Okura Museum of Art explained

Okura Museum of Art
大倉集古館
Alternate Names:Ōkura Shūkokan
Address:2-10-3 Toranomon
Location Town:Minato, Tokyo
Location Country:Japan
Coordinates:35.6669°N 139.7433°W
Opened Date:August 1917 / October 1928
Architect:Itō Chūta
Architecture Firm:Ōkura Doboku

is a museum in Tokyo, Japan.[1]

The museum opened in Toranomon, Tokyo in 1917 to house the collection of pre-modern Japanese and East-Asian Art amassed since the Meiji Restoration by industrialist Ōkura Kihachirō. The museum collection includes some 2,500 works, among which are three National Treasures and twelve Important Cultural Properties.[2]

The museum is located within the grounds of the Hotel Okura Tokyo. Closed for renovation since April 1, 2014, the museum reopened alongside the rebuilt hotel in 2019.

History

The Okura Museum of Art was the first private museum in Japan.[3] [4] The museum and all the exhibits on display were destroyed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake although works then in storage survived.[5] The exhibition hall was rebuilt in 1927 by leading architect and architectural historian Itō Chūta and is a Registered Cultural Property.[5] [6] The museum collection was subsequently augmented by the founder's son, Ōkura Kishichirō.[2]

Collection

The three National Treasures in the collection are a Heian-period wooden statue of Samantabhadra (Fugen Bosatsu in Japanese) riding on an elephant;[7] [8] a scroll painting Imperial Guard Cavalry (in Japanese) dating to 1247;[9] and a copy of the preface to the Kokinshū attributed to Minamoto no Shunrai.[10] Losses in the 1923 earthquake include one of the dry lacquer statue group of the Ten Great Disciples of which six survive at Kōfuku-ji (National Treasures).[8]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. [Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]
  2. Web site: Okura Shukokan - Outline . Okura Museum of Art . 16 April 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101127151353/http://shukokan.org/english/index.html . 27 November 2010 . dead .
  3. Web site: Prominent People of Minato City: Kihachiro Okura . . 16 April 2012.
  4. Book: The Imperial Museums of Meiji Japan: Architecture and the Art of the Nation . Tseng, Alice Y . 2008 . . 9780295987774 . 224.
  5. Book: The Architecture of Tōkyō . Watanabe Hiroshi . Edition Axel Menges . 2001 . 3930698935 . 93.
  6. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00000630 . ja:大倉集古館陳列館 . Ōkura Shūkokan Exhibition Hall . Japanese . . 16 April 2012.
  7. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/276 . ja:木造普賢菩薩騎象像 . Wooden statue of Fugen Bosatsu riding on an elephant . Japanese . . 16 April 2012.
  8. The Statue of Fugen Bosatsu Okura Museum, Tokyo . Moran, Sherwood F . . . 1965 . 6 . 4 . 348–381.
  9. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/74 . ja:紙本淡彩随身庭騎絵巻 . Imperial Guard Cavalry, emaki (colours on paper) . Japanese . . 16 April 2012.
  10. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/557 . ja:古今和歌集序(彩牋三十三枚) . Preface to the Kokinshū (33 sheets) . Japanese . . 16 April 2012.