Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum "Garden of Decoration: Art Deco and Garden Art of Asaka-no-miya Residence"

In 1933 (Showa 8), the Asakamiya Residence (currently the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum) was completed on a part of the Shirokane Imperial Estate in Tokyo. The garden part of the site of about 10,000 tsubo was equipped with a spacious lawn, a Japan garden, a bonsai and flower garden, and animals such as cranes and peacocks were roaming. The walls of the mansion depict a forest overlooking the mountains in the distance and a garden filled with water, and the decoration plan makes you feel as if you are in nature while staying indoors. This series of decorative paintings, painted by the French decorative artist Henri Lapin (1873–1939), who decorated the main guest rooms, is the key to deciphering the concept of the Asaka Palace House and points out its relevance to garden art in France at the time.
At the Art Deco Exposition of 1925, which is said to have had a great influence on the decoration plan of the house, "garden art" was regarded as important for the first time as an independent exhibition category. Not only landscapers, but also architects and decorative artists were concerned about how to "decorate" the "garden", and various gardens were created around each pavilion and on the streets.
This exhibition focuses on the trends surrounding modern gardens in France during the interwar period, centered on expositions, and introduces the way in which they developed by incorporating elements of classicism, exoticism, and cubism, from about 120 works such as paintings, sculptures, crafts, prints, photographs, and literature. Through this exhibition, we aim to deepen our understanding of the decoration of the museum's architecture and the space itself.

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