Introduction to Traditional Art: Writing in Works of Art

On view at the Nezu Museum until July 12, this exhibition invites visitors to look beyond images and discover the often-overlooked role that writing plays in East Asian art. As the latest installment in the museum’s acclaimed ‘Introduction to Traditional Art’ series, the display offers an accessible exploration of how words, inscriptions, signatures and seals enrich the meaning of paintings, calligraphy and decorative arts.

While many visitors may feel intimidated by works centred on calligraphy, this exhibition shifts the focus to writing embedded within artworks themselves. Through a carefully selected group of masterpieces, it reveals how inscriptions can serve as records of authorship, expressions of literary culture, markers of ownership, or integral visual elements within a composition.

Highlights include the Important Cultural Property Sparrows on Bamboo (on view until June 21), attributed to the 13th-century Chinese master Muqi, which demonstrates the importance of signatures, seals and collectors’ marks in tracing an artwork’s history. The celebrated Landscape, Known as Koten-en’i (on view until June 21), attributed to the 15th-century painter Shubun and accompanied by inscriptions from multiple Zen priests, illustrates the close relationship between painting and poetry in medieval Japan. Visitors can also discover works in which waka poems are woven directly into painted landscapes, as well as remarkable Buddhist images composed entirely of sutra characters.

By illuminating the many ways writing functions within works of art, the exhibition offers fresh insights into pre-modern Japanese and East Asian culture. Elegant, educational and richly rewarding, it encourages visitors to see text as a gateway to deeper appreciation and understanding.