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Japan’s first art museum specializing in Japanese painting | Yamatane Museum of Art

The First Art Museum Specializing in Japanese painting

The Yamatane Museum of Art opened in 1966 as the nation’s first art museum specializing in Japanese-style painting, based on the philosophy of its founder, Taneji Yamazaki (山崎種二/founder of Yamatane Securities [now SMBC Nikko Securities]), to “contribute to society, especially culture, through art.

ⒸYamatane Museum

Since then, the museum has been dedicated to the collection, research, exhibition, and dissemination of modern and contemporary Japanese-style paintings for almost half a century.

The museum’s collection consists of approximately 1,800 works of modern and contemporary Japanese paintings, mainly from the collections of Hayami Gyoshū(速水御舟), Kawai Gyokudō(川合玉堂), and Okumura Togyū(奥村土牛). Among them are six works designated as Important Cultural Properties, including works by Iwasa Matabee(岩佐又兵衛), Tsubaki Chinzan(椿椿山), and Takeuchi Seihō(竹内栖鳳), as well as works from the early modern and Edo periods. The museum also manages Japanese-style paintings, which are vulnerable to long-term exhibition, and holds special exhibitions on a regular basis.

See also A brief history of the arts of Japan: the Edo period (from 17th to the 19th Century)

ⒸKoike Norio 2009

Open:Tuesday – Sunday 10:00-17:00
(Last admission 16:30)
Closed:Mondays, New Year holidays
Address: 3-12-36 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku,Tokyo,150-0012
Tel: 050-5541-8600(Hello Dial)
Official website: https://www.yamatane-museum.jp/

What is the characteristic of Japanese-style painting?

In the spring of 2023, the museum held a special exhibition focusing on Kobayashi Kokei, who left a significant mark on the history of modern Japanese-style painting and celebrated the 140th anniversary of his birth this year, and Hayami Gyoshū, another master of modern Japanese-style painting, which drew a great deal of attention.

Japanese-style painting is an art form that uses natural materials such as mineral pigments and Japanese paper. In its subject matter and expression, the beauty of nature and the sense of the seasons are important, reflecting the traditional Japanese sense of beauty that has been cultivated through living in harmony with nature.

The Yamatane Museum of Art hopes to convey to as many people as possible, regardless of age, gender, or nationality, the appeal of Japanese painting, which has been refined over time in the unique natural environment and climate of Japan. They wish to develop a variety of activities so that Japanese painting can be handed down to the future.

See also A brief history of the arts of Japan: the Edo period (from 17th to the 19th Century)

ⒸYamatane Museum

Cafe Tsubaki
Open:Tuesday – Sunday 10:30-17:00
(Last admission 16:30)
Closed:Mondays, New Year holidays
Address: 3-12-36 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku,Tokyo,150-0012
Tel: 090-5202-7887
Official website: https://www.yamatane-museum.jp/

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