New Collection Exhibition

Fukuoka Asian Art Museum celebrates its 25th anniversary on March 6, 2024.

The number of our museum collections, which marked 1,131 at the time of our opening in 1999, has grown to 5,496 within the past 25 years.

Especially between 2019 and 2023, we have continuously received gifts from private collections, including a variety of popular art from India. Once again, we would like to extend our gratitude to the many people for their generous support and contribution, which helped enrich our museum collection.

As we take this opportunity to thank each donor of artworks, this exhibition will showcase 86 works focusing on the donated artworks among our recent acquisitions in the last five years. These artworks play an essential role in considering the history and characteristics of modern and contemporary Asian art. We hope the visitors will enjoy the exhibition and find unique perspectives of respective art collectors and their affection towards each artwork.

Vietnamese Modern Painting from the Ito Toyokichi Collection
Our museum is privileged to have received gifts of donation from Mr. Ito Toyokichi twice, which reaches 68 artworks in total. The first time was in 2012, when we have acquired 23 pieces of South Korean woodblock print. In 2020, 41 Vietnamese modern paintings and 4 Thai contemporary paintings were additionally acquired.

This time, we would like to present 25 modern Vietnamese paintings, all of which collected during Ito’s frequent visits to Vietnam between the 1980s and 1990s. The Vietnamese art belongs to the core of Ito’s collection,

Furthermore, FAAM holds 199 works from Vietnam, one-fifth of which are gifted donations from the Ito Toyokichi collection, which greatly enrich our Vietnamese art collections.

Dong Ho Print from the Cynthea J. Bogel Collection
Dong Ho Print is a multi-color folk print that has a history in Dong Ho village in Northern Vietnam.

After applying shell powders to make a shiny surface on the Dó paper, a special type of paper handmade from tree skin, patterns are pressed onto the paper. The black outline is applied in the last stage after printing the other colors. Their fresh colors and irregular patterns attract many viewers.

The 14 prints and woodblocks on display are gifts from Ms. Cynthea J. Bogel, donated in 2022. The patterns that appear in these donated works are mostly traditional, however, there are a few small woodblocks which is rare in Dong Ho prints.

Educational Posters in China from the Teibido Collection
Since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, many propaganda posters have been distributed across the county. One of the most typical examples is those addressing the ideology of the Cultural Revolution, some of which are also included in the Teibido Collection.

However, the core of the Teibido Collection is the educational posters targeted at children. They were printed between the 1950s and 1980s, and their contents vary from portraying children’s tales and folk stories to teaching how children should behave at school. The images depicted in these works appear in soft touch and bright colors as if to suggest they are primarily for children.

We have received one piece of papercut art, 98 posters and original paintings, and a porcelain doll, which totals up to 100 pieces from the Teibido Collection in 2020.