inc. ©2026 Wyeth Foundation for American Art / ARS, New York / JASPAR, Tokyo (from a press release by Kintetsu Miyako Hotels)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on press materials from Kintetsu Real Estate (July 29, 2026) and information from the Abeno Harukas Art Museum, Kansai Television and the exhibition’s official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team