“European Masterpieces from the Cincinnati Art Museum” Now at the Ueno Royal Museum; 85 Works by Van Gogh, Monet and Others, 82 Shown in Japan for the First Time

“European Masterpieces from the Cincinnati Art Museum” is being held at the Ueno Royal Museum (Ueno Park, Tokyo). It runs from Saturday, October 10, 2026 to Sunday, January 10, 2027. European art from the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio, United States, is presented following the course of art history. According to the exhibition overview on the official website, 85 works are on display, 82 of them shown in Japan for the first time. The museum is open every day during the exhibition, including December 31 and January 1.

The Cincinnati Art Museum, founded in 1881 and built by its citizens

Founded in 1881, the Cincinnati Art Museum is said to be one of the oldest art museums in the United States. According to the official website, its collection exceeds 73,000 objects and covers a wide range, including Western painting, American sculpture, medieval South Asian art, contemporary art and Japanese crafts. It has more than 70 galleries and an outdoor garden, and it has maintained free admission.

The collection was built not only through donations from a few wealthy individuals but also through small contributions pooled by citizens. The mayor at the time reportedly called it “a gift by the people, for the people.” Many works, including those by Monet and Renoir and the late work by Van Gogh that is the highlight of this exhibition, were donated by women collectors in the mid-20th century.

Research on the works also continues. According to the official website, in 2022 Serena Urry, the museum’s former chief conservator, discovered a portrait hidden beneath Cézanne’s “Still Life with Bread and Eggs,” one of the works on display.

The structure of the exhibition: from the Academy to Impressionism and Modernism

The “Main Works on Display” section of the official website organizes the works under four headings. After the opening “INTRODUCTION (The Artist),” it proceeds to “TRADITION (The Academy),” “REVOLUTION” (The Rebels, Impressionism, After Impressionism) and “MODERNISM (Figuration).” The exhibition is supervised by Nobuyuki Senzoku, art critic and professor emeritus at Seijo University.

While the exhibition overview gives the number of works as 85 (82 shown in Japan for the first time), the audio guide information and other materials give the total number on display as 84. Artists named on the official website include Corot, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Picasso and Modigliani.

What can be seen? Van Gogh, Monet, Cézanne and more

The main works introduced on the official website, with the key points of its commentary, are as follows.

• Amedeo Modigliani, “Max Jacob” (c. 1916–1917): the sitter is the poet known for the collection of prose poems “The Dice Cup.” The elongated head and neck reflect the artist’s admiration for Baule masks

• James Tissot, “Young Ladies Looking at Japanese Objects” (1869): a genre painting inspired by people visiting displays of Asian art in Paris, transposed to his own studio. After being shown at the 1869 Salon, it was sold in the United States via the dealer Goupil

• Paul Cézanne, “Still Life with Bread and Eggs” (1865): a work that challenged traditional styles with simplified forms and roughly applied paint. It was rejected by the 1865 Salon

• Gustave Courbet, “Sunset, Vevey, Switzerland” (1874): purchased by George Hoadly and later donated to the museum. It is said to be the first work by Courbet to cross to America

• Claude Monet, “Rocks at Belle-Île, Port-Domois” (1886): Monet stayed on Belle-Île for about two months in 1886 and produced about 40 works. Of five paintings of the same view, one is in the Musée d’Orsay

• Vincent van Gogh, “Undergrowth with Two Figures” (1890): one of the works he is said to have finished before his death in July of that year. It is painted on a canvas of unusual proportions, 1 meter wide and about 50 centimeters tall

• Paul Gauguin, “Mahana Maa” (1892): in Tahiti, he fused the Synthetist techniques he had developed in Brittany with local subjects. X-ray imaging has revealed that a large figure was once painted in the foreground

Other works introduced include Edgar Degas’s sculpture “Fourth Position Front, on the Left Leg” (c. 1883–1888), Alfred Sisley’s “Bougival” (1876), Pablo Picasso’s “Abstraction (Head)” (1930) and Ferdinand Hodler’s “The Holy Hour” (c. 1907–1911).

Tickets and prices; free for university students and younger on weekdays until October 31

Same-day tickets (tax included) are 2,400 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school, vocational school and university students and 800 yen for elementary and junior high school students, and preschool children are free (must be accompanied by a guardian). No timed-entry reservation is required, but entry may be restricted when crowded and visitors may be asked to wait. The latest situation is posted on the official website and X.

On weekdays until Saturday, October 31, university students and younger are admitted free. Proof such as a student ID must be shown on entry. Holders of a disability certificate or similar and up to one companion pay half the same-day price, purchased at the museum’s ticket counter by showing the certificate or Mirairo ID.

The “Ueno Next-Door Set Ticket” (4,100 yen), combined with the National Museum of Nature and Science’s special exhibition “The Sexes of Living Things,” is a set of same-day tickets (adult/university student) for both exhibitions and costs 600 yen less than buying them separately. It is available only from Ticket Pia, on sale from October 31 to December 31 (until the planned number is reached).

Audio guide, catalogue and access

The audio guide is voiced by actor Koji Seto, who also serves as the official navigator, and introduces the highlights and background of 19 of the 84 works on display. Rental costs 700 yen (tax included), with dedicated devices borrowed at the entrance. For people with hearing impairments, text scripts are also lent at the same price. The catalogue costs 3,000 yen (tax included); it is a modified B5 size of 248 pages with commentary on all the works on display.

From Friday, January 1 (national holiday) to Sunday, January 3, 2027, “Kids’ Days” will be held, with a limited-design sticker given to each visitor of junior high school age or younger (while supplies last). The talk by the supervisors on October 24 and the “Premium Night Opening” on November 20 have both reached capacity, and applications have closed.

The Ueno Royal Museum is at 1-2 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo, a 3-minute walk from the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station and a 5-minute walk from Ueno Station on the Tokyo Metro and Keisei lines. After Tokyo, the exhibition will travel to the Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design (Saturday, January 23 – Sunday, April 11, 2027), Nagoya (Friday, April 23 – Sunday, July 4, 2027; venue to be announced) and the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts (Saturday, July 17 – Sunday, September 26, 2027).

Editor’s perspective

The commentary on the works on display often describes their provenance, that is, how they came to America. Tissot’s genre painting was shown at the Paris Salon and then sold in America via the dealer Goupil. Courbet’s landscape is said to be the first work by Courbet to cross to America. The Japanese subtitle, “European treasures that crossed to America,” points to this perspective of tracing the works’ provenance.

In Ueno, Tate Turner begins at the National Museum of Western Art on October 24, and What a Wonderful World: Masterworks from the Musée d’Orsay at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum on November 14. Collections from museums in London, Paris and America can be compared in the same Ueno Park. Other exhibitions are gathered in our guide to autumn and winter exhibitions in Tokyo.

Overview

Name: European Masterpieces from the Cincinnati Art Museum
Dates: Saturday, October 10, 2026 – Sunday, January 10, 2027
Hours: 10:00–17:00 (last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Open every day during the exhibition (including December 31 and January 1)
Venue: The Ueno Royal Museum
Address: 1-2 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Admission: Adults 2,400 yen, high school, vocational school and university students 1,500 yen, elementary and junior high school students 800 yen (tax included). Preschool children free
Organizers: Fuji Television Network, The Tokyo Shimbun, The Ueno Royal Museum
Support: Embassy of the United States of America, BS Fuji
Supervision: Nobuyuki Senzoku (art critic, professor emeritus at Seijo University)
Inquiries: 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial, daily 9:00–20:00)
Official website: https://www.cincinnati-art2026.jp/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Installation view of “European Masterpieces from the Cincinnati Art Museum,” the Ueno Royal Museum, 2026 (from a press release by the Cincinnati Art Museum Exhibition PR Office)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information on the official websites of Fuji Television Network and the other organizers (as of October 19, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team