Exhibitions
Anti-Action: Artist-Women’s Challenges and Responses in Postwar Japan
Date
-Location
Special Exhibition Gallery (1st floor)
In Japan during the 1950s and 1960s, female artists attracted attention in the realm of avant-garde art. This trend was encouraged by the art informel movement that came from abroad, but when the stylistic concept of “action painting” was introduced next, women painters disappeared from most criticism. The notion of “action,” such as boldness and strength, closely associated with masculinity, caused a swingback to the traditional gender order.
This exhibition is an attempt to reinterpret modern and contemporary Japanese art history from the perspective disclosed by Nakajima Izumi in her 2019 book Anti-action: Post-war Japanese Art and Women Artists. Based on the perspective of “anti-action,” which aims to review art history from the viewpoint of gender studies, this project will focus on the activities of Kusama Yayoi, Tanaka Atsuko, and Fukushima Hideko, who are featured in the book, as well as other artists who until now have rarely been discussed as subjects of art history. This exhibition will introduce the results of current art historical research and provide new perspectives on the act of evaluating works of art.
Vinyl paint on cotton cloth and board, 183.0×137.5 cm, Ashiya City Museum of Art ＆ History
©Estate of Tsuruko Yamazaki courtesy of LADS Gallery, Osaka and Take Ninagawa, Tokyo
Exhibiting Artists
Akana Keiko（1924-98）、Akutagawa(Madokoro) Saori（1924-66）、Enomoto Kazuko（1930-2019）、 Emi Kinuko（1923-2015）、Kusama Yayoi（1929-）、Shiraga Fujiko（1928-2015）、 Tada Minami（1924-2014）、Tanaka Atsuko（1932-2005）、Tanaka Tazuko（1913-2015）、 Tabe Mitsuko（1933-2024）、Fukushima Hideko（1927-1997）、Miyawaki Aiko（1929-2014）、 Mori Mami（1926-2022）、Yamazaki Tsruko（1925-2019）
Oil on canvas, 100.0×65.0 cm
Private collection
Oil on canvas, 130.0×162.0 cm
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Oil on canvas, 116.5×91.0 cm
Itabashi Art Museum
Oil on canvas, 161.9×112.3 cm
Private collection
Mixed media, 118.5×80.3×12.0 cm
Itabashi Art Museum
©YAYOI KUSAMA
Oil, Japanese paper, glass on canvas, 181.5×245.0 cm
Takamatsu Art Museum
Aluminum, 200.0×300.0×50.0 cm
Minami Tada Associates
Photo by Nakagawa Shu
Vinyl paint, acrylic on canvas, 331.5×245.5 cm
The National Museum of Art, Osaka
©Kanayama Akira and Tanaka Atsuko Association
Oil on canvas, 102.3×134.3 cm
Nara Prefectural Museum of Art
Ping-pong ball on paper (fusuma), 170.0×174.6 cm
Fukuoka Art Museum
Oil on canvas, 130.5×92.0 cm
Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts
Brass, 47.5×49.5×12.0 cm
Photo by Nakagawa Shu
Oil on canvas, 130.0×89.0 cm
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Exhibition Catalogue
Anti-Action: Artist-Women’s Challenges and Responses in Postwar Japan
Date of Issue: October 29, 2025
Price: 3,630yen（including tax）
Size: B5 （JIS standard）
Number of Pages: 290
Languages: Japanese-English bilingual
Contents
Anti-Action Chronology
Anti-Action Relationship Diagram
Plates
List of Works
Bibliography
“Anti-Action” Artist-Women and Postwar Abstract Paintings in Japan: Nakajima Izumi (Ph.D., Associate Professor, Graduate school of Humanities, Osaka University)
Interview with Griselda PollockーWhat the works are doing. : Conducted by Nakajima Izumi
Why did Don Quixote Return?ーThe Effective Range of Anti-Action : Nariai Hajime (Curator, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)
The Latent Power of the Invisible : Chiba Machiko (Curator, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art)
The Woman with a Saw in HandーGutai and Anti-Action : Suzuki Yoshiko (Curator, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art Oji Branch Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art)
The paintings remain the sameーOn the Ohashi Collection : Egami Yuka (Curator, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art)
The Anti-Action ExhibitionーMultiple Lines Redrawing Art History : Nose Yoko (Senior Curator, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery)
Hours & Admissions
- Location
-
Special Exhibition Gallery (1st floor)
- Date
-
December 16, 2025–February 8, 2026
- Closed
-
Mondays (except January 12), December 28–January 1, and January 13
- Time
-
10 am–5 pm (Fridays and Saturdays open until 8 pm)
- Last admission: 30 minutes before closing.
- Admission
-
Adults ¥2,000 (¥1,800)
College/University Students ¥1,200 (¥1,000)- All prices include tax.
- Admission in the parentheses is for advance tickets and groups of 20 persons or more.
- Admission is free for individuals aged 18 and under, and individuals with a disability plus one companion. ID is required.
- Including the admission fee for MOMAT Collection.
- Tickets
-
Same-day tickets can be purchased at the ticket counters, while online ticket can be purchased at e-tix online ticket service.
- Organaized by
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The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, The Asahi Shimbun
- Exhibition Tours
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October 7–November 30, 2025, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
March 25–May 6, 2026, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art