Welcome to the MOMAT Collection!
To briefly introduce some features of the museum’s exhibitions of works from the collection: First, its scale is one of the largest in Japan, displaying approximately 200 works each term from the museum’s holdings of over 13,000 works acquired since its opening in 1952. Also, it is one of the foremost exhibitions in Japan, tracing the arc of Japanese modern and contemporary art from the end of the 19th century to the present day through a series of 12 rooms, each with its own specific theme.
This term, we are pleased to offer another abundant lineup of works. To focus on just two of the highlights: first, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, Rooms 2 through 4 on the 4th floor survey relationships between the earthquake and art, highlighting topics such as the devastation of the affected area, reconstruction, and social fragmentation.
Also, Rooms 7 through 9 on the 3rd floor feature the work of photographer Ohtsuji Kiyoji, who would have turned 100 this year were he still alive. Ohtsuji’s avant-garde photographs earned acclaim in the immediate postwar years, and here we also showcase his importance as a writer and educator along with works of art closely associated with him.
National Important Cultural Properties on display
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Collection (main building) contains 18 items that have been designated by the Japanese government as National Important Cultural Properties. These include twelve Nihon-ga (Japanese-style) paintings, five oil paintings, and one sculpture. (One of the Nihon-ga paintings and one of the oil paintings are on long-term loan to the museum.)
The following National Important Cultural Properties are shown in this period:
Harada Naojiro, Kannon Bodhisattva Riding the Dragon, 1890, Long term loan (Gokokuji Temple Collection) | Room1
Kishida Ryusei, Road Cut through a Hill, 1915 | Room1
Nakamura Tsune, Portrait of Vasilii Eroshenko, 1920 | Room1
About the Sections
MOMAT Collection comprises twelve（or thirteen）rooms and two spaces for relaxation on three floors. In addition, sculptures are shown near the terrace on the second floor and in the front yard. The light blue areas in the cross section above make up MOMAT Collection. The space for relaxation “A Room With a View” is on the fourth floor.
The entrance of the collection exhibition MOMAT Collection is on the fourth floor. Please take the elevator or walk up stairs to the fourth floor from the entrance hall on the first floor.
4F (Fourth floor)
Room 1 Dawn of the Modern Era
Room 2 100th Anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake: Art of 1923
Room 3 100th Anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake: Devastation and Recovery
Room 4 100th Anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake: Social Distortion
Room 5 Forms That Look Like Something
3F (Third floor)
Room 6 Painting, 1920s-1940s: Focus on the Figurative
Room 7 Experiments and Collaborations 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Ohtsuji Kiyoji (1)
Room 8 Gutai and Matter 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Ohtsuji Kiyoji (2)
Room 9 Uehara 2-chome 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Ohtsuji Kiyoji (3)
Room 10 New Acquisition and Special Exhibition: Ikeda Shoen, Way Back
2F (Second floor)
Room 11 Visual Labyrinths
Room 12 Visual Labyrinths
Room 13 (Gallery 4) Before and After the Catastrophe
* Leiko Ikemura's work is on display in Room 13 (Gallery 4).
Artists: Ai-Mitsu, Takashi Arai, Shusaku Arakawa, Jean(Hans) Arp, Gyokushi Atomi, Lorenzo Bonechi, Miriam Cahn, Alexander Calder, Paul Cézanne, Marc Chagall, Masaya Chiba, Chim ↑ Pom, Ei-Kyu, Akiko Endo, Roland Flexner, Yoshio Fujimaki, Shizuo Fujimori, Takeji Fujishima, Tsuguharu Fujita, Hideko Fukushima, Ichiro Fukuzawa, Gérard Garouste, Arshile Gorky, Antony Gormley, Naojiro Harada, Toshiyuki Hasegawa, Seisui Hashimoto, Barbara Hepworth, Nobuya Hitsuda, Ryujo Hori, Michio Horikawa, Shoen Ikeda, Terukata Ikeda, Leiko Ikemura, Hakutei Ishii, Yukie Ishikawa, Shinsui Ito, Shoha Ito, Kiyokata Kaburaki, Hisako Kajiwara, Seiko Kanno, Tamako Kataoka, Izumi Kato, Ryushi Kawabata, Tatsuo Kawaguchi, Sumio Kawakami, Riichiro Kawashima, Keigetsu Kikuchi, Buzan Kimura, Kentaro Kimura, Ryusei Kishida, Shozo Kitadai, Tsunetomi Kitano, Noboru Kitawaki, Paul Klee, Teiko Kobatake, Kokei Kobayashi, Masato Kobayashi, Narashige Koide, Ryohei Koiso, Tetsuro Komai, Koichiro Kondo, Jutaro Kuroda, Sol Lewitt, Seison Maeda, Sempan Maekawa, Kanji Maeta, Marino Marini, Naofumi Maruyama, Shunsuke Matsumoto, Joan Miró, Kimiyo Mishima, Toshiko Mitani, Aiko Miyawaki, Kozo Miyoshi, Haruo Mochizuki, Tomoyoshi Murayama, Sofu Nagano, Yoshie Nakada, Fusetsu Nakamura, Hiroshi Nakamura, Tsune Nakamura, Hiromitsu Nakazawa, Yoshitomo Nara, Kyuho Noda, Isamu Noguchi, Kazuma Oda, Usen Ogawa, Yuki Ogura, Kiyoji Ohtsuji, Oscar Oiwa, Taro Okamoto, Toki Okamoto, Kenjiro Okazaki, Tadashige Ono, Dennis Oppenheim, Chikuha Otake, Yoshishige Saito, Hanjiro Sakamoto, Kanzan Shimomura, Fukumi Shimura, Taketaro Shinkai, Fuku Shoji, Hirotaro Sogame, Kunitaro Suda, Hisui Sugiura, Iwane Sumiya, Minami Tada, Shu Takagi, Kotaro Takamura, Atsuko Tanaka, Kakuzo Tatehata, Masaaki Terada, Kogyo Terasaki, Shimei Terashima, Sofu Teshigahara, Seifu Tsuda, Miyuki Tsugami, Aguri Uchida, Kaoru Ueda, Shoen Uemura, Tokuko Ushioda, Ryuzaburo Umehara, Keiji Usami, Katsuhiro Yamaguchi, Shuho Yamakawa, Toyonari (Koka) Yamamura, Ryumon Yasuda, Sotaro Yasui, Tadanori Yokoo, Tetsugoro Yorozu, Fujio Yoshida, Kyoji (Kiyoshi) Yoshigae, Jiro Yoshihara
Sources: MOMAT, MOMAT Collection List
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
3-1 Kitanomaru-koen, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 102-8322
tel. +81 (0)50-5541-8600
www.momat.go.jp/english/am/visit/