Akita Museum of Art

The Akita Museum of Art, formally known as the Akita Prefectural Museum of Art Hirano Masakichi Collection, is an art museum located in the city of Akita, Akita Prefecture, Japan. The institution is distinguished by its focus on the works of Tsuguharu Foujita, drawn from the holdings of the Masakichi Hirano Art Foundation. Its significance lies both in this specialized collection and in its striking contemporary building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando, which opened in 2013 to replace an earlier facility.

The museum's origins date to the opening of the original Akita Prefectural Museum of Art on May 5, 1967. This earlier institution served the region for nearly half a century before being superseded by a new facility. The current museum opened on September 28, 2013, representing a substantial reinvention of the institution with a new architectural identity and renewed institutional mission centered on the Hirano collection.

The core of the museum's holdings consists of works by Tsuguharu Foujita from the collection of the Masakichi Hirano Art Foundation. Foujita, a Japanese-French painter known for his distinctive style and position within the School of Paris, is the institution's main subject. Beyond this permanent collection, the museum maintains two additional galleries dedicated to rotating exhibitions, allowing for broader engagement with art historical and contemporary themes while preserving the centrity of the Foujita holdings.

The signature works of the museum are the Foujita paintings, prints, and related materials assembled by Masakichi Hirano. While specific individual masterpieces are not catalogued in the available sources, the collection as a whole represents a significant concentration of this artist's oeuvre within Japan. The Hirano Art Foundation's systematic gathering of Foujita's work provides the museum with scholarly depth and enables comprehensive presentation of the artist's development and techniques.

The museum building is a triangular reinforced concrete structure designed by Tadao Ando, who received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995. Architectural features include a free-standing staircase and a triangular skylight that greet visitors upon entry. On the second floor, glass panels line one side of the building, housing the museum shop and cafe and offering views of Senshu Park, the former site of Akita Castle. The paid exhibition area begins on the second floor, while the cafe and shop are freely accessible. The building is situated in the Area Nakaichi district of Akita city.

The museum is located in Akita city, Akita Prefecture, Japan, with its website at https://www.akita-museum-of-art.jp/. Visitors enter through the ground floor and encounter the dramatic staircase and skylight before proceeding to the second floor where the paid exhibition area begins. The cafe and museum shop on the second floor can be accessed without admission charge, and provide views of Senshu Park. The institution operates as a public museum under prefectural administration, serving as a cultural anchor for the region while drawing visitors interested in Foujita's work and Ando's architecture.