Hoki Museum is based on the idea of what an art museum essentially is: an interface between art and bipedal, sentient beings. It takes the form of an almost continuous 500m-long corridor that is then folded into three levels so you don’t exit too far from the parking lot when you finish.
This design gives a much smoother feel to the experience of viewing an exhibition, while the cantilevered top floor creates an illusion of weightlessness. Another interesting architectural point is that, seen from above, the building’s intersecting curves seem to form the shape of a lens—a perfect metaphor for the museum’s purpose of showing art that conforms to the rules of light and perspective.
The Hoki Museum is Japan's first museum dedicated to Realist painting.
What makes Realist painting so fascinating? Realist art works depict what the painter sees, as is. These works are intricately worked, each massively time-consuming, as the painter creates just a few works a year, facing the same canvas day after day. And when we see the worlds created in such works, we sense that the painting has so much more to say than the reality it depicts.
The Hoki Museum opened on November 3, 2010 as one of the few museums in the world dedicated to Realist paintings. Museum Director Masao Hoki assembled the museum's collection of approximately 300 examples of Realist paintings.
The Museum's building is located next to the verdant Showa-no-Mori Park, Chiba City's largest park, and consists of one above ground and two below ground stories featuring corridor-style galleries comprise 500 meters of exhibition space. One gallery is cantilevered to appear to be floating in space.
Approximately 160 works by around 40 artists are on display at any one time, including 32 paintings that form Japan's largest collection of works by Sousuke Morimoto, and others by artists such as Hiroshi Noda and Tadahiko Nakayama. Special displays feature the works of fifteen artists who have produced large-scale works for the museum's "My Best Work" series.
The museum's galleries were designed specifically for the optimum display and appreciation of Realist paintings, featuring picture rail-free walls and the latest technology LED and halogen lighting imbedded in the ceilings. Additional facilities include the Italian restaurant Hanau, produced by Al Porto chef Kataoka Mamoru, a café, and a museum shop.
We hope that you will enjoy your experience of the beautiful world of Realist painting in this inviting setting.
Today, the Hoki Museum collections include 300 works by some 40 painters, ranging from great masters to young artists. Up until now, there have been few opportunities to see Realist works in Japan. The Hoki Museum will now fill that void. My hope is that the Hoki Museum will be a "healing museum" where visitors can appreciate the art works slowly and thoroughly.
The Hoki Museum's building was specifically designed and constructed for this collection. Made up of three stories, one above ground, two below, the galleries are layered, long corridors filled with images. A section of the structure floats in the air. It is my great hope that many people will visit the museum, and that through all of our efforts, Japanese Realist painting will develop all the more.
Masao Hoki
Director, Hoki Museum
Sources: hoki-museum.jp, metropolis.co.jp/arts/art-reviews/hoki-museum/
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