Fontanesi Exhibition Opens at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo; About 200 Works Trace the Career of the Teacher of Asai Chu and Others

“Fontanesi: Italian Light, Landscapes of the Heart” opened at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo (Marunouchi, Tokyo) on Saturday, October 17, 2026, and runs until Sunday, January 24, 2027. The 19th-century Italian landscape painter Antonio Fontanesi (1818–1882) came to Japan in 1876 as a painting teacher at the Technical Fine Arts School and trained early Western-style painters such as Asai Chu and Koyama Shotaro. With the cooperation of GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin and other institutions, the exhibition introduces his work from his early years to his last, along with his influence on his Japanese pupils and the next generation of Italian artists, through about 200 works.

Who was Fontanesi, the teacher of Meiji-era Western-style painting?

Fontanesi was born in 1818 in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy. After joining the First Italian War of Independence in 1848 as a volunteer, he fled to Switzerland and settled in Geneva. He studied in Switzerland, France and Britain and developed his own style of landscape painting under the influence of the Barbizon school and Turner. In 1869 he became professor of landscape painting at the Accademia Albertina in Turin.

In 1876, at the age of 58, he was invited as an oyatoi gaikokujin (hired foreign expert) to teach painting at the Technical Fine Arts School and stayed in Japan for about two years. He returned to the academy in 1879 and died in Turin in 1882. The exhibition commemorates the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Italy and the 150th anniversary of Fontanesi’s arrival in Japan, and the special website bills it as “the first major retrospective in Japan.”

Eight chapters: what works can be seen?

The exhibition is divided into eight chapters by period and theme. According to the “Highlights” page of the special website, the chapters are as follows.

1. Landscape as “Painting” (1850–1860): after taking part in the war of independence, he pursued “picturesque” compositions in Geneva and set out on the path of a landscape painter

2. Landscapes That Reflect the Heart (1855–1875): encountering the Barbizon school at the 1855 Paris Exposition, he sought delicate, lyrical expression in addition to fidelity to nature

3. Urban Landscapes (1854–1880): he turned his attention to city scenes in Switzerland and Britain, and after moving to Turin deepened his interest in the city and ordinary people

4. Daily Work and Nature (1860–1875): he depicted peasants, livestock and the relationship between people and nature as subjects rooted in daily life and society

5. Painting a Fleeting Light (1867–1880): linking changes in light to emotion, he depicted unstable, mysterious nature in “April” and his series of marshes

6. Work and Teaching in Japan (1876–1878): through two years of dedicated teaching, his pupils laid the foundations of Western-style painting, while he himself drew inspiration from his stay in Japan

7. Late Works (1878–1881): his large work “Clouds,” shown at the 1880 National Art Exhibition in Turin, met with harsh criticism, but he reinterpreted the lessons of the Barbizon school and Turner in pursuit of “true” landscape

8. Fontanesi’s Legacy (1872–1928): his way of looking at landscape, the relationship between people and nature, and his depiction of air and light were passed on to the next generation of Italian artists

Fontanesi’s works come mainly from the collection of GAM Turin. They include “Morning” (c. 1855–58), “The Old Market in Florence” (c. 1867) and “London, St Paul’s Cathedral Seen from Ludgate Hill” (1866), made with the cliché-verre technique. From later generations, the exhibition shows Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo’s “Two Shepherds in the Mongini Meadow (November)” (1901) and Carlo Carrà’s “The Mouth of the Cinquale” (1928, Museo del Novecento, Milan).

His pupils’ works, and “April” and “Clouds” in the small gallery

Chapter 6 shows works Fontanesi painted in Japan, such as “Entrance to a Japanese Temple” (1878–80, Musei Civici di Reggio Emilia) and “Landscape (Shinobazu Pond)” (1876–78, middle period), owned by the Tokyo National Museum. Among his pupils’ works, Asai Chu’s “Mausoleum of the Tokugawa Family I (Temple Entrance I)” (c. 1878) and Koyama Shotaro’s “True View of Shinbashi, Tokyo” (1876–78) are lent by GAM Turin. There are also works by Goseda Yoshimatsu, Matsuoka Hisashi, Yamamoto Hosui and others; Matsuoka Hisashi’s “Arc de Triomphe” (1882, Tokyo University of the Arts) is shown in the first period and Yamamoto Hosui’s “Portrait of a Western Woman” (1882, same) in the middle period.

The display periods are: first period until November 8, middle period from November 10 to December 20 and last period from December 22 to January 24, 2027. According to the list of works, “April” (1873, 171 × 254.8 cm) and the large work “Clouds” (1880, 200 × 301 cm) are shown in the museum’s small gallery. As a “Special Chapter,” the small gallery presents them together with modern Japanese Western-style paintings from the museum’s collection and on deposit, such as Asai Chu’s “Flower Field” (c. 1904), Kuroda Seiki’s “Azaleas” (c. 1920) and Fujishima Takeji’s “Landscape (Mountain and Trolley).”

Tickets, prices, opening hours and access

Same-day tickets (tax included) cost 2,300 yen for adults, 1,300 yen for university students and 1,000 yen for high school students. Holders of a disability certificate pay half price, and up to one companion is admitted free. Tickets can also be bought online (e-tix). On the second Wednesday of each month after 17:00, a “Magic Hour Ticket” (1,600 yen; cannot be combined with other discounts) is sold only at the museum’s ticket counter.

There is also a “Color Coordination Discount (Tricolore Select)”: visitors wearing two of the three colors of the Italian flag (green, white and red) get 100 yen off when they mention it at the counter. A “Turner × Fontanesi: A Journey Through Landscape Painting Ticket” (4,300 yen), combined with the Tate Turner exhibition at the National Museum of Western Art, is also available.

Opening hours are 10:00 to 18:00, and the museum is open until 20:00 on Fridays (except holidays), second Wednesdays and weekdays in the final week of the exhibition (last entry 30 minutes before closing). It is closed on Mondays, but open on national holidays, on the Talk Free Days (October 26, November 30 and December 28) and on January 18. It is closed on December 31 and January 1. The museum is located at 2-6-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, a 5-minute walk from JR Tokyo Station (Marunouchi South Exit) and a 3-minute walk from Nijubashimae (Marunouchi) Station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line (Exit 1) and Hibiya Station on the Toei Mita Line (Exit B7). There is no dedicated parking.

Overview

Name: Fontanesi: Italian Light, Landscapes of the Heart
Dates: Saturday, October 17, 2026 – Sunday, January 24, 2027 (works are changed during the exhibition)
Hours: 10:00–18:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays except holidays, second Wednesdays and weekdays in the final week; last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (open on national holidays, on the Talk Free Days of October 26, November 30 and December 28, and on January 18), December 31, January 1
Venue: Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo
Address: 2-6-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Admission: Adults 2,300 yen, university students 1,300 yen, high school students 1,000 yen (tax included)
Organizers: Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo; GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin; Fondazione Torino Musei
Support: Embassy of Italy
Inquiries: 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial)
Official website: https://mimt.jp/ex_sp/fontanesi/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Antonio Fontanesi, “April,” 1873, GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin (from a press release by the Agency for Cultural Affairs)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information on the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum’s official website and its list of works (as of October 19, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team