Throughout human history, we have experienced ever-changing landscapes, journeying far and wide to witness nature’s seasonal changes. Since the Middle Ages, we have also strived to reconstruct and recreate these sceneries through various means of reproduction—from illuminated manuscripts to modern photographs. This exhibition invites you on a journey to discover “portable landscapes” through a curated collection of manuscripts, rare books, prints, photographs, postcards, and various artifacts related to travel. Our journey spans from late medieval manuscripts to the rise of the picturesque, encompassing travel writings, ideal landscapes of the Grand Tour, and scenery depicted on postcards.

Related event

Symposium: “Portable Land-scape—landscapes that can be brought home “

Dates：Saturday, October 19, 2024, 13:30~17:00 (Reception starts at 13:00)
Venue：Keio University Mita Campus, G-Lab (East Research Building, 6F)
Overview：A symposium featuring exhibition curators Takami Matsuda and Miho Kirishima and guest speakers.
Speakers:
Kazuyoshi Oishi (Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo)
Hiroya Sugimura (Director, Tochigi City Art Museum)
Takami Matsuda (Professor Emeritus, Keio University)
Miho Kirishima (Curator, Keio University Art Center)

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Gallery Talk
Dates：
Tuesday, October 22, 2024, 13:00~14:00 Speaker : Takami Matsuda (Professor Emeritus, Keio University)
Tuesday, November 5, 2024, 15:00~16:00 (Speaker : Miho Kirishima (Curator, Keio University Art Center))
Friday, November,  29, 2024, 13:00~14:00 (Speaker : Takami Matsuda (Professor Emeritus, Keio University))
Thursday, December 5, 2024, 15:00~16:00 (Speaker : Miho Kirishima (Curator, Keio University Art Center))

Gallery talks take place in Japanese only. Free admission.

*More information will be available on this exhibition website.

Exhibition overview

1．Prehistory of Landscape – As Backgrounds in Illuminated Manuscripts

Explore the emergence of the landscape in the “occupations of the months” which adorned calendars in late medieval Books of Hours.

2．From Topography to Maps – Enclosed Landscapes

Through early modern travel writings with woodcut illustrations, engraved sceneries from the 17th and 18th centuries, and detailed city maps, examine the relationship between environment and landscape.

3．Bringing Italy Home – The Grand Tour and Ideal Landscapes

“Ideal landscapes” featuring natural scenery with ruins, flourished in 17th-century Italy and were eagerly sought after by British and German Grand Tourists.

4．Taking Home the Countryside – The Picturesque and British Nature

In late 18th-century Britain, “Picturesque Tours” became popular, with many travelers seeking out scenic landscapes across the country.

5．Tourism and Nostalgia – 19th-Century Scenery

As mass tourism emerged in 19th-century Britain, the invention of photography made landscapes of tourist sites and scenic locations more readily available – and more portable.

6．Capturing Landscapes – Tools for Landscape Sketching

The practice of landscape sketching became fashionable in Britain after the late 18th century. In this portion of the exhibition, items on display include drawing manuals and tools used for sketching outdoors.

7．Landscapes Brought Home – Postcards as Portable Landscapes

After the late 19th century, for the first time, tourists could send their favorite landscapes anywhere in the world via postcards. To conclude the exhibition, this final chapter focuses on picture postcards related to prominent figures associated with Keio University.

Main exhibits

1. Book of Hours in Latin (Calendar of October, the Scorpion), c. 1500, Private Collection
2. George Sandys, A Relation of a Iourney Begun An: Dom: 1610. Foure Bookes. Containing a Description of the Turkish Empire, of Aegypt, of the Holy Land, of the Remote Parts of Italy, and llands Adioyning, 3rd edn., 1627, Private Collection
3. John Rocque, A Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster, and Borough of Southwark; with the Contiguous Buildings; from an Actual Survey, Taken by John Rocque, Land-Surveyor, and Engraved by John Pine, Engraver of Seals, &c. to His Majesty, 1746, Mita Media Center (Keio University Library)
4. Claude Lorrain, Liber Vetritati. Or, a Collection of Two Hundred Prints, after the Original Designs … executed by Richard Earlom, 1777, Mita Media Center (Keio University Library)
5. Vedute fotografiche italiane, 1882, Private Collection
6. A Descriptive Handbook of Modern Water-colour Pigments, 1887, Mita Media Center (Keio University Library)
7. William Gilpin, Observations on the River Wye, and several parts of South Wales, &c. relative chiefly to picturesque beauty, made in the summer of the year 1770, 1789, Mita Media Center (Keio University Library)
8. Sleeping Car Berth Ticket (from the collection of Kyuzaburo Yamamoto), 1913, Mita Media Center (Keio University Library)
9. Landscape postcard addressed to Eikichi Kamata, Mita Media Center (Keio University Library)

Click here   for a list of exhibited works

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Organized by the Keio Museum Commons
Cooperated by the Keio University Art Center, and the Keio University Mita Media Center (Keio University Library)