It is often said about 20th century art that it is difficult to understand what is being depicted.
But is that really the case?
The 20th century was a time when many artists were forced to leave the lands they were accustomed to living in and emigrate, having experienced successive major wars and been dubbed the "century of refugees."
In particular, artists who traveled to America furthered abstract expression, pioneering new forms of expression such as Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and Minimal Art. At the same time, however, the loneliness and sense of alienation they felt in a foreign land continued to smolder with deep, refractory questions such as who they were and what art is.
What accelerated this trend was the capitalist society of mass production and mass consumption.
For example, after Marilyn Monroe's sudden death in 1962, Warhol often used her as a subject for his works, but we must not ignore the inner conflict of the great actress that was marked by her death.
The person I really want to be, and the person I am forced to play the role of a seductive woman for the sake of consumer society.
Perhaps a similar conflict prompted Warhol to utter these not-so-simple words:
"If you want to know everything about Andy Warhol... just look at the surface. I'm there. There's nothing behind it."
Don't overthink it, just start by taking a good look at the surface.
Please enjoy with your eyes and heart the various "surfaces" of 39 pieces of 20th century art from the Ohara Museum of Art collection and the Yakushi Nyorai standing statue (special exhibit) from our museum's collection.