Japan's Lost "Guernica" Found

[Charles]

[SIZE="3"]Taro Okamoto's lost A-bomb mural restored[/SIZE]

The giant mural by Taro Okamoto that has been restored
"Asu no Shinwa (Tomorrow's Myth)," a giant mural by Taro Okamoto (1911-1996) has been restored and was displayed for reporters in Toon, Ehime Prefecture, on Tuesday.



The motif of the 5.5-meter-high and 30- meter-wide mural, which was made from 1968 to 1969, is an exploding atomic bomb. During the same period, Okamoto made "Taiyo no To" (Tower of the Sun) for the Japan World Exposition in Osaka in 1970.
The mural with its antinuclear message is known as an atomic bomb version of "Guernica," a painting in which Pablo Picasso expressed his anger against fascism, and is considered Okamoto's best work.
The mural had been thought lost until the summer of 2003, when it was found in pieces in Mexico City. Restorer Emiiru Yoshimura and others worked on the restoration project in Toon since July.

Another story with more details.

[dimwit]

Out by Taro's Ranch and we never heard a damn thing about it.

The thing that gets me is that they were going to put the thing in a hotel (lobby?) which could possibly explain why the hotel went tits up.

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

Ni-teri are pumping it for all it's worth at the moment
http://www.ntv.co.jp/asunoshinwa/shinwa2.html

[Captain Japan]

Public finally gets to see long-lost Okamoto mural
Japan Times

A long-lost mural by the late painter Taro Okamoto was shown to the public for the first time ever Saturday in Tokyo, following a yearlong restoration.

The "Myth of Tomorrow," measuring 5.5 meters by 30 meters on seven panes of concrete, was unveiled in the square in front of NTV headquarters in the Shiodome area after its initial vivid colors, which had faded during the more than three decades it was missing in Mexico, were restored...more...

I will definitely check this out.

[ojara]

1 is Kawasaki, 　’岡本太郎美術館’
http://www.taromuseum.jp/english/index_english.htm

little bit far from Noborito station, very nice place to walｋ with girlfreind.

neighboring also have the old japanese house '民家' gallery. you can see many old Japanese house at them.


other one, Omote sando '岡本太郎記念館'

not English pages.

http://www.taro-okamoto.or.jp/

〒107-0062　東京都港区南青山6-1-19
　　TEL.03-3406-0801　FAX.03-3409-5404

minami aoyama 6-1-19
from Omote sando sta, 8 min walk.

I visited, Kawasaki　I will go again.
'芸術は爆発だっ！！'

[Charles]

Taro Okamoto mural can't be given away

Caretakers of a mural created by the late Taro Okamoto, one of Japan's most famous modern artists, are struggling to find a home for the work despite offering it up for free, largely because of is massive size, it has been learned.
Employees of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum want to offer the 5.5-meter-high and 30-meter-long "Asu no Shinwa" mural for free public display, but even though there are parties interested in displaying it, they have had to refuse for space reasons.
"We want to find somebody who can put it on display to be viewed by anyone, any time, by 2011, the 100th anniversary of (Okamoto's) birth," Akiomi Hirano, the director of the museum, said.
Okamoto's work depicts the tragedy of an atomic attack and the powerful will of its survivors in overcoming it. A Mexican entrepreneur commissioned Okamoto to create the mural and he did so in Mexico in 1968 to 1969.
However, the hotel where the mural was to be displayed was never built and Okamoto's work was lost.
But in 2003, the mural was found in a warehouse in the suburbs of Mexico City. Hirano led restoration work on the mural, which took about a year. It has been on display at a special site in Tokyo's Shiodome district since July.
"Taro believed that art should be seen for free and I want to respect that," Hirano said. But Hirano added that presenting the work to somebody was like giving away a daughter's hand in marriage and insists that whoever receives the mural must be stable. He wants to give it to a publicly-funded organization which will put it on display indoors where it can be readily seen, will be well looked after and has some direct connection to the subject of the mural.
Nagasaki, one of two Japanese cities the U.S. attacked with an atomic bomb toward the end of World War II, expressed an interest in accepting the mural, but has since had to turn it down.
"We've got nowhere to put it," a Nagasaki Municipal Government spokesman said. "And we don't have the funds to build somewhere for it."
It's a similar story in Hiroshima, the first city to suffer a nuclear attack, and Tokyo, where U.S. firebombing of civilians on the night of March 10, 1945, caused the deaths of over 100,000.
"There are a lot of factors that would have to be cleared first," a Hiroshima Municipal Government spokesman said. Onomichi, the city adjacent to Hiroshima, has already turned down the opportunity to display the mural for space reasons.
"Asu no Shinwa" will remain on public display until the end of this month, but as yet there have been no formal requests to display it. Museum boss Hirano is not too worried yet.
"It's my dream to put the mural on display in a place where lots of people can develop a love for it and mark the 100th anniversary," he said. "I'm not hurrying and will keep on looking."

[Captain Japan]

This is so stupid. They can't find someone to take it for nothing?

I checked it out last month. It's truly amazing.

It's big but not THAT big. There are boatloads of office buildings that have space in their lobby.

[Greji]

It's big but not THAT big. There are boatloads of office buildings that have space in their lobby.

There might be boat loads, but those offices are doing business and they usually do not want to be identified as on either side of the nuke issue. It's just bad for business to present controversial issues is the attitude of most!

[Mulboyne]

There is a dirty great National Art Center which would certainly have space since they keep no permanent collection.

[Mulboyne]

Three municipalities have now offered to take the painting. Shibuya has suggested a place inside the station on the Mark City side:



The Okamoto foundation will also visit Hiroshima and Suita in Osaka to look at their proposed locations and make a decision in a month or so.

[Mulboyne]

The Okamoto foundation will also visit Hiroshima and Suita in Osaka to look at their proposed locations and make a decision in a month or so.

They have decided to go with Shibuya.