The main building of the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno, Tokyo, designed by Le Corbusier and registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016, will be holding the exhibition "Le Corbusier: From Painting to Architecture - The Age of Purism" from February 19 to May 19, 2019 to commemorate its 60th anniversary.


The main building of the National Museum of Western Art, designed by Le Corbusier, a master of 20th century architecture, was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016. This exhibition, held to commemorate the museum's 60th anniversary, focuses on the period when the young Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier's real name) left his native Switzerland and promoted the Purism movement in Paris, the city's artistic capital, and looks back on his work over a period spanning approximately ten years, spanning painting, architecture, urban planning, publishing, and interior design.

In late 1918, shortly after the end of World War I, Jeanneret and the painter Amédée Ozenfant launched the Purism movement, which advocated an art of "construction and synthesis" in response to the advances of mechanical civilization. While continuing to paint, Jeanneret sought to create new architecture, drawing significant inspiration from his interactions with cutting-edge artists in the Parisian art world of the 1920s, which led to his rebirth as Le Corbusier, a pioneer of modern architecture.


This exhibition features approximately 100 works of art by Le Corbusier, as well as Amédée Ozenfant, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Henri Laurens, and Jacques Lipchitz, along with a wide range of other materials such as architectural models, publications, and videos. This is a rare opportunity to experience the spirit of the era in which Le Corbusier emerged, in the midst of the World Heritage-listed architecture that he himself created.


In addition, a special advance ticket set (limited to 500 tickets) will be available, which includes a "CINQPOINTS x Le Corbusier Exhibition Collaboration Tote Bag" with an original exhibition design and one advance general admission ticket. CINQPOINTS is a French brand created by architects under the concept of "Play with Architecture." The name comes from the five principles of modernist architecture advocated by Le Corbusier, known as CINQPOINTS (5 points).

The tote bag is an original item designed with Le Corbusier's words, "Architecture is a play of skillful, precise, and magnificent volumes unfolding in the light," and features the logos of CINQPOINTS, this exhibition, and the National Museum of Western Art. The tickets can be exchanged at the special shop at the venue during the exhibition period. However, if there are any remaining advance tickets with collaboration goods, they will be sold separately at the special shop for this exhibition.