page_title: National Museum of Western Art
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: National Museum of Western Art / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Rodin's "The Thinker" in front of the National Museum of Western Art at Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan 日本語: 国立西洋美術館のロダン「考える人」
context_page_description: The National Museum of Western Art is the premier public art gallery in Japan specializing in art from the Western tradition.
  The museum is in the museum and zoo complex in Ueno Park in Taito, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016.
context_section_description: The NMWA was established on June 10, 1959.  The museum developed around the core art collection of Matsukata Kojiro (1865–1950), whose thinking is mirrored in the museum he anticipated.
  Matsukata's acquisition strategies were designed to create the nucleus of what he hoped would become an evolving national museum specializing in Western art.
  The museum exhibits works from the Renaissance to the early 20th century, many having been acquired since the museum's opening.  The museum's purpose is to provide the public with opportunities to appreciate Western art.
  Since its opening, the museum, as Japan's only national institution devoted to Western art, has been involved in exhibitions, art work and document acquisition, research, restoration and conservation, education and the publication of materials related to Western art.
caption: Auguste Rodin's The Thinker near the entrance of the National Museum of Western Art.
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