Ohara Museum of Art
Ohara Museum of Art: read a guide to the world-class Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki, founded by local textile entrepreneur Ohara Magosaburo (1880-1943).
Ohara Museum of Art 大原美術館
The Ohara Museum of Art, Kurashiki
The Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki is the oldest museum of western art in Japan and opened in 1930. The private museum was the work of local textile entrepreneur Ohara Magosaburo (1880-1943) to commemorate his friend, painter Kojima Torajiro (1881-1929), who had died the previous year.
Ohara had sponsored Kojima on art buying trips to Europe and it is the paintings Kojima purchased for Ohara that form the core of the collection.
Exhibits
The museum originally exhibited mainly French painting and sculpture from the 19th and early 20th century but has expanded to include Dutch and Flemish painting of the 17th century and art from the Italian Renaissance.
The work of famous artists of the 20th century is now also present in the superb collection along with art from the Mingei Movement (Japanese Folk Art Movement), Islamic art, ancient oriental art, classical art from Greece and Rome, oriental tiles and Chinese paintings.
Paul Cezanne, Marc Chagall, Edgar Degas, El Greco, Paul Gauguin, Paul Klee, Jeff Koons, Bernard Leach, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko and Andy Walhol are just some of the artists whose work is on display.
Craft Art Gallery and Asian Gallery
As well as the main building done in classical style, the museum now includes a Craft Art Gallery and Asian Gallery. This building has been remodeled from an old granary. Here are works by Bernard Leach, Kawai Kanjiro, potter and National Living Treasure Tomimoto Kenkichi (1886-1963) and Hamada Shoji (1894-1978).
Also on display are woodblock prints by Munakata Shiko (1903-1975), and katazome stencils by textile designer Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984). In addition, antiques from China collected by Kojima Torajiro can be seen.
Annex
Outside the annex are a pair of statues by the French sculptor Rodin and the British artist Henry Moore.
The annex exhibits paintings by such artists as Aoki Shigeru (1882-1911), Kishida Ryusei (1891-1929), Léonard Foujita Tsuguharu (1886-1968), Sekine Shoji (1899-1919) and others. There are sculptures by both Takamura Kotaro (1883-1956) and Ogihara Morie (1879-1910) as well as contemporary works by Yoshihara Jiro, Saito Yoshishige, Nanbata Tatsuoki and other Japanese artists.
Museum Shop
The museum has a shop and presents annual art lectures in summer, as well as Gallery Concerts with world-class musicians taking part.
The Ohara Museum of Art is the oldest museum of western art in Japan
Painters exhibited at the Ohara Museum of Art include Cezanne, Chagall, Degas, El Greco, Gauguin, Klee, Matisse, Miro, Monet and Picasso
Access - how to get to the Ohara Museum of Art
Ohara Museum of Art
1-1-15 Chuo
Kurashiki
Tel: 086 422 0055
www.ohara.or.jp (official website in Japanese and English)
Hours: 9 am - 5 pm, closed Monday (if Sunday or Monday is a public holiday the museum will open on Monday); also closed December 28-December 31
Admission: Adults 1,300 yen; university students 800 yen; high school, junior high school and elementary school students 500 yen.
The museum is 15 minutes on foot from Kurashiki Station on the Sanyo Line. There is a local Ryobi Bus from the station that stops outsidethe museum. The museum is located close to the Bikan district.
The Ohara Museum of Art was established by local textile magnate Ohara Magosaburo
