Nezu Art Museum
Encyclopedia
The Nezu Museum located in the Minato
district of Tokyo
, Japan
, houses the private collection of Nezu Kaichirō (1860–1940). The museum opened to the public in 1940 and escaped the destruction suffered by the estate property in the bombing of May 1945. Closed due to large-scale renovation and renewal from 2006 onwards, it re-opened in fall 2009 with a completely new museum building by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma
.
Included in the collection are a pair of Edo period
folding-screens of Irises
by Ogata Kōrin
. It also includes other paintings of renown, calligraphy
, sculpture, ceramics
, textiles and archaeological materials, as well as objects in lacquer, metal, and wood. The collection also consists of Chinese bronzes
of the Shang
and Zhou
dynasties. The Nezu Museum is also known for its vast, Japanese-style garden.
Minato, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 1 March 2008, it had an official population of 217,335 and a population density of 10,865 persons per km². The total area is 20.34 km².Minato hosts 49 embassies...
district of Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, houses the private collection of Nezu Kaichirō (1860–1940). The museum opened to the public in 1940 and escaped the destruction suffered by the estate property in the bombing of May 1945. Closed due to large-scale renovation and renewal from 2006 onwards, it re-opened in fall 2009 with a completely new museum building by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma
Kengo Kuma
is a Japanese architect.- Biography :Kuma was born in Kanagawa, Japan, and attended Eiko Gakuen junior and senior high schools. After completing a major in architecture at the University of Tokyo in 1979, he worked for a time at Nihon Sekkei and TODA Corporation. He then moved to New York for...
.
Included in the collection are a pair of Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
folding-screens of Irises
Iris (plant)
Iris is a genus of 260-300species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species...
by Ogata Kōrin
Ogata Korin
was a Japanese painter of the Rinpa school.-Early life:Kōrin was born in Kyoto, to a wealthy merchant who had a taste for the arts and is said to have given his son some elementary instruction therein...
. It also includes other paintings of renown, calligraphy
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
, sculpture, ceramics
Ceramics (art)
In art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery. Some ceramic products are regarded as fine art, while others are regarded as decorative, industrial or applied art objects, or as...
, textiles and archaeological materials, as well as objects in lacquer, metal, and wood. The collection also consists of Chinese bronzes
Chinese bronzes
Bronzes are some of the most important pieces of Chinese art, warranting an entire separate catalogue in the Imperial art collections. The Chinese Bronze Age began in the Xia Dynasty, and bronze ritual containers form the bulk of the collection of Chinese antiques, reaching its zenith during the...
of the Shang
Shang
The shang is a flat ritual upturned handbell employed by Bönpo and Asian shamans. The sizes of the shang range from approximately 3 to 20 inches in diameter. It is traditionally held to have originated in Zhangzhung and is symbolically similar to the tantric dril-bhu. Shang are traditionally...
and Zhou
Zhou
Zhou may refer to:*Zhou Dynasty , a Chinese Dynasty *Zhou Predynastic Lineage, the antecedents to the above Zhou Dynasty*Northern Zhou , a Chinese Dynasty...
dynasties. The Nezu Museum is also known for its vast, Japanese-style garden.