Exhibition Title: Ikuo Hirayama: The Ever-Changing Silk Road
Exhibition Period: Saturday, March 22 – Monday, September 8, 2025
Open every day during the exhibition period.
This exhibition presents the magnificent pictorial world of the Silk Road that Ikuo Hirayama traveled and continued to paint throughout his life: its landscapes and ruins, the people he encountered on his journeys, caravans crossing the desert, and the wishes for peace embodied in these works. The exhibition also features Silk Road artworks collected by Ikuo Hirayama and his wife.
For the first time, this exhibition will present, all at once, unfinished Silk Road paintings that remained in Hirayama’s studio after his passing, including landscapes depicting seven cities from Rome to Nara. These works, which he continued to create until shortly before his death, portray cities along the Silk Road and the lives of people living in the desert. They reflect his endless dream of the Silk Road, as well as his wish for world peace beyond the boundaries of ethnicity and culture. Please take this opportunity to view Hirayama’s thoughts and hopes for future generations, conveyed through the brushstrokes of these unfinished works.
Exhibition Structure and Major Works
Chapter 1: In Search of the Path of Buddhism
Exhibition Rooms 1 and 2A
This chapter focuses on “the route by which Buddhism was transmitted,” which inspired Ikuo Hirayama to set out on his journeys along the Silk Road. Along with outstanding examples of Buddhist sculptures, including Gandharan Buddhist works that form the core of the collection assembled by Ikuo Hirayama and his wife, this section introduces Hirayama’s series on the life of the Buddha, which marked his debut in the Japanese art world.
Chapter 2: The Ever-Changing Silk Road I — Traces of the Journey
Exhibition Rooms 2B, 3, and 4
This chapter presents works that Hirayama created over many years of travel along the Silk Road, where he repeatedly made sketches and continued to paint. It also introduces artworks from the Silk Road collection assembled by Ikuo Hirayama and his wife, with a focus on works from West Asia, Central Asia, and the Western Regions of China. Enjoy an exhibition space where Hirayama’s paintings intersect with outstanding cultural treasures from each region.
Chapter 3: The Ever-Changing Silk Road II — An Unfulfilled Dream
Exhibition Room 5
Together with a recreated section of Hirayama’s studio, this chapter presents unfinished works depicting ruins and people from various regions along the Silk Road that remained in his studio after his passing. These works, which he continued to create until shortly before his death, portray cities along the Silk Road and the lives of people in the desert, conveying Hirayama’s longing for the Silk Road and his wish for world peace beyond ethnicity and culture.
In the document display section, the exhibition also features sketches of camels, a subject he continued to draw throughout his life, as well as materials, concept drawings, and preliminary sketches from research trips for works depicting caravans.
Chapter 4: Caravans Traveling the Silk Road
2nd Floor, Exhibition Room 6
This chapter presents works from the Great Silk Road series depicting camel caravans.
Related Event
Gallery Talk by Curators
Second Saturdays in April and May, from 2:00 p.m.
Planned schedule
