is a subterranean

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

located on the island of

Nakanoshima is a 3 km long and 50 hectares narrow sandbank in Kita-ku, Osaka city, Japan, that divides the Kyū-Yodo into the Tosabori and Dōjima rivers. Many governmental and commercial offices (including the city hall of Osaka), museums and oth ...

, located between the Dōjima River and the Tosabori River, about 10 minutes west of Higobashi Station in central

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. The official Japanese title of the museum translates as the "National Museum of International Art". The museum is also known by the English acronym NMAO (National Museum of Art, Osaka).

NMAO history

César Pelli César Pelli (October 12, 1926 – July 19, 2019) was an Argentine architect who designed some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. Three of his most notable buildings are the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Wo ...

& Associates Japan. The museum originates from the Expo Museum of Fine Arts at

Expo '70 The or Expo '70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, between 15 March and 13 September 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

, held in

Suita is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 381,238 in 182,636 households, and a population density of 11,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a suburban city of Osaka City and a p ...

in the outskirts of Osaka. The site was converted into Expo Commemoration Park after the Expo, but the gallery was preserved for possible future use as a permanent art museum. It re-opened in 1977 as the National Museum of Art, as part of the Expo Commemoration Park. Due to the aging of the building as well as growing space limitations, the museum was temporarily closed in January 2004. The old museum was demolished and turned into a car park, while the exhibits were transferred to its more central, current location in Nakanoshima, which opened in November 2004.

NMAO collections

The NMAO collection of about 8,000 works by Japanese and overseas artists predominantly from 1945 onwards is Japan's largest collection of contemporary art. The collection is displayed in fascinating thematic exhibitions that change several times a year, providing an introduction to the important artists and works essential for an understanding of contemporary art.

Pelli's building

The museum structure is itself an example of the modern architect's art. The present museum was designed by the Argentine architect

. Most of the museum facilities are located underground, next to the

Osaka Science Museum The is a science museum in Naka-no-shima, Kita-ku, Osaka, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. The museum is located between the Dōjima River and the Tosabori River, above Osaka's subterranean National Museum of Art, Osaka, National Museum of Art. Opened in ...

. Pelli suggested that the externally visible design structure represents waving reeds in the wind. The entrance, auditorium, restaurant and the museum shop are located just beneath ground level, with exhibits and storage facilities on the next two floors beneath. Collection exhibitions are held mainly on the 2nd basement level, with special and co-organized exhibitions held on the 3rd basement level.

Union catalog

The Union Catalog of the Collections of the National Art Museums, Japan, is a consolidated catalog of material held by the four Japanese national art museums—the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto ( MOMAK), the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo ( MOMAT), the National Museum of Art in Osaka (NMAO), and the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo ( NMWA): IAI-National Museums of Art union catalog
Japan. * National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (MOMAK). *

National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo The , also known as MOMAT, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art. The museum, in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, is known for its collection of 20th-century art and includes Western-style and ''Nihonga'' artists. It has a bra ...

(MOMAT) * National Museum of Art, Osaka (NMAO) *

National Museum of Western Art The is the premier public art gallery in Japan specializing in art from the Western tradition. The museum is in the Ueno Park in Taitō, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016. History The NMWA was established on June 10, 1959 ...

(NMWA) The online version of this union catalog is currently under construction, with only selected works available at this time.

Selected artists

: *

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

(1839–1906), France *

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

(1891–1976), Germany *

Tsuguharu Foujita was a Japanese–French painter. After having studied Western-style painting in Japan, Foujita traveled to Paris, where he encountered the international modern art scene of the Montparnasse neighborhood and developed an eclectic style that borrow ...

(1886–1968), Japan * Teiji Furuhashi (1960–1995), Japan *

Leiko Ikemura is a Japanese-Swiss artist who works in a variety of mediums, including oil painting, sculpture, and watercolor. She divides her time between Cologne and Berlin, teaching painting at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. Active on the internat ...

(1951- ), Japan *

Miyako Ishiuchi , is a Japanese photographer. In 2005, she represented Japan at the Venice Biennale. In March 2014, she received the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography. Ishiuchi's work is included in the collections of the Museum of Mod ...

(1947- ), Japan * Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1893–1953), Japan * Boris Mikhailov (1938- ), Ukraine * Ryuji Miyamoto (1947- ), Japan *

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

(1886–1973), Spain

References

External links

National Museum of Modern Art, Osaka web site

{{Authority control Art museums and galleries established in 1977 1977 establishments in Japan National museums of Japan Nakanoshima Art museums and galleries in Osaka César Pelli buildings Expo '70 World's fair architecture in Japan