From its inception, the newly-established Artizon Museum inherited the prime location of its predecessor, the Bridgestone Museum of Art, in a first-class district in Kyobashi, and the museum’s collections beloved by art connoisseurs for the diverse selection of impressionist artworks and Japanese contemporary Western-style art. The name of the Artizon Museum is a combination the words “Art” and “Horizon.”
The museum occupies the lower levels of the 23-storey Museum Tower Kyobashi. Floors 1 through 3 host the museum cafe and shop, and the galleries are located on floors 4 through 6. The Artizon Museum is engaged in cutting-edge initiatives to digitalize art and information, and provides a variety of IT-powered services.
“Women Impressionists” and “Special Section New Acquisitions: The Paul Klee Collection,” two events that put the spotlight on newly-acquired pieces, are held in the 4F Gallery concurrently with the planned exhibition.
The original collection of the Ishibashi Foundation was distinguished by its broad scope. During the five-year period from 2015, when the Bridgestone Museum of Art closed its doors, until the opening of the Artizon Museum, approximately 184 paintings and sculptures (as of the end of September 2019), including works by Australian artists, as well as Japanese modern and contemporary art pieces, were newly added to the collection together with about 1,200 vintage photographic portraits of artists. Through these efforts, the collection expanded further in scope and diversity, reaching a total of approximately 2,800 works.
The 6F Gallery hosts “Jam Sessions,” a collaborative project in which works from the Ishibashi Foundation Collection are exhibited together with works by contemporary artists. These joint showings will be held once a year, starting in 2020. The first “Jam Session” presents Tomoko Konoike, whose singing voice accompanied by animal-like cries flows from the visual works dispersed throughout the sparsely lit gallery. The venue also features an exhibition of 19th century paintings by French artists from the Ishibashi Foundation Collection.
The 5F Gallery presents “Exhibition in Japan of the Japan Pavilion at the 58th International Exhibition-La Biennale di Venezia ‘Cosmo-Eggs’.” The pieces in this installation were created through collaboration among artists from different fields. The starting point of the project was a series of photographs taken by artist Motoyuki Shitamichi of boulders washed ashore from the bottom of the ocean by a huge tsunami.
Based in Kyobashi, the Artizon Museum spreads out the appeal of its rich collection to a diverse audience, and reveals new worlds through the magic of art. We will definitely see growth in expectations for the museum’s future efforts to expand art horizons and boost the diversity of the Kyobashi area through art and culture.
