We have collected a great number of works through purchases and donations since the era of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, the forerunner of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art. These works now amount to about 8,000 pieces and are the basis for various Museum activities.

RODIN,Auguste <<Orpheus>> 1892 (cast in 1971) bronze

Since opening the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, the sculptures have been the center of our collection and exhibitions. Especially for foreign works, we have continued to systematically collect pieces so that we can understand the lines of sculpture art from Rodin, who opened up the era of modern sculpture, to Arp, Zadkine, Gabo, Giacometti, and Moore, who realized the diversified expression of the 20th century via Bourdelle and Maillol, great artists of the 19th century. Our collection has become even more complete by adding works by Brancusi and Segal on the occasion of moving into the new Museum.

NAKAHARA Teijiro <<Resting Woman>> 1919 bronze

Modern sculpture in Japan developed under the great influence of European sculpture, including the work of Rodin. After World War II, new expressions were sequentially created responding to various overseas trends. We have widely collected the works of sculptors who represent the Modern and contemporary art field, such as Yanagihara Yoshitatsu, Funakoshi Yasutake, Sato Churyo, Horiuchi Masakazu, Ueki Shigeru, and Shingu Susumu. These works are permanently exhibited as well as the overseas sculptures. The expressions of the work vary with the materials and sculptors. Please enjoy our wide collection.

KANDINSKY, Wassily "Lyriches" from <<Klaenge>> 1911 woodcut on paper

As well as sculptures, print art from both home and abroad has also been the center of our collection. We have collected works to cover the artists who created the history of modern and contemporary print art, such as Goya, Manet, Klinger, Picasso, Kandinsky, Warhol, and Jasper Johns. Among them, Ensor's fantastic works and Ernst's print art filled with eccentricity are the highlight of the collection of the Museum.

KATO Taro <<Work (2)>> 1938 woodcut on paper

The Ukiyo-e, Japanese wood block prints, once predominated in the Japanese print art world. After Western art influx into Japan in the modern era, a wide variety of expressions were created under its influence. You can trace the history of great works in Japan spanning from modern to contemporary, if you appreciate our collection of great artists, such as Kobayashi Kiyochika, who broke through the tradition of landscape prints, Kawase Hasui, who created 'Shinhanga' ( the new type of print art ) , Taninaka Yasunori and Kawanishi Hide, whose print art are filled with creativity, and Hasegawa Kiyoshi, Hamada Chimei and Ikeda Masuo, who are highly valued internationally.

KANAYAMA Heizo <<The Mogami River in Oishida>> c.1948 oil on canvas

Kanayama Heizo and Koiso Ryohei. The Museum owns a wide variety of works of these two artists, who had deep relationships with Hyogo Prefecture, by courtesy of their families and related persons. The collection also covers the works of Shirataki Ikunosuke, Wada Sanzo, and Aoyama Kumaji, the Three Great Artists born in Ikuno-cho, Hayashi Shigeyoshi, who lived in Kobe after returning from a journey to Europe, Koide Narashige, who lived in Ashiya in his last days, and Iida Misao and Asahara Kiyotaka, who explored significant expressions during their short lives. In addition to the above, our collection includes "The Portrait of a Family" by Burliuk, the father of Russian Futurism, and "People Seeing Off Soldiers" by Gosei Abe. These two artists were also closely associated with Hyogo Prefecture although they were not born here.

MURAKAMI Kagaku <<Mountain in Autumn>> 1935 color on paper

Hyogo Prefecture has nourished artists with firm and creative characters. These artists make Hyogo Prefecture a little different than Kyoto, the heartland of Japanese-style paintings. Murakami Kagaku represents those artists by painting Mount Rokko and Buddhist Picture. He lived in Hanakuma, Kobe in his last years because the house where he grew up was there. Including the works of Murakami Kagaku we possess the works of Higashiyama Kaii , who expressed the sea and mountains as one’s original landscapes that evoke deep emotion, Mitani Toshiko, famous for images of women filled with vitality, and Mizukoshi Shonan and Yamashita Maki , who provide classy atmosphere.

YASUI Sotaro <<Festival Day in Paris>> 1912 oil on canvas

We remain committed to collecting works that represent the modern Japanese era, looking beyond collecting only the works of artists associated with Hyogo Prefecture. To say nothing of "Hagoromo Tennyo," of Honda Kinkichiro and works of Jinnaka Itoko , which clearly show interesting situations of western-style paintings in the beginning of the Meiji Era, we have added works of various artists to our collection, such as "Bush Clover" of Okada Saburosuke, the representative work in the early Bunten Exhibition, and the works of Kishida Ryusei , Yasui Sohtaro and Maeda Kanji , who had a great influence on young artists in the same era.

SHIRAGA Kazuo <<Work II>> 1958 oil on paper

The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, the forerunner of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, constantly proceeded with the trends of art in a given era. We regarded collecting and exhibiting the works, which show such trends, as an important role. For "Gutai," which developed the most significant avant-garde art movement in the postwar Kansai area, we own a wide range of works of members in the early days, such as Motonaga Sadamasa, Shiraga Kazuo, Shimamoto Shozo and Tanaka Atsuko in addition to the leader, Yoshihara Jiro. Furthermore, the works of the artists like Sugai Kumi and Tsutaka Waichi, who are deeply related to Hyogo Prefecture, form a part of our collection. Our collection of postwar art has been made more complete by adding the whole "Yamamura Collection" in 1987. Many works of Yokoo Tadanori, who came from Nishiwaki City and continues with versatile activities, have been added to our collection.

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