"Adolf Wölfli: A Kingdom of 25,000 Pages," the first large-scale solo exhibition in Japan by legendary artist Adolf Wölfli, a representative of the recently acclaimed genre of outsider art, will be held at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art from January 11 to February 26, 2017. Adolf Wölfli was born into a poor family near the Swiss capital of Bern and was committed to Waldau Psychiatric Hospital approximately 30 years later. He began drawing in the hospital, and produced many narrative works, including "From Cradle to Grave," "Notes on Geography and Algebra," and "Funeral March." These works, totaling 45 volumes and 25,000 pages, astounded audiences with their unparalleled and astonishing depictions of fantastical stories. Held with the full cooperation of the Adolf Wölfli Foundation, the exhibition features a total of 74 works, including one of Wölfli's largest, measuring over four meters in length. This is a rare opportunity to see first-rate Wölfli works that have been kept secret, from his early pencil drawings on newsprint, to his first epic poem, spanning 2,970 pages across nine volumes, to "Funeral March," which is said to be a requiem for himself, and "Broad Kunst," which he drew on individual sheets in crayon to earn a living. After its run at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, the exhibition is also scheduled to travel to Nagoya and Tokyo.
【Event Information】
"Adolf Wölfli: A Kingdom of 25,000 Pages"
Venue: Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art
Address: 1-1-1 Wakinohama Kaigandori, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture
Dates: January 11th - February 26th, 2017
Time: 10:00 - 18:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Admission: Adults 1,400 yen (1,200 yen), university students 1,000 yen (800 yen), high school students and those 65 and over 700 yen (600 yen), junior high school students and younger free *Prices in parentheses are advance tickets and group rates
Closed: Mondays