“The Painter’s Palette” at Niigata City Art Museum Until January 11; About 80 Palettes and Paintings by Picasso, Matisse and Others

The special exhibition “The Painter’s Palette: The Creative Secrets of the Masters” is on view at the Niigata City Art Museum (Chuo-ku, Niigata) until Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday). It combines items selected from the palette collection of the Kasama Nichido Museum of Art in Ibaraki Prefecture and that museum’s paintings with works from the Niigata City Art Museum’s collection. About 80 palettes and paintings are presented, by overseas painters such as Picasso, Utrillo and Matisse and by modern and contemporary Japanese painters, including artists associated with Niigata.

Why palettes now? A collection that began with a gallery’s 40th anniversary

The palette is a tool everyone knows by name but rarely has the chance to look at closely. The organizers explain that the amount and arrangement of paint and the brushstrokes left on palettes of various sizes and materials reveal painters’ personalities and sense of color. Many of the palettes also bear the painters’ favorite motifs.

The Kasama Nichido Museum of Art’s palette collection numbers more than 350. It began when Jin Hasegawa, founder of Nichido Gallery, received palettes from painters closely associated with the gallery to commemorate its 40th anniversary (1967). It was later expanded through donations from painters and their families, and is on permanent display at the Kasama Nichido Museum of Art, established in a place associated with Hasegawa. The Nichido Art Foundation and Nichido Gallery provide planning cooperation for the exhibition.

The Niigata side’s collection also has a history. In 1964, one of the organizers, BSN Niigata Broadcasting, opened the BSN Niigata Art Museum to mark its 15th anniversary, collecting and exhibiting early modern art, literati painting and modern and contemporary art from Japan and abroad. The BSN Niigata Art Museum closed in 1985, and its works are on deposit at the Niigata City Art Museum. The exhibition cites the combination of such Niigata-related works with palettes as a highlight. According to the organizers, this is the first time it has been held in Niigata Prefecture. According to the Niigata City Art Museum, the venue’s building is also one of the last works of Niigata-born architect Kunio Maekawa.

What can visitors see? From Picasso’s palette to Rei Kamoi’s “Self-Portrait”

The six overseas artists on the list of works are Maurice Utrillo, Giacomo Manzù, Raoul Dufy, Henri Matisse, Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso. Utrillo is represented by a palette (c. 1933) and “Place des Abbesses” (c. 1922). Picasso’s works include, in addition to a palette, “Head” (1909) and “Guitar and Fruit Bowl with Oranges” (1925), from the Niigata City Art Museum collection.

Matisse is represented by a palette of color samples and “Study for ‘Girl in Green in a Red Interior’” (1947). The title and date of the Matisse work were changed after the publicity materials were made, and the museum asks visitors to refer to the captions in the venue and the list of works.

Among Japanese painters, palettes by Ryuzaburo Umehara, Morikazu Kumagai, Seiji Togo, Takeshi Hayashi, Tamako Kataoka, Setsuko Migishi, Saburo Miyamoto, Junkichi Mukai, Kazumasa Nakagawa, Kazu Wakita and others are shown. Umehara’s paint box and easel, and Hayashi’s paint box, water jug and brush stand, are also displayed as materials. The materials vary too: the list of works describes Hiroshi Noda’s palette (1994) as “oil, marble” and Koji Kinutani’s palette (1999) as “affresco, panel.”

Akiko Endo shows, along with a palette, “Rising Sun and Cherry Blossoms” (2015) and “Town at Dusk” (1982) and “Scene” (2012–2015) from the Niigata City Art Museum collection. Rei Kamoi is represented by “Palette (Self-Portrait)” (1984) and “Medal” (1985).

Among works associated with Niigata, Niigata-born Takuji Nakamura is represented by a palette and “Ski Slope at Yuzawa” (1954, Niigata City Art Museum). Works owned by BSN Niigata Broadcasting and deposited with the Niigata City Art Museum are also shown, including Kinosuke Ebihara’s “Butterflies” (1959), Kazumasa Nakagawa’s “Sunflowers” (1954), Kazu Wakita’s “Magician” and Sue Ono’s “Church, France” (1959); palettes by each of these painters are also on display.

Related events: A lecture by Akiko Endo and art courses on the history of art dealers

On Sunday, October 25, from 14:00, an opening commemorative lecture, “The Creative Secrets of Akiko Endo,” will be held in the 2nd-floor auditorium. The speaker is painter Akiko Endo, and it lasts about 90 minutes (doors open at 13:30). No application required, free, first 80 people.

There are two art courses: “A History of Western-Style Painting Dealers in Japan: Focusing on Jin Hasegawa” (lecturer: curator Takuro Tsukano) on Saturday, October 31, and “Art History Made by Art Dealers: The Case of Europe” (lecturer: curator Naomi Arai) on Sunday, November 22. Both start at 14:00 and last about 90 minutes, in the 2nd-floor auditorium; no application required, free, first 80 people.

Gallery talks by the curators in charge will be held from 14:00 for about 30 minutes on Sunday, November 8, Sunday, November 29 and Sunday, December 13. No application is required, but a ticket for that day is needed. Sign language interpretation is provided on November 8 and 29.

Tickets, prices and access

Admission is 1,600 yen for adults (groups 1,200 yen) and 1,200 yen for high school and university students (groups 900 yen), and free for junior high school students and younger. Groups are 20 or more. Sales of advance adult tickets (1,200 yen) ended on October 2. There is a repeater discount, giving the group rate on a second visit on showing a stub from this exhibition, and the “Acchi mo Wari” discount, giving the group rate on showing a special exhibition ticket from the Niigata City Niitsu Art Museum (one person per visit, valid for one year). Holders of a disability certificate or rehabilitation certificate and some caregivers are admitted free. During the run, the exhibition ticket also gives access to the collection exhibition.

Opening hours are 9:30–17:00, with ticket sales until 16:30. The museum is closed on Mondays (open on November 23 and January 11), Tuesday, November 24 and over the New Year holidays from December 28 to January 4. From Tuesday, December 15 to Friday, December 18, only the special exhibition is open while the collection exhibition is changed. According to the list of works, photography for personal use is allowed for some works only. Flash, tripods and selfie sticks cannot be used.

To reach the Niigata City Art Museum, take the C6 Yachiyobashi Line from stop 1 at the Niigata Station bus terminal to “Nishiboridori Hachibancho” (about 16 minutes) and walk about 5 minutes. On the B1 Bandaibashi Line, which has the most frequent services (stop 6, about 10 minutes), get off at “Furumachi” and walk about 12 minutes. A taxi from the Bandai Exit of Niigata Station takes about 10 minutes. The parking lot is for standard cars only and has limited spaces, so the museum recommends public transportation.

Editor’s perspective

The exhibition places finished paintings alongside the tools that produced them. The amount and arrangement of paint left on palettes offer clues to creative processes that are hard to see in finished works.

The art courses take up the history of Western-style painting dealers in Japan centered on Jin Hasegawa of Nichido Gallery and the art history made by dealers in Europe. Given that the palette collection itself grew out of the relationship between a gallery and painters, the exhibition is also an opportunity to consider the history of how works have been bought, sold and collected.

For one of the exhibiting artists, Seiji Togo, “Seiji Togo: 130th Anniversary of His Birth” opens at the SOMPO Museum of Art in Shinjuku, Tokyo, on January 9, 2027 (our article on the Seiji Togo exhibition). In this exhibition, Togo’s palette and “Violet” (1949) are shown. Western art exhibitions in Japan are summarized in [2026–2027] Guide to Western Art Exhibitions.

Overview

Name: The Painter’s Palette: The Creative Secrets of the Masters
Dates: Saturday, October 3, 2026 – Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday)
Hours: 9:30–17:00 (ticket sales until 16:30)
Closed: Mondays (open on November 23 and January 11), Tuesday, November 24, December 28 – January 4
Venue: Special Exhibition Gallery, Niigata City Art Museum
Address: 5191-9 Nishiohatamachi, Chuo-ku, Niigata
Admission: Adults 1,600 yen (groups 1,200 yen), high school and university students 1,200 yen (groups 900 yen), junior high school students and younger free (groups are 20 or more)
Organizers: Niigata City Art Museum, BSN Niigata Broadcasting
Planning cooperation: Nichido Art Foundation, Nichido Gallery
Official website: https://www.ncam.jp/exhibition/8762/
*Information as of October 20, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Exterior of the Niigata City Art Museum (photo: Kotobukizaemon, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on press materials from the Niigata City Art Museum (September 1, 2026) and information on its official website and BSN Niigata Broadcasting’s special exhibition website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team