Nagoya City Art Museum

Outline of the collection of Nagoya City Art Museum

The Nagoya City Art Museum began its collection in 1983. The collection plan of the Nagoya City Art Museum from the beginning was to, as a modern museum, enable tracing of the progress of local artistic and cultural activities. Based on this plan, noted art work centering on the artists of the Ise Bay area which is considered the Cultural Zone of Nagoya have been examined. Among these, artists whose work are highly recognized from the viewpoint of Japanese and international art history are collected in a chronological manner so that the artistic development of each artist can be followed. The Nagoya City Art Museum has successfully collected the art works of Tamiji Kitagawa, Setsuko Migishi, Shusaku Arakawa, On Kawara, and Tadaaki Kuwayama. In conjunction with this collection plan, École de Paris, Mexican Renaissance, and Contemporary Art is also added based on the following goals.

1. To help people understand the relationship and influence of art history on prominent local artists.
2. To give depth to the garnered art works and to give character to the Nagoya City Art Museum
3. To internationalize the collection of the Museum.

At present, art work acquisition has been centered around the following four objectives.

(1) Modern Art around Nagoya
The range of collection in which the historical flow of local art can be traced has been widened to new art fields such as photograph, in addition to western and Japanese paintings. Also, noted art work by artists who represent modern Japanese art and considerably influenced native artists, and artists who were a part of the same group as local artists are collected to demonstrate the position of local artists in modern Japanese art.

(2) École de Paris
Takanori Ogisu and other local artists who studied in France were greatly influenced by this experience, and their art work is called École de Paris. Art work by mainly foreign artists such as Amedeo Modigliani, Marc Chagall, Chaïm Soutine, Jules Pascin, Kisling. Maurice Utrillo, Marie Laurencin, and Tsuguharu Fujita who were active in Paris from 1910 to 1930 are also collected.

(3) Renaissance in Mexican Art
The Mexican Renaissance was a movement raised by a group of artists who expressed the restoration of Mexican folk culture and the newly reborn Mexico, using the Mexican revolution which took place in 1910 as a drop. Tamiji Kitagawa was strongly influenced by this When he worked in Mexico. The museum has collected the art work of José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo, and Frida Kahlo. Also, modern and contemporary American art work which was greatly influenced by the Mexican Renaissance are collected to show the Mexican Renaissance from many faces.

(4) Contemporary Art
While proceeding with the collection of art work by prominent local artists such as Shusaku Arakawa, Tadaaki Kuwayama, and On Kawara, work by other related artists have also been collected. This collection places importance on artists who represent the latest trend (after 1980) in art.