The RA Collection on the road in Japan
The RA Collection on the road in Japan
By Edwina Mulvany and Helen Valentine
Published 23 September 2014
Two members of the RA Collection team have just returned from Japan where they were transferring an exhibition of works from the RA across the country.
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The exhibition Genius and Ambition: The Royal Academy of Arts, London 1768-1918 charts the history of the Academy from its foundation in 1768 up to the end of the First World War in 1918.
Divided into sections covering key periods in the institution’s development, the exhibition features masterworks from the Academy’s own Collection by celebrated artists including Sir Joshua Reynolds, J.M.W. Turner, John Constable, John Everett Millais and John Singer Sargent.
Following the very successful run at Bendigo Art Gallery in Australia, the exhibition is now touring Japan. Comprising of almost 100 objects representing the breadth of the Royal Academy’s own collection, it includes paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs and historic books.
After visiting the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, we oversaw its move to the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum.
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First, the exhibition was packed up in Ishikawa
The exhibition was transported across Japan in three large trucks taking approximately eight hours
The shipment arrived at Tokyo Fuji Art Museum in the evening
The crates were offloaded and stored onsite for acclimatisation prior to installation
Following acclimatisation, the crates were unpacked and each work condition checked before being moved into the galleries for installation
Agostino Carlini’s bust of George III – founder of the RA – was positioned to be the first work the visitors will see when they enter the exhibition
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The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum is located in Hachioji which is about 40 km west of central Tokyo. Founded in 1983, it has a collection of approximately 30,000 Japanese, Eastern and Western objects, ranging from paintings, prints, photography, sculptures, ceramics and lacquer ware to armour, swords and medallions of various periods and cultures. Its collection of Western oil paintings from the Renaissance to Impressionists is particularly fine.
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After installation the works were lit and barriers put in place to protect the unglazed paintings
Senior Curator, Helen Valentine, gave a preview of the exhibition to museum staff
The exhibition continues in Tokyo until 24 November and will then transfer to Shizuoka City Museum of Art
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For more information on the exhibition, please visit www.fujibi.or.jp.
Edwina Mulvany is the Registrar of the Royal Academy and Helen Valentine is Senior Curator of the exhibition.
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