20. The following 2 photographs are of rooms of the OTSUKA MUSEUM OF ART.
“The Otsuka Museum of Art is a “Ceramic board masterpiece art museum”
with the largest exhibition space in Japan (total floor of 29,412 square
meters), built to commemorate the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Group’s 75th
anniversary in Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture. Inside there are more than
1000 replicas of priceless masterpieces of Western art selected by a
committee of 6, from ancient murals to modern paintings, and collection from
more than 190 art museums in 25 countries worldwide. These masterpieces
are reproduced to their original size using special techniques by the Otsuka
Ohmi Ceramics Co., Ltd. Unlike the paintings in art books or textbooks, visitors
will be able to appreciate the true artistic value of the original works, and
experience art museums of the world whilst being in Japan.
Furthermore while the original masterpieces cannot escape the damaging
effects of today’s pollution, earthquakes and fire, the ceramic reproductions
can maintain their color and shape for over 2000 years, and this is a large
contribution in the nature of preserving the history of cultural treasures. This
is a ground- breaking experiment where we have reproduced “Guernica’,
which can no longer be moved, and El Greco’s high altar panels, which have
been dispersed during the war. The Otsuka Museum of Art can be considered
as the world’s first and only ceramic art museum, both technically and
philosophically.
Ichiro Otsuka, Director General, Otsuka Museum of Art
21. A photograph of one of the exhibits in the Otsuka Museum - Shikoku