[2026–2027] Guide to Western Art Exhibitions in Japan: The Louvre, Turner, the Orsay, Van Gogh and Monet

From autumn 2026 to spring 2027, major exhibitions of Western art overlap across Japan. “Louvre Museum Exhibition: Renaissance” at the National Art Center, Tokyo runs until Sunday, December 13. In Ueno, “Tate Turner” opened at the National Museum of Western Art on Saturday, October 24, and “What a Wonderful World: Masterworks from the Musée d’Orsay” opens at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum on Saturday, November 14. This article introduces 12 exhibitions in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Osaka and Hyogo that are on view or about to open, in order of closing date. Exhibitions at museums in London, Paris and New York are gathered in our guide to exhibitions at museums abroad.

The lenders are wide-ranging. Besides the Louvre, the Orsay and the Tate, they include the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, the Cincinnati Art Museum in the United States and GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin. Anniversaries also coincide. The Pola Museum of Art’s exhibition marks the “100th anniversary of Monet’s death,” while the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum has reached its 100th anniversary and the SOMPO Museum of Art its 50th.

Exhibitions tracing the relationship between Japan and Western art are also lined up. Fontanesi was a painter who came to Japan in 1876 and taught at the Technical Fine Arts School. “Étrangers” brings together works that Japanese Western-style painters made during their stays in Europe, and in Kobe, the Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art is on display. As an exhibition comparing Western and Japanese painters through their tools, Niigata City Art Museum’s “The Painter’s Palette” exhibition runs until January 11, 2027.

Western art exhibitions closing in 2026

Marie Antoinette Style (Yokohama Museum of Art, until November 23)

Co-organized with the V&A in London, the exhibition explores the innovations and personality of Queen Marie Antoinette (1755–1793). It shows how her “style” has continued to influence creators across the ages, including those of today. Works include François-Hubert Drouais’s “Marie Antoinette in Court Dress” (1773), and Jeanne Lanvin’s evening dress “Robe de style” (c. 1922–23) is also on display. For details, see our article on “Marie Antoinette Style”. In April 2026, the V&A opened the new “V&A East Museum” in East London.

Dates: Saturday, August 1 – Monday, November 23, 2026 (national holiday)
Venue: Yokohama Museum of Art
Hours: 10:00–18:00 (until 20:00 on November 2, 7, 14 and 20–22)
Closed: Thursdays (open on November 19)
Admission: General 2,500 yen, university students 1,600 yen, junior high and high school students 1,000 yen, elementary school students and younger free
Official website: https://yokohama.art.museum/exhibition/202608_marie2026/

Andrew Wyeth Exhibition (Abeno Harukas Art Museum, until December 6)

The exhibition presents 100 works by Andrew Wyeth, 15 of which, according to the museum, are being shown in Japan for the first time. Through motifs such as windows and doors, it sheds light on the concept of “boundaries” that connect inside and outside, self and other, and life and death. “Christina Olson” (1947, tempera on panel) is also on display, and the second period runs from Wednesday, November 4. For details, see our article on the Wyeth exhibition.

Dates: Saturday, October 3 – Sunday, December 6, 2026
Venue: Abeno Harukas Art Museum (Abeno Harukas 16F, Abeno-ku, Osaka)
Admission: General 2,200 yen, university and high school students 1,800 yen, junior high and elementary school students 500 yen
Official website: https://www.aham.jp/exhibition/future/wyeth/

Louvre Museum Exhibition: Renaissance (National Art Center, Tokyo, until December 13)

More than 50 works from the Louvre are organized under four themes drawn from Leonardo: “Travel,” “Innovation and Refinement of Technique,” “A Gaze toward Antiquity” and “The Flourishing of Portraiture.” Leonardo da Vinci’s “Portrait of a Woman” (known as “La Belle Ferronnière”) is, according to the museum, being shown in Japan for the first time. Same-day tickets are sold until Sunday, December 6; from Monday, December 7 to Sunday, December 13, a timed-entry ticket (scheduled to go on sale at 12:00 on Saturday, October 31) is required. See also our article on the Louvre exhibition.

Dates: Wednesday, September 9 – Sunday, December 13, 2026
Venue: Special Exhibition Gallery 1E, The National Art Center, Tokyo
Admission: General 2,400 yen, university students 1,400 yen, high school students 1,000 yen (same prices for timed-entry tickets); junior high school students and younger free
Official website: https://www.nact.jp/exhibition_special/2026/louvre2026/

The 50th Year of the SOMPO Museum of Art – Albert Marquet: A Retrospective (SOMPO Museum of Art, until December 13)

According to the museum, this is “the first full-scale Marquet exhibition in Japan in 35 years,” with about 90 works on display. Works include “Le Havre, the Basin” (1906) and “Naples, the Sailing Ship” (1909), and the drawings will be changed for the second period from Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday). Some works may be photographed, and visitors can also see Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” from the museum’s collection. For details, see our article on the Marquet exhibition.

Dates: Tuesday, September 22 – Sunday, December 13, 2026
Venue: SOMPO Museum of Art (Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo)
Admission: General (26 and over) 2,000 yen, 25 and under 1,200 yen, elementary, junior high and high school students free
Official website: https://www.sompo-museum.org/exhibitions/2025/albertmarquet/

Matsukata Kojiro × Yamamura Tokutaro: The Passion for Collecting (Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, until December 27)

The official title is “National Museum of Art Collection Dialogue – Matsukata Kojiro × Yamamura Tokutaro, The Passion for Collecting: Bringing Rodin to Japan, Taking Gutai to the World.” It sets side by side the collections of Matsukata Kojiro (1866–1950), who built a major collection of Western art in Europe, and Tokutaro Yamamura (1926–1986), who collected postwar Japanese avant-garde art. Rodin’s sculptures and other works come from the Matsukata Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, with a special feature on “The Gates of Hell.” According to the museum, this is the first time the two collections have been shown together. For details, see our article on “The Passion for Collecting”.

Dates: Saturday, October 10 – Sunday, December 27, 2026
Venue: 1F Galleries, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art (Chuo-ku, Kobe)
Admission: General 1,800 yen, university students 1,200 yen, 70 and over 900 yen, high school students and younger free
Official website: https://www.artm.pref.hyogo.jp/exhibition/t_2610/index.html

Western art exhibitions continuing into 2027

European Masterpieces from the Cincinnati Art Museum (Ueno Royal Museum, until January 10, 2027)

Eighty-five works have come from the Cincinnati Art Museum in the United States, founded in 1881, and according to the exhibition overview on the official website, 82 of them are being shown in Japan for the first time. The exhibition follows the course of art history. Works include Van Gogh’s “Undergrowth with Two Figures” (1890), Monet’s “Rocks at Belle-Île, Port-Domois” (1886) and Gauguin’s “Mahana Maa” (1892). The museum is open every day during the exhibition, and no timed-entry reservation is required. For details, see our article on the Cincinnati Art Museum exhibition.

Dates: Saturday, October 10, 2026 – Sunday, January 10, 2027
Venue: The Ueno Royal Museum
Hours: 10:00–17:00 (open every day during the exhibition)
Admission: General 2,400 yen, high school, vocational school and university students 1,500 yen, elementary and junior high school students 800 yen
Official website: https://www.cincinnati-art2026.jp/

Fontanesi: The Light and Spiritual Landscapes of Italy (Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, until January 24, 2027)

This exhibition of Fontanesi (1818–1882), a painter of modern Italian landscapes, is billed on its special website as “the first major retrospective in Japan.” In 1876 he was invited to teach painting at the Technical Fine Arts School and stayed in Japan for two years. About 200 works trace his career, including “Clouds” (1880, 200.0 × 301.0 cm), along with works by his student Asai Chu. For details, see our article on the Fontanesi exhibition.

Dates: Saturday, October 17, 2026 – Sunday, January 24, 2027
Venue: Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum (Marunouchi, Tokyo)
Admission: General 2,300 yen, university students 1,300 yen, high school students 1,000 yen. A “Magic Hour Ticket” (1,600 yen) is sold at the ticket counter after 17:00 on the second Wednesday of each month
Official website: https://mimt.jp/ex_sp/fontanesi/

Étrangers: Western-Style Painters’ Experiences in Europe (Artizon Museum, October 24 – January 31, 2027)

The exhibition calls the Japanese artists who traveled to Europe to study Western culture after the Meiji Restoration “étrangers” (strangers from abroad), and presents more than 100 works they made during their stays in Europe. Works include Kuroda Seiki’s “Needlework” (1890), Fujishima Takeji’s “Black Fan” (1908–09, Important Cultural Property) and Yuzo Saeki’s “Advertisements on a Terrace” (1927). The same ticket also gives access to the concurrent “Jam Session” exhibition. For details, see our article on “Étrangers”.

Dates: Saturday, October 24, 2026 – Sunday, January 31, 2027
Venue: 5th and 4th Floor Galleries, Artizon Museum (Kyobashi, Tokyo)
Admission: General 1,200 yen (online reservation), 1,500 yen (at the ticket counter). University, vocational school and high school students free (online reservation required); junior high school students and younger free
Official website: https://www.artizon.museum/exhibition/detail/610

Nikolai Astrup: The Creative Garden (Tokyo Station Gallery, November 21 – January 31, 2027)

This exhibition of the Norwegian painter Nikolai Astrup (1880–1928) is, according to the museum, his first retrospective in Japan. He spent his life in a village in western Norway, painting its nature and people’s lives. Focusing on the garden as a motif that embodied his art, the exhibition presents oil paintings, woodcuts and textile designs. For details, see our article on the Astrup exhibition.

Dates: Saturday, November 21, 2026 – Sunday, January 31, 2027
Venue: Tokyo Station Gallery
Admission: General 1,800 yen, high school and university students 1,300 yen, junior high school students and younger free (advance tickets 200 yen off each until November 20)
Official website: https://www.ejrcf.or.jp/gallery/exhibition/202611_astrup.html

Tate Turner: Painting the Sublime, a Dialogue with Contemporary Art (National Museum of Western Art, October 24 – February 21, 2027)

More than 80 works by Turner from the Tate collection, including oil paintings and watercolors, are presented in a prologue and seven chapters. Works such as “The Fall of an Avalanche in the Grisons” (exhibited 1810) are regrouped by theme and shown alongside postwar and contemporary works by artists including Olafur Eliasson and Mark Rothko. After Tokyo, the exhibition will travel to the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka. For details, see our article on the Turner exhibition.

Dates: Saturday, October 24, 2026 – Sunday, February 21, 2027
Venue: Special Exhibition Galleries, National Museum of Western Art
Admission: General 2,400 yen, university students 1,500 yen, high school students 1,100 yen; junior high school students and younger free
Official website: https://turner2026-27.exhibit.jp/

What a Wonderful World: Masterworks from the Musée d’Orsay (Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, November 14 – March 28, 2027)

Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, this exhibition presents about 110 paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, photographs and other works from the Musée d’Orsay in seven parts. According to the museum, Millet’s “The Gleaners” is coming to Japan for the first time in 23 years, and Van Gogh’s “Starry Night over the Rhône” and Gauguin’s “Arearea” for the first time in 16 years. For details, see our article on the Orsay exhibition.

Dates: Saturday, November 14, 2026 – Sunday, March 28, 2027
Venue: Special Exhibition Galleries, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Admission: General 2,400 yen, university and vocational school students 1,300 yen, 65 and over 1,600 yen (advance tickets 200 yen off each, until November 13). Free for those 18 and under and high school students and younger
Official website: https://www.tobikan.jp/exhibition/2026_orsay.html

The New Vision: Monet and the Contemporary Gaze, Marking 100 Years Since Monet’s Death and the Museum’s 25th Anniversary (Pola Museum of Art, until April 7, 2027)

The 19 oil paintings by Monet in the Pola Museum of Art’s collection are shown in “creative dialogue” with 21st-century art. Works such as “The Water Lily Pond” (1899) and “Rouen Cathedral” (1892) are paired with works by artists including Wolfgang Tillmans, Roni Horn and Pierre Huyghe. Four of the artists, including Lucas Arruda, are being introduced by a Japanese museum for the first time. For details, see our article on “The New Vision”.

Dates: Wednesday, June 17, 2026 – Wednesday, April 7, 2027 (closed Tuesday, December 1)
Venue: Pola Museum of Art (Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture)
Admission: Adults 2,200 yen, university and high school students 1,700 yen, junior high school students and younger free
Official website: https://www.polamuseum.or.jp/sp/the-new-vision/

*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official websites for the latest information.

Visiting Ueno or the Tokyo Station area in a day

Ueno Park: the Turner, Orsay and Cincinnati Art Museum exhibitions

The National Museum of Western Art (1-minute walk from the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station), the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (7-minute walk from the Park Gate of JR Ueno Station) and the Ueno Royal Museum (3-minute walk from the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station) are all in Ueno Park. All three exhibitions are open at the same time from Saturday, November 14 to Sunday, December 20, and from Tuesday, January 5 to Sunday, January 10, 2027. Even during these periods, the National Museum of Western Art and the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum are closed on Mondays (except Monday, November 23, a national holiday) and on Tuesday, November 24.

On Fridays, the National Museum of Western Art and the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum are open until 20:00. The Ueno Royal Museum closes at 17:00, so planning is easier if you visit it first. According to the Turner exhibition’s official website, it offers a reciprocal discount with the Orsay exhibition: showing a ticket stub or similar gives 100 yen off a same-day ticket. The Cincinnati Art Museum exhibition also offers the “Ueno Next-Door Set Ticket” (4,100 yen, October 31 – December 31, available only from Ticket Pia), combined with the National Museum of Nature and Science’s special exhibition “The Sexes of Living Things.”

Tokyo Station area: the Fontanesi, Étrangers and Astrup exhibitions

The Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum is a 5-minute walk from the Marunouchi South Exit of JR Tokyo Station, and the Artizon Museum is a 5-minute walk from the Yaesu Central Exit. Tokyo Station Gallery is right in front of the Marunouchi North Exit ticket gates. All three exhibitions are open at the same time from Saturday, November 21 to Sunday, January 24, 2027. However, at least one of the museums is closed on Mondays (except November 23 and January 11), Tuesday, November 24, from Monday, December 28 to Monday, January 4, and on Tuesday, January 12.

The Fontanesi exhibition includes works by his student Asai Chu, and the Étrangers exhibition includes Asai’s “Washing Place at Grez” (1901), painted during his stay in Europe. It is a combination that lets visitors see, one after the other, exchanges in two directions: foreign teachers teaching Western-style painting in Japan, and Japanese painters studying in Europe. On Fridays, all three museums are open until 20:00 (except on national holidays at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum).

Western art exhibitions opening or touring in 2027

• “Montmartre: Lautrec, Suzanne Valadon and the Unknown Painters of Paris” (tentative title): Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Friday, February 19 – Sunday, May 23, 2027

• Dufy exhibition: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, April 24 – August 22, 2027

• “From Rembrandt to Monet and Van Gogh: The Hammer Museum Exhibition”: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, September 11 – December 12, 2027

• Tour of the Cincinnati Art Museum exhibition: Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design (Saturday, January 23 – Sunday, April 11, 2027), Nagoya (April 23 – July 4, 2027; venue to be announced), Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts (July 17 – September 26, 2027)

• Tour of the Turner exhibition: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka (dates not yet posted on the official website)

Frequently asked questions

Which exhibitions show works by Van Gogh?

“Undergrowth with Two Figures” (1890) is on display in the Cincinnati Art Museum exhibition at the Ueno Royal Museum, and “Starry Night over the Rhône” in the Orsay exhibition opening on November 14. At the SOMPO Museum of Art, the museum’s own “Sunflowers” can also be seen at the Marquet exhibition.

Which exhibitions are free or discounted for students?

At the Artizon Museum, university, vocational school and high school students are admitted free (online reservation required). At the Turner exhibition, Wednesday, November 4 to Thursday, November 19 are free admission days for university and high school students, and at the Orsay exhibition, university and vocational school students are admitted free on weekdays from Tuesday, December 8 to Friday, December 18. At the Cincinnati Art Museum exhibition, university students and younger are admitted free on weekdays until October 31. At the SOMPO Museum of Art, those 25 and under pay 1,200 yen.

Which exhibitions require reservations?

The Louvre exhibition requires a timed-entry ticket for admission from December 7 to 13. The Artizon Museum uses an online reservation system by entry time slot, and tickets can also be bought at the counter if slots are available. The Cincinnati Art Museum exhibition states that no timed-entry reservation is required.

*Top image: Antonio Fontanesi, “Silence,” c. 1860, 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 official announcements by each organizer and venue (as of October 19, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team