Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum

Rennovated in 1996, the regular collection in this gallery focuses on art with some connection to Hiroshima, Japanese and Asian crafts, and 1920s and 1930s art. It's regular collection contains some 3,400 works.

There is also a "People's Gallery" in which exhibitions of the work of local artists are shown.
Check GetHiroshima events for details of special exhibitions.

Admission Fees for Regular Exhibition:
General admission: ¥500
High school/college students: ¥300
Elementary/middle school students: ¥100

Free admission days:
Greenery Day (April 29) and Culture Day (November 3)

Closed during New Year's holidays (December 28 to January 4)

"A beautiful museum"
Anonymity Personified.Sun Aug 2008
I ended up here one blistering day earlier this month and gosh, was I sure glad I did. Yes, the AC was a welcomed relief but the space is also just gorgeous and modern and lovely. I missed the special exhibit of Le Corbusier in favor of looking over their regular collection and taking a quick jaunt through the Shukkein Garden which joins the museum. First of all, I was surprised at the quality of their collection. They have, for instance, some very fine pieces of Dali and Klee, as well as some charming and provocative sculptures by both European and Japanese artists. It was well worth the trip there. They also have a cafe, storage lockers, a small library and though I missed any sign of it, a tea room. The only noticeable and for me unforgivable mistake is the tacky collection of mostly junk in the gift shop. Ugh. What is up? I left with only postcards and a hanky. But ultimately, I'm still taking my husband back before the Le Corbusier exhibit ends. The museum is a fine treasure in Hiroshima.

"colorful characters on display"
Anonymity Personified.Sat Aug 2006
Yesterday on the way to Shukkeien Garden, I stopped in at the Prefectural Art Museum for the first time. It was, in all honesty, an attempt to escape the mimd-afternoon August heat. The building itself is very relaxing, with large picture windows overlooking the garden. (In fact, I suggest to avoid heat and mosquitos, you just enjoy the garden from inside the museum until cooler weather...) The permanent collection was interesting, and I particulary enjoyed the watercolors by Japanese artists at the beginning of the exhibit, as well as the geometric figures and Dali painting later on. I am not "into art" so I hadn't heard of Foujita, yet I found his exhibit intriguing: it made me smile and was overall quite interesting and varied. He seemed to me to be a colorful person who painted others in a colorful way, from the sumo wrestlers to the dancing ladies to the children at a birthday party (right down to the last detail: a little boy picking his nose). My only disappointment was that he didn't sneak a likeness of his beloved cat into any of his religious works. By that point in the exhibit, it seemed to me the sort of thing Foujita might do. Admission that includes the Foujita exhibit is 1300Y, then entrance to Shukkeien Garden adds another 250, but hey, it's still cheaper than a movie and makes for an enjoyable afternoon out of the heat.

"The atmosphere is so good"
Anonymity Personified.Tue Nov 2005
The first time I went to the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum I was 18 and I went there to appreciate the paintings of "Shouen Matsumoto". She is a traditional Japanese painter who painted lady's daily life scenes. I especially liked the lady holding a baby in her arms. I love her paintings so much! When I saw them at this museum, it is quite big and clean and the mood of the people and place are fantastic. The museum staff were so nice, I stayed and looked at the paintings for more than 2 hours and was never treated anything other than kindly.