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Suntory is a famous distillery Japanese Company that was founded
more than century ago, in 1899. The range of produced goods
is extensive enough - over 110 sorts of drinks including cognac,
gin, vodka, wine, and soft drinks. The company pays special
attention to charity and patronage of art. The main achievements
in this sphere are founding of the musical award "Suntory
Music" and the establishment of the art museum. In addition,
the company has some unusual museums like the museum of beer,
museum of wine and museum of whiskey that are correspondingly
situated in Musasino, Yamanasi and Hakusyu. If you happen
to be there, don't miss an opportunity to visit them.
The Suntory Museum of Art was founded in November, 1961 "to
provide a place where people can personally experience and
appreciate the finest of the traditional arts created by our
forebears" (Keizo Saji, then President of Suntory, Ltd).
The central theme of the museum's collection was stated as
"the beauty in daily life", which determined the
museum acquisition policy.
The museum's collection contains over 3,000 various articles,
representing the arts and crafts of different regions of Japan.
Unfortunately, the entire museum's collection couldn't be
exhibited at once on permanent display, so the series of innovative
temporary exhibitions are held to enlighten different aspect
of Japanese art and culture. The original exhibitions have
been highly appreciated by the art critics and enjoy the wide
popularity with citizens and tourists. For you to form the
clear picture of the exhibitions' character, we'll just enumerate
some: "Women at Work, Women at Play: The Dynamic Beauty
of Women Portrayed in Japanese", "Country Designs:
Decorative Floral Roundels of Japan", "Felicitations:
The Arts of Celebration and Good Fortune", "1,200
Years of Japanese Pottery: from Nara, Sansai, Imari and Nabeshima
Ware through Ninsei and Kenzan" and others.
The collection of the museum can be divided into five departments
- paintings, ceramics, lacquer ware, glassware and dye works
(textile, metalwork and other items).
The rich lacquer collection is a real pride of the museum
and can be even considered to be its visiting card. It represents
the history of the lacquer techniques and devices from the
Heian period through the Edo period. The true breadth of genre
and style with a focus on the furnishing, eating utensils
and desk accessories allows the visitors to gain a deep insight
into the lacquer art.
The collection of the porcelain and pottery is extensive enough
to enlighten the main schools and stages of this type of art
in Japan.
The painting collection numbers more than 300 works, some
of them are of remarkable historical value (five have been
designated Important Cultural Properties and three have been
designated Important Art Objects by the Japanese government).
The core of the painting collection is two formats-folding
screen paintings and handscrolls. The folding screens served
as furnishings in Japanese houses. Traditional handscrolls
have not only a great artistic value, but are also very important
as a source of information on the customs and tradition of
a certain period in Japanese history, while they were usually
decorated with some story lines, conveying the small details
of everyday life.
Painting collection can be divided into three main groups
according to represented subject: genre screen paintings,
bird-and-flower screen paintings and traditional tale handsroll.
The glass collection of the museum numbering about 1,000 exhibits
is comprised of three main groups: the collection of Japanese
glass from the Edo period, European glass from the 15th century
and the glass objects in Art Nouveau style. The masterpieces
of Emile Galle, a leader of the Art Nouveau movement at the
end of the 19th century, are worthy of special attention.
The museum houses an elegant tea ceremony room that is available
for hire.
In 1988, the Suntory Museum Prize was established to stimulate
the public interest in usually neglected applied art and to
encourage young artisans to create new masterpieces, awarding
it annually for outstanding international works of modern
art in ceramics, lacquer ware, metal, glass and textiles.
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