Small Exhibition “Images of the Theater” Opens October 20 at the National Museum of Western Art; About 50 Works Including Degas and Lautrec

On Tuesday, October 20, the small-scale exhibition “Images of the Theater: From Delacroix and Daumier to Toulouse-Lautrec and Klinger” opened at the National Museum of Western Art (Ueno, Tokyo). The venue is the Prints and Drawings Gallery on the 2nd floor of the New Wing of the permanent collection galleries, and it runs until Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday). It introduces theater culture centered on 19th-century Paris through about 50 works: prints and drawings by Western, mainly French, artists, plus three paintings.

A working title in the annual schedule, and a series of small exhibitions in the Prints and Drawings Gallery

In the annual schedule the museum announced on March 24, 2026, this exhibition was previewed as “Graphic Art Related to 19th-Century Theater (working title).” Small exhibitions have continued in the Prints and Drawings Gallery through 2026. From March 28 to June 21, it held “Artist by Artist: Images of Artists in Western Prints,” and from June 30 to October 12, “Myth, Allegory and Festivity: Italian Courts and Prints from the Renaissance to the Baroque.”

The exhibition is organized by the National Museum of Western Art with a grant from the National Museum of Western Art Keiichi Shibahara Fund. In January 2025, the museum announced that it had received donations totaling 500 million yen from Keiichi Shibahara, CEO of Amvis Holdings, Inc., in a personal capacity, and said the fund would be used for future exhibitions and displays.

Of the 49 works on the list of works, 45 are from the museum’s collection and four are in private collections. The museum’s permanent collection galleries will be closed from January 12 to February 21, 2027 (according to the Turner exhibition’s official website).

What can be seen? From Romantic prints to fin-de-siècle posters

According to the museum, in 19th-century Paris and other large cities, theaters colored people’s lives, and artists frequented everything from grand theaters and small playhouses to the café-concerts of popular entertainment in search of subjects. In the Romantic era, series of prints based on plays by Shakespeare and Goethe were created, and the Realist Daumier caricatured audiences and backstage scenes. Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec depicted dancers and performers.

According to the list of works, Delacroix is represented by six lithographs from his series based on Goethe’s “Faust” (1828) and Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” (1843). Daumier is represented by nine lithographs, including “The Connoisseurs’ Seats: A Scene at the Opéra” (1852) from the series “Parisians in 1852,” and his oil on panel “At the Theater” (c. 1856–60) is also on view.

The three paintings are Daumier’s “At the Theater,” Degas’s “Three Dancers in the Wings” (c. 1880–85) and Jean-Louis Forain’s “The Debut,” all in the museum’s collection. Toulouse-Lautrec is represented by works including the color lithograph “Mademoiselle Marcelle Lender, Bust-Length” (1895) and “The Hairdresser (Program for the Théâtre Libre)” (1893).

Fin-de-siècle theater posters include Jules Chéret’s “Folies-Bergère: Loïe Fuller” (1893) and Steinlen’s “Poster for the Ballet ‘Le Rêve’” (1890). There is also Alphonse Mucha’s “Poster for ‘Lorenzaccio’ (Sarah Bernhardt)” (1896).

The museum also notes that the German composer Wagner’s ideal of the “total work of art” found international resonance at the end of the century, and it takes up Japonisme in the French performing arts from the turn of the century to the early 20th century. The list of works includes five prints from Klinger’s series “Brahms Fantasy” (1894) and six costume designs for “Madame Butterfly” by Félix Régamey (1906).

Tickets, prices and free admission days

Admission is 500 yen for adults and 250 yen for university students. Groups of 20 or more pay 400 yen (adults) and 200 yen (university students), with reservations required. High school students and younger, those under 18, those 65 and over, and holders of a disability certificate and one companion are admitted free. Students and faculty members of schools belonging to the National Museum of Art Campus Members program are also admitted free on presentation of a student or staff ID.

With a ticket for the permanent collection or for the special exhibition “Turner from Tate: Painting the Sublime, in Dialogue with Contemporary Art”, which opened on Saturday, October 24, visitors can also see this exhibition on the same day. On Culture Day, Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday), and on the Kawasaki Free Sundays of November 8, December 13 and January 10, 2027, this exhibition and the permanent collection are free.

Opening hours are 9:30–17:30, until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays (last entry 30 minutes before closing). The museum is closed on Mondays and on Friday, October 23, Tuesday, November 24, and from Monday, December 28 to Friday, January 1, 2027 (national holiday). It is open on Monday, November 23 (national holiday) and Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday). The museum is a 1-minute walk from the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station.

Editor’s perspective

Posters, programs and costume designs convey not so much the stage itself as the publicity surrounding the theater and the experience of its audiences. With most of the 49 works drawn from the museum’s own holdings, the exhibition reads 19th-century theater culture through its prints and drawings collection. Since a Turner exhibition ticket also gives same-day admission, it is easy to drop in alongside the special exhibition. Western art exhibitions this autumn and winter are gathered in our guide to Western art exhibitions.

Overview

Name: Images of the Theater: From Delacroix and Daumier to Toulouse-Lautrec and Klinger
Dates: Tuesday, October 20, 2026 – Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday)
Hours: 9:30–17:30 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays; last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (open on November 23 and January 11, 2027), Friday, October 23, Tuesday, November 24, Monday, December 28 – Friday, January 1, 2027 (national holiday)
Venue: National Museum of Western Art, Prints and Drawings Gallery (permanent collection galleries, New Wing 2nd floor)
Address: 7-7 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Access: 1-minute walk from JR Ueno Station (Park Exit), 7-minute walk from Keisei Ueno Station, 8-minute walk from Ueno Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza and Hibiya Lines
Admission: Adults 500 yen, university students 250 yen. Free for high school students and younger, those under 18, those 65 and over and others. Same-day admission with a permanent collection or Turner exhibition ticket
Organizer: National Museum of Western Art
Grant: National Museum of Western Art Keiichi Shibahara Fund
Inquiries: 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial)
Official website: https://www.nmwa.go.jp/jp/exhibitions/2026theater.html
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Reference image: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, “Mademoiselle Marcelle Lender, Bust-Length,” 1895, National Gallery of Victoria (public domain, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on press materials from the National Museum of Western Art (January 22, 2025, and March 24, 2026) and information on its official website and list of works.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team