Established by Toshiko Okamoto, Taro Okamoto’s partner in both public and private life, the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum first opened its doors to the public in May 1998,  a mere two years after Taro’s death. 

Twenty-five years have now passed but although the museum is housed a small, residential-sized building, it has won the support of numerous visitors for the way in which it  conveys Taro’s life and spirit to the present day. To date, the museum has held 84 exhibitions and welcomed a total of 900,000 visitors.

While he was still alive, Taro Okamoto donated almost all his completed works, a total of 1,800 works, to Kawasaki City, this providing the foundation upon which the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art was established. In contrast, the Memorial Museum’s collection consists largely of unfinished works and multiples, these works, esquisses and other associated materials being arranged according to various concepts or contexts and introduced to viewers through special exhibitions. 

Although the majority of works in the museum’s collection have been displayed over the last quarter century, there remain a small number, including those that were donated to the museum subsequent its opening, that have yet to be exhibited. Among them are works that offer valuable insights into the history of Taro’s career, including oil paintings from the early 1950s and various sculptures that have never been presented to the public.

To celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the museum’s opening, these works will now be brought out for display.

There are oil paintings that the equal of his early masterpieces, objects in never-before-seen forms, working models of various monuments and a 5.5-meter-wide carpet. We hope that you will come and enjoy these and many other treasured works.

 

Akiomi Hirano

Director,

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum