Shiga Museum of Art
We are the Shiga Museum of Art (SMoA), designed to feel like "a living room in a park." Taking advantage of our location surrounded by lush greenery, we provide a bright, open, and comfortable environment where visitors can enjoy engaging with art.
The museum opened in 1984 as The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga. We house one of Japan’s finest collections, including works by Nihonga painter Yuki Ogura (1895-2000), a Shiga native, and textile artist Fukumi Shimura (1924– ), renowned for her plant-dyed kimono fabrics. The museum is also known for its collection of postwar American art, featuring artists such as Mark Rothko (1903-1970) and Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), as well as a notable collection of Art Brut. In a compact space of about 1,800 square meters, visitors can enjoy both our permanent collection and special exhibitions.
It takes about an hour by train and bus from Kyoto, and along the way, you can enjoy views of Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake. If traveling by car, you can also visit nearby historical sites such as the World Heritage-listed Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei, Miidera, Ishiyamadera, or the pottery town of Shigaraki. Additionally, the MIHO MUSEUM, designed by I.M. Pei (1917-2019), is just a 30-minute drive away.
Shiga Museum of Art Video #2: Performance
Shiga Museum of Art Video #1: Animation
At SMoA, we actively strive to create a museum where all visitors feel comfortable to enjoy art regardless of age, disability, nationality, culture, or language.
In the "Room with Sofas" along the exhibition route, it offers a space where visitors can rest while enjoying views of the Japanese garden outside, allowing each person to experience the exhibits at their own pace. The museum also provides spaces where visitors can safely enjoy art with children, including a "Kids' Space,"a "Family Room," and a "Family Restroom."
May of the signs and basic information about the exhibits are provided in both Japanese and English. While some learning programs are not yet available in foreign languages, SMoA offers various experiences that enable visitors of all ages to engage with art. In recent years, the museum has been working to improve accessibility by incorporating feedback from wheelchair users and non-Japanese speakers, and by exploring ways to appreciate art without relying on language. We continue these efforts to enhance the accessibility of the museum and its exhibits.
Additionally, the lobby features a permanent exhibit showcasing art unique to Shiga, including Shigaraki pottery—one of Japan’s oldest ceramic traditions—and works created in Shigaraki and Art Brut pieces produced in the region.
Main works
Japanese painter Yuki Ogura (1895–2000) was born in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, in 1895. She became the first woman to join the Nihon Bijutsuin (Japan Art Institute), an art organization founded in 1898 by Tenshin Okakura (1863–1913). In 1990, at the age of 95, she was appointed its president. Ogura received the Order of Culture in 1980 and continued her prolific creative work, mentoring younger artists and maintaining her position as a leading female painter until her death at the age of 105 in 2000. After her passing, retrospective exhibits have been held at venues including the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
Ogura's works primarily feature portraits and still lifes based on familiar, everyday subjects. Her use of clear colors and bold, dynamic lines creates compositions that reflect both Eastern spirituality and a modern sensibility rooted in everyday life. From the 1950s onward, her dignified style, influenced by Western painters like Henri Matisse (1869–1954) and Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), introduced transformative innovations to Nihonga (Japanese-style painting).
SMoA houses one of the largest collections of Yuki Ogura's works in Japan, with around 60 pieces. The permanent exhibit includes a dedicated "Yuki Ogura Corner," where approximately 20 works are always on display, with exhibits rotating regularly.
SMoA collects works known as "Art Brut," a concept introduced in the 1940s by French painter Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985). Dubuffet was captivated by the art of people who created art independently, without influence from mainstream culture, such as those with mental disabilities or self-taught artists. He coined the term "Art Brut" to describe these creations and began researching and collecting them. In Japan, attention and appreciation for Art Brut grew, partly spurred by the success of the 2010 exhibition "Art Brut Japonais" at Paris' Halle Saint-Pierre museum.
In Shiga Prefecture, where SMoA is located, there have been pioneering efforts in creative activities for people with disabilities since shortly after World War II.Shiga, known for its Shigaraki pottery, is a region with a strong tradition of clay art. This cultural background has fostered vibrant artistic expression in welfare facilities throughout the prefecture, particularly among people with intellectual disabilities. In recent years, Shiga-based artists have gained recognition, including Shinichi Sawada (1982– ), whose work was exhibited at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013.
SMoA has held Art Brut-themed exhibitions in 2008, 2015, 2020, 2022 and 2024. In 2016, SMoA became the only public museum in Japan to make Art Brut a central focus of its collection policy. In 2023, the museum received a donation of 731 pieces from the Nippon Foundation, which had been featured in the Art Brut Japonais exhibition, making SMoA home to one of the world’s leading Art Brut collections. The collection includes 33 works by Shinichi Sawada, including loaned pieces.
- Noguchi Kenzo ; Umeboshi (Pickled Plums), 1929
- Yamamoto Shunkyo ; Shower at Dorokyo Valley, 1931
- Shiraga Kazuo ; Chimosei-Shinkasyo, 1960
- Shimura Fukumi ; Kimono Called “Mido (Temple)”, 1989
- Tomoto Shisuko ; Statues of Liberty, 1994
- Constantin BRANCUSI ; Bird in Space, cast in 1982
- Clyfford STILL ; PH-386, 1955
- Mark ROTHKO ; Number 28, 1962
