Image: Ishikawa Nanao Art Museum
Ishikawa Nanao Art Museum has opened the second part of its exhibition 'New Discoveries in the Charm of the Ikeda Collection', a presentation of newly acquired works from the museum’s Ikeda Collection running from 7 August to 13 September 2026. The show places ceramics, paintings and archaeological artifacts together across the museum’s galleries, extending a collection that the institution says has long formed one of its core holdings alongside its Hasegawa Tohaku material.
The museum describes itself as the only comprehensive art museum in the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture, and says its holdings exceeded 800 works as of January this year. The Ikeda Collection began in 1988, when 125 works were donated to the city of Nanao following the death of businessman and collector Fumio Ikeda, who was born in Nanao and later worked in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture. Since then, the collection has continued to grow through further donations, and the museum is marking both its 30th anniversary and recovery from the Noto Peninsula earthquake with this latest exhibition.
The second phase of the exhibition focuses on the newly donated 52 works now being shown publicly for the first time. According to the museum, these additions broaden the collection beyond the ceramics for which it is already well known, bringing in historical and archaeological materials as well as oil paintings by major Japanese artists of the Meiji to early Showa periods. The museum presents the group as a kind of culmination of the collection’s development, with works that connect craft, painting and historical material in a single framework.
The exhibition is split into two display sections. In the first gallery, 'From Mino Ware to Karatsu and Kutani: A Full Line-up', the museum surveys the collection’s core strength in ceramics and tea wares. The display includes Mino ware associated with Ikeda’s ties to Gifu, Kutani ware from Ishikawa, and tea ceramics such as Karatsu and Raku ware. Works listed for the section include 'Shino Flower-and-Grass Pattern Large Bottle', 'Oribe Pumpkin-Leaf Pattern Scalloped Tray', 'Black Karatsu Warped Bowl', 'Karatsu Bird-shaped Incense Container' and 'Colour-glazed Dragon and Paulownia Pattern Rectangular Stand by Aoeya Gen’emon'.
The second gallery presents 'A Wide Range of Excellent Works, from Negoro to Japanese Painting' in the first half of the run, then changes completely for the later phase. The museum says this section reflects Fumio Ikeda’s habit of collecting works simply because he liked them, rather than trying to classify them narrowly. Among the works shown in the first phase are a Negoro water bucket, an important cultural work 'Waka Poem Paper by Emperor Go-Nara', 'Autumn Mountain-gathering Sketch' by Maruyama Okyo, 'Fudo Myo-o' by Sawada Seiko, 'Toxic Lacquer Chrysanthemum Pattern Incense Container' by Otonaru Kodo and 'Mulberry-wood Cabinet with Inlaid Decoration' by Himi Kodo.
From 7 August, the second gallery becomes 'First Public Display of Newly Donated Works' as part of the museum’s 30th anniversary and earthquake-recovery commemoration. The museum says all 52 recently donated works are being shown in this phase, including additions in Mino and Kutani ware, historical and archaeological materials, and oil paintings by leading Japanese Western-style painters. Listed works include 'Yellow Seto Stamped Bowl', 'Shino Moon-and-Bamboo Incense Burner', 'Oribe Cut-off Hand Bowl', 'Blue-glazed Eight-handled Flower-and-Chrysanthemum-sprinkled Scalloped Stand with Old Kutani decoration', 'Red-and-blue Chrysanthemum Ikebana-pattern Small Dish with Old Kutani decoration', 'Cloisonné Lacquer Box' by Mae Daiho, 'Bronze Bell with Yokes and Cross-rib Pattern', 'Stupa with Darani Sutra', 'Mountain Villa' by Kuroda Seiki, 'A Ship at Anchor' by Saeki Yuzo, 'Girl in Sailor Uniform' by Matsumoto Shunsuke and 'Bamboo Shoot' by Kobayashi Kokei. The exhibition continues at Nanao Art Museum through 13 September.
