Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art
Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art | |
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| Location | Sakura, Japan |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°39′12″N 140°13′17″E / 35.65325°N 140.22137°E |
The Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art (DIC川村記念美術館, DIC Kawamura Kinen Bijutsukan) (often shortened to Kawamura Memorial Museum) was an art museum in Sakura, Japan, designed by Ichiro Ebihara (海老原一郎, Ebihara Ichiro).
The museum opened in 1990 and its collection now contains more than 1000 works collected by the Japanese resin and ink manufacturer DIC Corporation.[1] The project was largely the brainchild of Katsumi Kawamura, the former president of DIC, founder and first director of the museum, who had been collecting art since the 1970s.[1] The Kawamura Memorial Museum contains artwork by a wide selection of American, European and Japanese artists, including special exhibitions of the works of Mark Rothko and Frank Stella. The museum is set in a 30-hectare park with over 200 kinds of trees, 500 kinds of plants and inhabited by many wild birds and insects.[2]
According to a DIC management decision, partially attributed to shareholder pressure,[3] the museum was initially planned to close on February 1, 2025,[4][5] but due to public demand of Sakura residents,[6] closure date was moved to March 31, 2025.[7]
The collection, including the Rothko room, will relocate to an upcoming west wing of the International House of Japan in Tokyo planned to open in 2030.[8]
Public response
According to DIC corporation, the museum has had a positive impact on the image of the company. At the end of the 20th century, the museum was attracting over 300,000 visitors each year.[9] Former president Shigekuni Kawamura commented that 'customers...evaluate us highly as a cultivated, international company which is not concerned solely with its business. This is not an outcome we planned, but is a very satisfying one'.[9]
Main works
References
- ^ a b "About the Museum". Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art. Archived from the original on April 3, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ "Nature". Archived from the original on November 20, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ Stone, Tim (3 September 2024). "Japanese art museum—home to one of world's only four Rothko rooms—faces closure and collection selloff". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Museum closure".
- ^ The search for Japan’s ‘lost’ art Financial Times.
- ^ "Chemical plants printed on bank notes, and a firm's museum closes in Japan". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
- ^ "Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art ceased operation as a museum in Sakura City from March 31st, 2025". DIC川村記念美術館. 2025-03-31. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
- ^ https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/tokyo-to-welcome-a-rothko-room-featuring-the-artists-renowned-seagram-murals-040825
- ^ a b Martorella, Rosanne (1996). Art and Business: an international perspective on sponsorship. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 208.
External links
- Museum homepage Archived 2018-10-18 at the Wayback Machine (in English)
- Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art within Google Arts & Culture
Media related to Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art at Wikimedia Commons
