Information
- December 26, 2024
- Notice of the Museum’s Temporary Closure and Thanks
TEL
050-5541-8600 (General Information)
Idemitsu Museum of Arts
The Idemitsu Museum of Arts opened in 1966 as an exhibition hall for the Idemitsu Collection. The building is located on the 9th floor of the Imperial Theater Building looking down over the beautiful Imperial Garden in Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. The museum is designed to incorporate the Japanese spirit of hospitality in the setting of the modern building and invites visitors to enjoy the artworks in a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. Special exhibitions are held about six times a year, with themed exhibitions of selected works from the Idemitsu Collection of Japanese painting and calligraphy, and East Asian ceramics. Other attractions include a year-round exhibition of major works by Georges Rouault (1871-1958), the French master of religious paintings who is famous for the series called “Passion” depicting the last days of life of Jesus Christ. The unique feature of the Museum is the Ceramic Sherd Room where fragments of pottery collected from kilns around Asia and Egypt (Fustat site, Cairo) are displayed.
About the Idemitsu collection
The Idemitsu Collection includes representative works of Eastern Asian ancient art, gathered over 70 years by Sazo Idemitsu (1885-1981), founder of the Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd., and the Museum. This extensive collection includes Japanese painting (yamato-e, rimpa, bunjin-ga, ukiyo-e, and works by the Zen painter Sengai and modern painter Kosugi Hōan, etc.) and calligraphy, East Asian ceramics (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean wares, and works of modern ceramicist, Itaya Hazan, etc.). The collection also holds works of Western painters (Georges Rouault). There are a total of fifteen thousand items, including two National Treasures and fifty-four Important Cultural Properties.
