Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art - Collections

Collections

The Museum's collection comprises some 7,000 items of art and crafts - paintings, prints, drawings, painted screens, textiles, antique illustrated texts, ceramics, miniature carvings (netsuke), lacquer and metal work, antique swords and functional art works, mainly from the 17th to 19th centuries, as well as a collection of modern Japanese art. The collection has increased over time, and other private collections have been donated.

Exhibitions cover different aspects of Japanese culture, displaying traditional and modern art, and emphasizing the aesthetic values unique to Japanese art. According to Japanese custom, a room is sparsely furnished with items selected for specific events and for the season. Hence the exhibitions are changed approximately every three months, and subject, style and period are common to all of them. Exhibitions are accompanied by illustrated catalogues and explanatory texts.

In 1982 the Japanese philanthropist Ryoichi Sasakawa donated the sum of one and half million dollars for the construction of a large new wing to the museum. It was designed by the Japanese architect Junzo Yoshimura, together with Israeli architect Al Mansfeld of Haifa. It was opened in 1995, and is funded by the Eva Tikotin-Licht Foundation. Yoshimura, one of the renowned architects of Japan, designed the National Museum at Nara in Japan and the Japanese House in New York. Mansfeld is known as the architect of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The new wing has two floors and a lower parking area, and extends over 1,800 square metres. The exhibition hall covers 350 sq.m. and is connected to the original hall (300 sq.m.) in the old building. Adjacent to the large hall is a smaller hall of 120 sq.m. On the second floor the Raphael Angel acoustic Auditorium was constructed in 2000, with two hundred seats. A special staircase was connected to lead to the auditorium. The old building is a single story, and its integration with the new building created a single harmonious unit, embodying the Japanese spirit. The addition of these construction elements was planned by the firm Mansfeld Kehat Architects.