The Ohara Museum of Art is one of Kurashiki’s proud cultural institutions.
Directly opposite it stands a building distinguished by its green tiled roof.
The building is called “Yurin-so Villa.”
It is usually closed to the public, but special openings are held every spring and autumn.
The title of the autumn 2023 special opening of Yurin-so Villa was “Family Forms.”
I went to see it.
Photography is normally prohibited inside Yurin-so Villa. We were granted special permission to take photographs this time.
The information presented was current when this article was published in October 2023. Please note that it may differ from current information.
What is Yurin-so Villa?
Yurin-so Villa is the former second residence of the Ohara family, completed in 1928.
The family’s main residence is what is now Ohara House Katalyzer. Although it was a historically distinguished building even then, people could enter and leave from anywhere, making it difficult to maintain a private living space for the family alone.
So Ohara Magosaburo, mindful of his wife Sueko, commissioned the construction of a Western-style home where the family could live privately.
The original plan for a family home in Western style was then expanded to include the function of a “guest house,” something Kurashiki had not had at the time. As a result, it was transformed into a “full-fledged mansion” combining a spacious Western-style reception room for entertaining with large-scale Japanese architectural features.
This is the Yurin-so Villa we see today.
Autumn 2023 Special Opening of Yurin-so Villa: “Family Forms”
The autumn 2023 special opening of Yurin-so Villa, titled “Family Forms,” features works from the Ohara Museum of Art collection that take family as their subject.
Yurin-so Villa was originally built for a family.
- Wives
- Mothers and children
- Life and death
These three themes are expressed in the Western- and Japanese-style rooms inside Yurin-so Villa.
Special openings since 2019 are summarized below.
Tap to display
Special openings were canceled from spring 2020 through spring 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Exhibited Works
The exhibited works are as follows.
- Auguste Rodin, “Madame Rodin”
- Bernard Buffet, “Portrait of Annabel”
- Kishida Ryusei, “The Painter’s Wife”
- Sakamoto Hanjiro, “Washing Hair”
- Amedeo Modigliani, “Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne”
- Georges Despagnat, “Young Mother Wiping a Child’s Nose”
- Karel Appel, “Mother and Child”
- Egypt, Deir el-Medina, “Stele to the God Thoth”
- Kumagai Morikazu, “The Day the Sun Died”
- From Shiko Munakata’s “Selected Woodblock Prints from the Song Collection of Sueko Ohara”: “Standing Child”
- Ota Saburo, “N’s Family”
- Henry Lamb, “Bathing”
- From Shiko Munakata’s “Selected Woodblock Prints from the Song Collection of Sueko Ohara”: “Thinking Alone”
It seems that Amedeo Modigliani’s “Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne” will be loaned overseas for an extended period after its exhibition at the special opening of Yurin-so Villa.
It will not be possible to see it at the Ohara Museum of Art for some time, so if you are a fan, be sure to visit while you have the chance.
The Venue
Here is a brief introduction to the venue, mainly through photographs.
From the Writer
Hasegawa Yuri, the Ohara Museum of Art curator in charge of the exhibition, spoke as follows.
Yurin-so Villa was originally built as a second residence by Ohara Magosaburo, the head of the Ohara family.
His wife, Sueko, was frail, so the villa was built because they wanted a place where the family could spend time together at leisure, in addition to their main residence.
I hope visitors will enjoy the “works about family” expressed by various people in a space built out of such “feelings for family.”
First, I hope you will enjoy the works as you see them. You might also consider which painters and artists expressed them, and with what feelings, as well as what family means to you personally.
I hope you will view the works while thinking about these things together.
The autumn 2023 special exhibition at Yurin-so Villa is held from Friday, October 6 to Sunday, October 22, 2023.
As you view the works, please also take note of the building that Ohara Magosaburo had constructed for his family.
Articles about Yurin-so Villa
Fall 2023 Special Opening of Yurin-so Villa: “Family Forms” Information
| Name | Fall 2023 Special Opening of Yurin-so Villa: “Family Forms” |
|---|---|
| Dates | October 6 (Friday) to October 22 (Sunday), 2023 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. *Last admission at 3:30 p.m. *Open every day during the exhibition |
| Location | 1-3-18 Chuo, Kurashiki City |
| Admission (tax included) | [Yurin-so Villa admission] Adults: ¥1,000 High school, junior high school, and elementary school students [under 18]: ¥500 [Combo ticket] *Admission to Yurin-so Villa and the Ohara Museum of Art Adults: ¥2,500 High school, junior high school, and elementary school students [under 18]: ¥1,000 |
| Website | Fall 2023 Special Opening of Yurin-so Villa: “Family Forms” |
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