Yoko Matsumoto: “The Day I Saw the Evening Star” at the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama; Her First Touring Retrospective, from November 28

“Yoko Matsumoto: The Day I Saw the Evening Star” will be held at the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama (Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture) from Saturday, November 28, 2026, to Sunday, February 28, 2027. It is a retrospective of Yoko Matsumoto (born 1936), who has worked in abstract painting since the late 1950s, and according to the museum, Hayama is the final venue of her first touring retrospective. More than 40 major works and materials, from her earliest works to new works made for the exhibition, are presented in Galleries 1, 2 and 3 of the Hayama building.

Who is Yoko Matsumoto? From pink acrylic paintings to oils

According to the Fuchu Art Museum’s special website, Matsumoto was born in Tokyo in 1936. She graduated from the Department of Painting in the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts in 1960 and stayed in the United States for about a year from 1967. The Hayama museum says she encountered Abstract Expressionism and acrylic paint in the United States in the 1960s.

After returning to Japan, she worked with a method using acrylic paint on cotton canvas. Her body of works dominated by pink is regarded as the hallmark of her acrylic period.

From the late 1990s she returned to oil painting, and she has continued to work while shifting her palette from monochrome to green and then to blue. She turned 90 in May 2026.

Why now? Her first touring retrospective, at 90

The Hayama museum’s materials describe the exhibition as her first touring retrospective, with the Hayama building as its final venue. An exhibition of the same name was held at the Fuchu Art Museum from Saturday, May 23 to Sunday, July 12, 2026, and was on view at the Iwaki City Art Museum until Sunday, November 1.

The Fuchu Art Museum described the exhibition there as Matsumoto’s first large-scale solo exhibition at a museum. The Hayama museum’s materials position it as her first large-scale exhibition since 2009. Hino Gallery, White Cube and G foundation are listed as cooperating.

The Fuchu Art Museum’s special website named the oil painting “The Day I Saw the Evening Star” as the work that gave the exhibition its title. It dates from 2023 and is in the UESHIMA MUSEUM COLLECTION.

What can visitors see? Large works at Hayama, including a size-300 oil painting

According to the Hayama museum’s materials, many large works are shown at the Hayama venue, starting with a size-300 oil painting, the largest of Matsumoto’s canvas works. Some small works are added, and materials from her past solo exhibitions are also presented. The headings of the materials highlight works shown only at Hayama and the addition of related materials such as sketchbooks.

The materials say visitors can survey her work from her graduation project at Tokyo University of the Arts to works made in 2026. As for the venue, they note that the Hayama building’s exhibition spaces are characterized by natural light.

The materials list nine works as press images. The earliest is the oil painting “Work III” (1962, private collection). Acrylic works include “The Hill Country of Ephraim II” (1990, Matsumoto City Museum of Art) and “Light Is Shining in the Wilderness II” (1993, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). “Vibrating Landscape-like Picture Plane IV” (1995, G foundation collection) and “Cosmic Etheric Body II” (2003, The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama) are also included.

Four works are in oil, charcoal and pastel: “Thought Circuit I” and “Private Scene” (both 2005, The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama), “On Living Organisms” (2010, UESHIMA MUSEUM COLLECTION) and “Private Botanical Encyclopedia” (2024, private collection). The titles of the new works made for the exhibition had not been announced as of October 20.

Related events: a cross artist talk with Atsuhiko Misawa

• Cross artist talk: Saturday, November 28, from 13:00, Hayama building auditorium. Speakers: Yoko Matsumoto and sculptor Atsuhiko Misawa

• Guest talk: Saturday, January 23, 2027, from 14:00, Hayama building auditorium. Speaker: art critic Naoyuki Takashima

• Screening of a Yoko Matsumoto interview video (made in 2026, about 45 minutes): Saturday, December 19, and Saturday, February 20, 2027, from 14:00 each day, Hayama building auditorium

• Gallery talks by the curator in charge: Saturday, December 12, and Saturday, January 9, 2027, from 14:00 each day, Hayama building galleries. No registration required; free (high school students and older need a same-day exhibition ticket)

For how to apply for events other than the gallery talks, check the museum’s website.

Tickets, prices and access

Admission is 1,200 yen for adults, 1,050 yen for those under 20 and students, 600 yen for those 65 and over and 100 yen for high school students. Groups pay 1,100 yen for adults and 950 yen for those under 20 and students. Junior high school students and younger, and those showing a disability certificate or similar (including, in principle, one caregiver), are free. In Gallery 4, the collection exhibition “Marc Chagall: The Fables of La Fontaine” (with changes of exhibits) runs over the same period and can be seen on the same day with a special exhibition ticket.

Opening hours are 9:30–17:00 (last entry 16:30). The museum is closed on Mondays (except January 11) and from December 28 to January 4.

The address is 2208-1 Isshiki, Hayama-machi, Miura-gun, Kanagawa. From stop 3 at the East Exit of JR Zushi Station, or stop 2 at the South Exit of Zushi·Hayama Station on the Keikyu Line, take Keikyu Bus route Zushi 11 or 12 (coastal route). It takes about 20 minutes and about 18 minutes respectively to “Sangaoka / Kanagawa Kenritsu Kindai Bijutsukan-mae.” Parking includes 48 spaces for standard cars, and special exhibition ticket holders get one hour free. The Tetsuro Komai exhibition on view at the Hayama building until November 15 is introduced in our article on the Tetsuro Komai exhibition. Contemporary art exhibitions are gathered in [2026–2027] Guide to Contemporary Art Exhibitions.

Overview

Name: Yoko Matsumoto: The Day I Saw the Evening Star
Dates: Saturday, November 28, 2026 – Sunday, February 28, 2027
Hours: 9:30–17:00 (last entry 16:30)
Closed: Mondays (except January 11), December 28 – January 4
Venue: Galleries 1, 2 and 3, The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama
Address: 2208-1 Isshiki, Hayama-machi, Miura-gun, Kanagawa
Admission: Adults 1,200 yen, under 20 and students 1,050 yen, 65 and over 600 yen, high school students 100 yen, junior high school students and younger free (group rates available)
Organizers: The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, The Yomiuri Shimbun, The Japan Association of Art Museums
Cooperation: Hino Gallery, White Cube, G foundation
Venues of the exhibition of the same name: Fuchu Art Museum (May 23 – July 12, 2026), Iwaki City Art Museum (September 12 – November 1, 2026)
Inquiries: 046-875-2800
Official website: https://www.moma.pref.kanagawa.jp/
*Information as of October 20, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Exterior of the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama (photo: Bigjap, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on reference materials from the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama (posted October 4, 2026) and official information from the museum, the Fuchu Art Museum and the Iwaki City Art Museum.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team