Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts opened as the third public (prefectural or municipal) art museum in Japan, following Tokyo and Kyoto, in May 1936 (Showa 11).
Its collection was built through the support of many people and covers a wide range of genres such as Japanese and Chinese paintings, calligraphy, sculpture, and craftwork. Chronologically, it ranges from before the Common Era to modern times, and number-wise, there are more than 8,500 items in the collection. Another characteristic of the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts Collection is the point that it includes numerous individual collections formerly belonging to business leaders who were active mainly in the Kansai region. The museum’s location in Chausuyama, Tennoji-ku, was originally where the Sumitomo family’s principal residence was located. The grounds, together with the garden (Keitakuen), were donated to the city of Osaka.
The present building is Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) designated as a rare example of a large-scale art museum built before World War II. Before Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts celebrates the ninetieth anniversary of its opening in 2026, it will undergo large-scale improvement work. While the museum is closed for renovation, we have organized a traveling exhibition introducing masterpieces carefully selected from a variety of genres. These masterpieces have rarely been shown together in a single show even at Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, and this is the first time they are being exhibited en masse outside the museum itself.
The exhibition title “Miwotsukushi” literally means “the best of beauty,” and, phonetically, it also implies “miotsukushi (channel mark),” the Osaka City emblem. Like the channel marks in the former port Naniwazu indicating a safe sea route, we shall “miwotsukushi,” again a pun, which can also be interpreted as “do our very best,” to navigate you through this collection, which is indeed a profusion of beauty.