“Our Renoir” Opens November 23 at the Oita Prefectural Art Museum; Masterpieces from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts Shown at the Same Time

“Our Renoir: The Eternal Smile Japan Fell in Love With” will be held at the Oita Prefectural Art Museum (OPAM, Oita City) from Monday, November 23 (national holiday), 2026 to Sunday, January 17, 2027. It traces the history of Renoir’s reception in Japan through Renoir works held by museums and companies in Japan and works by Japanese Western-style painters influenced by his art. It is a touring exhibition following Kumamoto and Shizuoka. On the museum’s 3rd floor, “Masterpieces from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts: The Spirit of Sazo Idemitsu – Protecting Beauty and Passing It On to the Future” also opens on Friday, November 13.

Why did the Japanese love Renoir? An exhibition touring five venues nationwide

The exhibition poses a question: why has Renoir been so beloved in Japan? The museum suggests that one reason may be that so many of his works can actually be seen at museums around the country. Many of the Renoir works in Japan were collected as signature pieces of each museum’s collection in the Showa and Heisei periods, when public and private museums were being established after the war.

According to the exhibition’s official website, Renoir’s works were first brought to Japan in the 1890s, with the art dealer Hayashi Tadamasa (1853–1906) said to have been the buyer. Ryuzaburo Umehara, who went to France in 1908, visited Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer in the south of France the following year, 1909.

The tour began at the Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art (July 18 – September 13, 2026), which marks its 50th anniversary, and came to Oita via the Shizuoka City Museum of Art (September 22 – November 15). In 2027 it travels to the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (January 26 – March 28) and the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art (April 6 – May 30). It is supervised by Atsushi Miura, director of the Ohara Museum of Art, with special cooperation from the POLA Museum of Art.

What works can be seen? Highlights and main works

The exhibition is organized in four chapters: Chapter 1 “Encountering Renoir,” Chapter 2 “Renoir and Japanese Western-Style Painters,” Chapter 3 “The Age of Impressionism” and Chapter 4 “And on to Our Renoir.” The main Renoir works on the Oita venue’s list of works are as follows.

• “Bather,” c. 1907, Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation

• “Woman in a Straw Hat,” 1880, Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art

• “Girl with Flowers at Her Breast,” c. 1900, Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art

• “Woman in a Red Dress,” c. 1892, Tokyo Fuji Art Museum

• “Girl with a Hat,” 1910, SOMPO Museum of Art

• “Three Bathers,” 1917–19, The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama

• “Mademoiselle Françoise,” 1917, The Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki

• “The Hair Ornament,” 1888, “Girl in a Lace Hat,” 1891, and others, eight works in all, POLA Museum of Art

• “Jocasta (Temple Dance),” 1895, Marubeni Corporation

The Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art’s “Girl with Flowers at Her Breast” was purchased in fiscal 1979, shortly after the museum opened. The official website describes it as something like the museum’s “poster girl,” long beloved in the region.

Among Japanese Western-style painters, seven works by Ryuzaburo Umehara are on view, from “Young Roman” (1909, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art) to “The Judgment of Paris” (1978, private collection). Works by Shintaro Yamashita, Kunishiro Mitani, Sotaro Yasui, Tsune Nakamura, Yuzo Saeki and others are also shown, along with copies of Renoir works made by Kuroda Seiki and Rinsaku Akamatsu. From Impressionism, Monet’s “Water Lilies” (1907, Kubosoh Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi) and works by Cézanne, Sisley and Pissarro are exhibited.

Some works introduced on the official website are not shown at every venue. The works shown at the Oita venue can be checked on the list of works published by the museum, which also indicates the works that may be photographed (no flash).

Also on view: “Masterpieces from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts,” from Sengai, Tohaku and Jakuchu to Rouault

The Idemitsu Museum of Arts opened in Marunouchi, Tokyo, in 1966 to show the artworks collected by Sazo Idemitsu (1885–1981), founder of Idemitsu Kosan. Its collection numbers about 10,000 items, including two National Treasures and 57 Important Cultural Properties. The exhibition introduces masterpieces in each field, from Sengai’s Zen paintings to modern and contemporary Western and Japanese art, tracing the path of Sazo’s collecting.

It is organized in six chapters: “In Love with Sengai,” “Discovering Chinese Ceramics,” “Enjoying Screen Paintings,” “Flowers of Edo Painting (Former Price Collection),” “Rouault and Sam Francis” and “Friendships with Contemporary Artists.” The starting point of his collecting was a hanging scroll by Sengai that Sazo, then 19, acquired at an antiques sale in Hakata. The screen chapter centers on Hasegawa Tohaku and also shows works by the Kano, Hasegawa and Iwasa schools.

In 2019, the Edo painting collection of the American collector Joe Price was added. According to the museum, works by Jakuchu shown for the first time in Japan are also on display. In 1972, the museum acquired in its entirety Rouault’s series “The Passion” (54 works), which had been at risk of dispersal. The final chapter introduces works by Hazan Itaya, Hoan Kosugi and Rokansai Iizuka.

• Sengai, “Hotei, with Inscription,” Edo period (on display November 13 – December 13)

• “Dish with Peony Design in Overglaze Enamels” (inscribed “Made in the Wanli reign of the Great Ming”), China, Ming dynasty

• Hasegawa Tohaku, “Bamboo and Tigers” screen (left screen), Momoyama period (on display December 15 – January 11)

• Ito Jakuchu, “Flock of Cranes,” Edo period (on display November 13 – December 13)

• Georges Rouault, “The Passion” 2: The Holy Face, 1935

• Rokansai Iizuka, “Flower Basket, Named Kotobuki,” 1942 (on display November 13 – December 13)

Display periods vary by work, and Monday, December 14 is a no-exhibition day. The Idemitsu Museum of Arts marks its 60th anniversary in 2026, and from Saturday, March 27, 2027, it will hold the commemorative exhibition “Gems of the Idemitsu Collection at Geidai” at The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts.

Tickets and prices: Renoir exhibition visitors pay 1,000 yen for the Idemitsu exhibition

Admission to “Our Renoir” is 1,600 yen for adults (1,400 yen in advance) and 1,000 yen for junior high and high school students (800 yen in advance), and free for elementary school students and younger. Holders of a disability certificate and one companion, among others, are also admitted free. Students must show a student ID at the entrance.

Tickets went on sale on Tuesday, October 13, at the Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Lawson Ticket (L-code: 81877) and the Tokiwa Kaikan 3rd-floor ticket office (advance tickets only).

Admission to the Idemitsu exhibition is 1,500 yen for adults and 1,000 yen for high school students, and free for junior high school students and younger. Visitors to “Our Renoir” receive a special discount and pay 1,000 yen. Opening hours for both exhibitions are 10:00–19:00, until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays (last entry 30 minutes before closing).

Related events and access

• Lecture “Why Is Renoir Loved in Japan?”: Saturday, December 12, 14:00–15:30, 2nd-floor seminar room. Speaker: Atsushi Miura (director of the Ohara Museum of Art), supervisor of the exhibition. Capacity 80, advance application required (first come, first served, until Friday, December 11); free (exhibition ticket required)

• Curator’s gallery talks (Renoir exhibition): On designated days (eight days) from Saturday, November 28 to Sunday, January 17, 14:00–15:00, Gallery A on the 1st floor. No reservation required; exhibition ticket required

• Idemitsu exhibition lecture “Things Call to Things: Masterpieces of the Idemitsu Collection”: Saturday, November 21, 13:30–15:00, 2nd-floor seminar room. Speaker: Den Tanaka, chief curator at the Idemitsu Museum of Arts. Capacity 80, advance application required (first come, first served, until Friday, November 20); free (exhibition ticket required)

• Curator’s highlight talks (Idemitsu exhibition): On designated days from Sunday, November 22 to Monday, January 11 (national holiday). No application required

The museum is a 15-minute walk from the Funai Central Exit (North Exit) of JR Oita Station. Take an Oita Kotsu bus from Stop 7 in front of JR Oita Station and get off at “Oasis Hiroba-mae,” right by the museum. By car, it is 10 minutes from the Oita IC, and there are paid parking lots with 143 outdoor and 107 underground spaces (the first 30 minutes free). In the 1st-floor atrium, the bamboo craft event “OITA BAMBOO ART & LIGHTS 2026 Take-e” is also held from October 28 to November 8 (free admission).

From November 13 to 15, the parking lots will be difficult to use because of the Oita International Wheelchair Marathon, and they will be unavailable all day on the 15th.

At the POLA Museum of Art (Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture), which is providing special cooperation, “New Eyes: Monet and 21st-Century Art”, marking the 100th anniversary of Monet’s death, is on view until April 7, 2027. Other Western art exhibitions are gathered in [2026–2027] Guide to Western Art Exhibitions.

Editor’s perspective

The exhibition’s list of works can also be read as a map of the history of Japan’s art museums. Alongside museums in Kitakyushu, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Beppu and Fukuoka, it lists national and public museums in the Kanto and Kansai regions, private museums such as the POLA Museum of Art, and companies such as Marubeni and Katolec. The exhibition lets visitors trace, through the works’ owners, how Renoir became “our” painter.

On the 3rd floor of the same building, the Idemitsu Museum of Arts exhibition traces the provenance of a collection assembled by a single businessman. Western paintings collected after the war by museums and companies across the country, and Asian and Japanese art chosen through the eye of a single collector: the pairing allows the same activity of collecting to be compared from different angles.

Overview

Name: Our Renoir: The Eternal Smile Japan Fell in Love With
Dates: Monday, November 23 (national holiday), 2026 – Sunday, January 17, 2027
Hours: 10:00–19:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays; last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Venue: Oita Prefectural Art Museum, 1st floor, Gallery A
Address: 2-1 Kotobukimachi, Oita City
Admission: Adults 1,600 yen (advance 1,400 yen), junior high and high school students 1,000 yen (advance 800 yen), elementary school students and younger free
Organizer: Our Renoir Oita Exhibition Executive Committee (Oita Prefectural Art Museum, TOS Television Oita)
Co-organizer: The Oita Godo Shimbun
Special cooperation: POLA Museum of Art, POLA Art Foundation
Special sponsor: Oita Toyota Motor
Planning cooperation: TNC Project
Official website: https://www.opam.jp/exhibitions/detail/5cc91eb6-c2d6-42d3-8000-aad517e6a6e5

Name: Masterpieces from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts: The Spirit of Sazo Idemitsu – Protecting Beauty and Passing It On to the Future
Dates: Friday, November 13, 2026 – Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday)
Hours: 10:00–19:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays; last entry 30 minutes before closing)
No-exhibition day: Monday, December 14, 2026
Venue: Oita Prefectural Art Museum, 3rd floor, Collection Gallery
Admission: Adults 1,500 yen, high school students 1,000 yen, junior high school students and younger free (1,000 yen for visitors to “Our Renoir”)
Organizers: Oita Prefectural Foundation for Arts, Culture and Sports Promotion / Oita Prefectural Art Museum
Official website: https://www.opam.jp/exhibitions/detail/a56e8223-b250-4c01-a096-1a25013ea3de
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Exterior of the Oita Prefectural Art Museum, September 2015 (photo: Oita Kiseichu, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information from the Oita Prefectural Art Museum, the official website of the “Our Renoir” exhibition and the Idemitsu Museum of Arts (as of October 19, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team