The Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art (often shortened to Kawamura Memorial Museum) is an art museum in Sakura, Japan. Founded in 1990 by Dainippon Ink & Chemicals, the collection now contains more than 1000 works.
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The Museum was opened in May 1990 in order to exhibit artwork collected by the Japanese resin and ink manufacturer Dainippon Ink & Chemicals.[1] The project was largely the brainchild of Katsumi Kawamura, the founder and first director of the museum, who had been collecting art since the 1970s.[1]
The Kawamura Memorial Museum contains artwork by a wide selection of American, European and Japanese artists, including special exhibitions of the works of Mark Rothko and Frank Stella.
According to DIC corporation, the museum has had a positive impact on the image of the company. At the end of the 20th century, the museum was attracting over 300,000 visitors each year.[2] Former president Shigekuni Kawamura commented that 'customers...evaluate us highly as a cultivated, international company which is not concerned solely with its business. This is not an outcome we planned, but is a very satisfying one'.[2]