Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art - History

History

Felix Tikotin, an architect by profession, was an internationally renowned collector and dealer in Japanese works of art. For more than forty years he amassed his valuable and rare collection and organized exhibitions of Japanese art in many museums. During the Second World War, because he was Jewish, Felix Tikotin fled from the Nazis. He hid his collection in Holland to prevent it from falling into their hands. After the war, Tikotin decided that his unique collection should be taken to Israel, and in 1956 he came to Israel and donated the collection to one of Israel's museums. During a visit to Haifa he met Mayor Abba Khoushy, and decided that the collection should remain in Haifa, and that he would build a pavilion specifically for exhibiting it here.

Tikotin travelled to Holland, Switzerland, Belgium, France, England and Japan to organize support for his idea. He engaged the help of museum directors such as Nagatake Asano (1895–1965); academics such as Chisaburoh Yamada (1908–1984) of the Tokyo University of the Arts, who was also chosen to be the first Director of the Japanese Museum in Haifa; spiritual leaders such as Victor M. A. Suzuki, son of the famous Zen philosopher, and others. During the years 1966-1992 the museum was directed by Eli Lancman, who received a prize from the Japanese government in 2001.

At a meeting of the Haifa Municipality on May 18, 1958, it was decided to acquire the "Kisch House" and its surrounding land. The house was built by Brigadier Frederick Kisch, Chairman of the Zionist Workers' Committee in Israel and Head of the State Department from 1923 to 1931. He lived in the house from 1934 to 1939. Kisch, who commanded the Engineering Brigade of the British Eighth Army, fell in battle during the North African Campaign in April 1943. The Kisch House is still the home of the offices of the Museum, the library, the creativity workshops, and a Japanese room. The library - the largest of its kind in Israel - comprises some 3,000 books and publications relating to Japanese art and culture.

In February 1959 plans were approved for a Japanese pavilion, and construction began on the exhibition hall in accordance with the ideas and plans of Felix Tikotin, supervised by the architect M. Lev. The exhibition hall was designed in the Japanese spirit. It is spacious, and has sliding doors of paper leading to the garden, conveying a Japanese atmosphere. On May 25, 1960, the Japanese Museum was opened to the public with an exhibition of works from the donor's collection. In accordance with Tikotin's wishes, a Board of Trustees of the Museum was set up, headed today by his daughter, Ilana Drukker-Tikotin.