is a subterranean Japanese

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. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...

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 other ...

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

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. 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

Suita is a city located in northern Osaka Prefecture, Japan. As of October 1, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 378,322 and a population density of 9,880 persons per km². The total area is 36.11 km². The city was founded on April 1, ...

in the outskirts of Osaka. The site was converted into

Expo Commemoration Park or Expo '70 Commemorative Park is a park in Suita, Japan. It is north of Osaka (about 15 km from Umeda). The park is the former site of Expo '70, a World's Fair held between March 15 and September 13, 1970. It is about 264 ha of lawn and ...

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 international architect César Pelli. 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, Japan. The museum is located between the Dōjima River and the Tosabori River, above Osaka's subterranean National Museum of Art. Opened in 1989, the museum was constructed to mark th ...

. 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). MOMAK union catalog
Japan. *

National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo The in Tokyo, Japan, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art. This Tokyo museum is also known by the English acronym MOMAT (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). The museum is known for its collection of 20th-centu ...

(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 museum and zoo complex in Ueno Park in Taitō, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016. History The NMWA was es ...

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

Selected artists

: * Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), France *

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealis ...

(1891–1976), Germany *

Tsuguharu Foujita was a Japanese–French painter and printmaker born in Tokyo, Japan, who applied Japanese ink techniques to Western style paintings. At the height of his fame in Paris, during the 1920s, he was known for his portraits of nudes using an opalescen ...

(1886–1968), Japan * Leiko Ikemura (1951- ), Japan * Miyako Ishiuchi (1947- ), Japan *

Yasuo Kuniyoshi was a Japanese-American painter, photographer and printmaker. Biography Kuniyoshi was born on September 1, 1889 in Okayama, Japan. He immigrated to the United States in 1906, choosing not to attend military school in Japan. Kuniyoshi original ...

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

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

(1886–1973), Spain

References

External links

National Museum of Modern Art, Osaka web site

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