Ohara Museum of Art

Japanese: 大原美術館 - おおはらびじゅつかん

An art museum in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. It is Japan's first modern Western art museum, founded in 1930 (Showa 5) by Ohara Magosaburo, the second president of Kurashiki Spinning Co., Ltd., to commemorate the work of Kojima Torajiro, a Western-style painter from the same prefecture, and to promote the study and development of art. In addition to Kojima's works, the museum's collection includes Western paintings and ancient Egyptian art that Kojima himself collected in Europe at the request of the founder, and after World War II, modern Western art and modern and contemporary Japanese art were collected by Magosaburo's successor, Shishi Soichiro.

The main building is the original building from when the school was founded, and has a Greek temple-style exterior with two sculptures by Rodin on either side of the main entrance. The exhibition room displays pioneering contemporary art works, widely known as the Ohara Collection, including Greco's "The Annunciation," as well as works by Monet, Gauguin, and Kandinsky. The annex exhibits masterpieces of modern Japanese Western-style painting by artists such as Fujishima Takeji, Kishida Ryusei, and Yasui Sotaro. The Crafts Gallery, converted from an old storehouse, houses a pottery room with works by Hamada Shoji, Tomimoto Kenkichi, Kawai Kanjiro, and Bernard Leach, as well as a room for Munakata Shiko, a woodblock print artist, and a room for Serizawa Keisuke, a dyer.

The Toyokan exhibits ancient art from prehistory to the Tang dynasty, mainly from China, and the Torajiro Kojima Memorial Museum, a converted warehouse on the site of the former Kurashiki Spinning Mill, exhibits Torajiro's paintings as well as art from ancient Egypt, prehistoric Iran, and medieval Islam. The museum is closed every Monday and from December 28th to January 1st.

[Shinichi Nagai]

"Ohara Museum of Art Art Lectures 1-5" (1988-1990, Yobisha)" ▽ "Dreaming -- The History of the Ohara Museum of Art" (1991), edited and published by Sanyo Shimbunsha" ▽ "Ohara Museum of Art Collection Catalog 1920-1990" (1991), edited and published by Ohara Museum of Art" ▽ "A Romantic Journey at the Ohara Museum of Art" by Imamura Shinzo (1993, Nippon Bunkyo Publishing)" ▽ "120 Selections from the Ohara Museum of Art" (1994), edited and published by Ohara Museum of Art" ▽ "Ohara Museum of Art" by Fujita Shinichiro (1999, Nippon Bunkyo Publishing)" ▽ "Ohara Museum of Art and Me -- 50 Years of Passage" by Fujita Shinichiro (2000, Sanyo Shimbunsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

岡山県倉敷市にある美術館。1930年（昭和5）同県出身の洋画家児島虎次郎(こじまとらじろう)の画業を記念し、あわせて美術の研究発達を図るため倉敷紡績2代目社長大原孫三郎(まごさぶろう)により創立されたわが国最初の西洋近代美術館。収蔵作品は児島の作品のほか、児島自身が創立者の委嘱を受けてヨーロッパで集めた西洋絵画、エジプト古代美術に加えて、第二次世界大戦後、孫三郎の嗣子(しし)総一郎によって西洋現代美術、日本近代・現代美術が集められた。

　本館は創立当初の建物でギリシア神殿風の外観の正面入口の左右にロダンの彫刻2点が置かれている。展示室にはグレコの『受胎告知』をはじめ、モネ、ゴーギャンからカンディンスキーなど、大原コレクションとして広く知られる現代美術の先駆をなす作品が展示されている。分館は藤島武二、岸田劉生(りゅうせい)、安井曽太郎(そうたろう)など、近代日本洋画の代表作が展示されている。古い土蔵を改造した工芸館は浜田庄司(しょうじ)、富本憲吉、河井寛次郎、バーナード・リーチの作品を収めた陶器室と板画の棟方(むなかた)志功室、染色の芹沢銈介(せりざわけいすけ)室が並ぶ。

　東洋館は中国を中心にした先史から唐代に至る古美術を展示、旧倉敷紡績工場跡の倉庫を改造した児島虎次郎記念館には虎次郎の絵画と古代エジプト、先史イラン、中世イスラムの美術が展示されている。休館日は毎週月曜日と12月28日から1月1日。

［永井信一］

『『大原美術館美術講座1～5』（1988～1990・用美社）』▽『山陽新聞社編・刊『夢かける――大原美術館の軌跡』（1991）』▽『大原美術館編・刊『大原美術館所蔵品目録1920―1990』（1991）』▽『今村新三著『大原美術館ロマン紀行』（1993・日本文教出版）』▽『大原美術館編・刊『大原美術館の120選』（1994）』▽『藤田慎一郎著『大原美術館』（1999・日本文教出版）』▽『藤田慎一郎著『大原美術館と私――50年のパサージュ』（2000・山陽新聞社）』