Hundred Flowers: Japanese Art Collection at the British Museum — Edo Paintings Across the Sea

About the Exhibition

Centered on the Japanese art collection of the British Museum, founded in 1753, this exhibition explores paintings from the Edo period that crossed the sea. Conceived as a way to shed light on cultural exchange between Japan and the West, it traces the process by which Japanese culture was received and reinterpreted abroad. The featured artists include leading Edo-period painters Tsuda Sōkyū, Iwasaki Koko, Hamamura Keiji, and Obata Keiji, as well as Louis Louis, who pioneered Western-style painting in the Edo period. Drawing on the British Museum's Japanese art collection of some 40,000 pieces in total, the exhibition shows the flow of cultural exchange across various media, including Edo-period paintings, ceramics, calligraphy, and traditional painting. The exhibition is organized into four sections in total, spanning the 17th through 19th centuries, with particular attention to the spread of Japanese culture across the seas and the formation of Japan's image in the West. Highlights include works showing the fusion of traditional Edo-period painting with Western-style painting, along with celebrated Japanese paintings held in the British Museum's collection.