Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art
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) is 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.
Around the museum, a 30 hectare park with over 200 kinds of trees, 500 kinds of plants and inhabited by many wild birds and insects invites for walking and enjoying nature.[2]
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.[3] 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'.[3]
Access
Opening hours are 9:30-17:00 (last admission 16:30); the museum is closed on Mondays (except national holidays, then closed next non-holiday) and between December 25 to January 1. The museum may close temporarily during the installation of an exhibition. A free shuttle bus connects JR Sakura station and Keisei-Sakura Station with the museum. Additionally, it is connected to Tokyo station by expressway bus.[4]
Main works
References
- ^ a b "About the Museum". Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ "Nature". Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ a b Martorella, Rosanne (1996). Art and Business: an international perspective on sponsorship. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 208.
- ^ "Transportation". Retrieved February 16, 2014.
External links
- Museum homepage (in English)
- Museum works shown at the Google Cultural Institute
- Museum works in Wikimedia Commons