By WAKATO ONISHI/ Senior Staff Writer
October 31, 2022 at 07:00 JST
The lobby of the Seikado@Marunouchi gallery in Tokyo's Marunouchi district, dotted with artworks (Wakato Onishi)
A special exhibition featuring seven national treasures of Japanese and Asian art is being held to celebrate the opening of the Seikado Bunko Art Museum's new gallery in the center of Tokyo.
The museum, situated in a residential area of Setagaya Ward, relocated its gallery to the first floor of the Meiji Seimei Kan building, a government-designated important cultural property, in the Marunouchi district of Chiyoda Ward on Oct. 1.
The new gallery is named Seikado@Marunouchi.
Titled "The Resonance of the Art Treasures: The Seikado Collection," the special event brings together masterpieces of Chinese paintings, early modern paintings, porcelain works and tea utensils presented in highly transparent glass cases.
They include a Yohen Tenmoku (aka Inaba Tenmoku) bowl from the Southern Song period, which features a speckled pattern of spots similar to a starry sky inside; and Tawaraya Sotatsu's "Miotsukushi (Channel Markers)” and “Sekiya (The Barrier Gate)” chapters from "The Tale of Genji," which is a pair of six-panel folding screens. Both of tehm are designated as national treasures by the central government.
Once inside the Meiji Seimei Kan building, a marvel of Western-style architecture, the open-space lobby built using marble and bronze materials catches the eyes of visitors.
The lobby is surrounded by four exhibition rooms.
Located in the capital's Setagaya Ward, the Seikado museum was founded 130 years ago.
It boasts a collection of about 6,500 artworks amassed by Yanosuke Iwasaki and his son Koyata, who both served as president of the Mitsubishi "zaibatsu" conglomerate.
"We want everyone to watch the story of the Iwasaki family's collection through the masterpieces. We hope the beauties of the artworks will resonate with each other in this space," said Shoko Hasegawa, the museum's head curator in charge of organizing the exhibition.
The exhibition runs until Dec. 18. The venue is closed on Mondays and the period when the exhibits are being changed.
All the seven national treasures are on display during the first part ending on Nov. 6. The second part starts on Nov. 10.
Visit the official website at (https://www.seikado.or.jp/english/english-exhibition/).
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