Lithuanian painter Ciurlionis' art exhibition in Tokyo planned for 2026

VILNIUS – The National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo is planning to host an art exhibition dedicated to Lithuanian artist and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis in the spring of 2026, the Culture Ministry said on Thursday.

Scheduled to run from March to May 2026, the exhibition will mark Ciurlionis' 150th birth anniversary, which will be celebrated in 2025. Alongside the exhibition, there will be concerts, meetings, and educational events. 

A delegation from the museum is expected to visit Lithuania in May this year.

Opened in 1959, the National Museum of Western Art is Japan's first public museum dedicated to systematically collecting and presenting Western art from the Renaissance to the early 20th century.

Interest in Ciurlionis in Japan dates back to the 1970s. The first auditions and exhibitions of reproductions were organized by the Ciurlionis Society, set up through the efforts of musicologist Professor Ichiro Kato.