Description: Japan’s only National Museum of Western Art was established in 1959 to
house the Matsukata Collection. Kojiro Matsukata was the president of Kawasaki
Shipbuilding Company and collected a huge number of paintings, sculptures and
prints during his travels to the West. The financial crisis of 1927 led to the
sale of works repatriated to Japan but 400 works were housed in France. These
became the property of the French government after the Second World War but were
returned to Japan in 1959. Since then the permanent collection has grown to 2,000
pieces. Special exhibitions of works on loan from major western galleries are
frequently held.
The museum has 67 sculptures by Rodin. Three are exhibited outdoors and may
be viewed without paying admission - The Thinker, Burghers of Calais and Gates
of Hell. French impressionists are also well represented with numerous works
by Claude Monet as well as works by Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh. The
20th Century Art collection includes several Picassos as well as works by Miro,
Ernst and Pollock. The print collection include etches by Holbein, Durer and
Rembrandt.
Although this museum would never be able to compete with the major museums of
Europe, it does represent the largest collection of Western Art in Asia. It is
enormously popular with the Japanese public and special exhibitions draw huge
crowds, especially over weekends. As is common in Japanese museums a route is
indicated which make it simple to see all works without having to back track or
risk missing some rooms. The names of all works, but no further explanations,
are in English for the Gallery Collection and the language of origin for the
visiting exhibitions. English audio guides are available for a fee.
Admission is yen 420 ($3) but for special exhibitions can easily exceed $
10. Special exhibitions can be a few as 100 works but is always popular and
queues often form on weekends. Admission to the special exhibition includes
admission to the Gallery Collection. Entry to the Gallery Collection, but not
the special exhibitions, is free on the second and fourth Saturday of each
month. The museum is open from 9:30 to 5:00 and up to 8:00 on Fridays. (Closed on
Mondays.) The museum shop includes postcards of most works on display as well as
a range of other souveniers.
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