Japanese corporations

3.2.4.1 Panasonic EW

The art collection of Panasonic Electric Works in Tokyo is gathered in an art museum located in the headquarters of the corporation. The museum is

conducted as an independent museum, with its own management, and supported by Panasonic Electric Works. The Panasonic Electric Works Shiodome Museum Rouault Gallery is a collection that is mainly concentrated around the French early twentieth century artist Georges Rouault, and is the only art museum in the world that wears the name of the artist. (Masuko, Hagiwara et al. 2010) It is located on the fourth floor of the headquarters building and it is easily recognizable when entering the floor by the escalator or elevator. The central location makes it easy for employees to visit the museum, which was also a major idea in placing the museum inside of the headquarters; to offer easily accessible art experiences to the employees. But still, according to my informant, the museum experiences a relatively low interest among employees to visit the museum. Only 13% of the visitors are employees, and they have also noticed that

245 http://www.jpmorganchase.com/cm/cs?pagename=Chase/Href&urlname=jpmc/comm.. (11.13.2008)

246 http://home.earthlink.net~corporate.directory/id4.html (01.24.2011)

the vast majority of the visitors are more mature persons over 40-50, and that about 60% of the visitors are female.

The low percent of employee visitors, 13%, means that the audience of the museum is mainly public visitors, who constitute approximately 87% of the audience. Although some of these external visitors may also represent business partners and the like, most of the visitors are obviously public people, as the museum is also open for the public audience. The locality on the fourth floor is easily accessible from the corporation’s show rooms on the lower floors, where the corporation exhibits their products, and has many public visitors. Obviously the easy access to the art museum makes it appear as a factor in public relations.

One of the objectives of the collection was also to offer art experiences to the society or as expressed by the museum, the works of Georges Rouault;

…have been collected by the company as part of its cultural contribution to society. The museum aspires to create a new cultural space befitting its location in the twenty-first century urban setting of Shiodome.²⁴⁷

While a selection of the core collection, the works of Rouault, is permanently on display, the museum also arranges special exhibitions based on the works of the artist, for instance the “Georges Rouault pour UBU” in 2010, based on his illustrations in Ambroise Vollard’s book “Réincarnations du Père Ubu” from 1932. (Masuko, Hagiwara et al. 2010) The museum also arranges exhibitions connected to the manufacture of Panasonic Electric Works, such as “Architecture and living”, and “Life and design”. As described by the museum; “By

introducing new perspectives on space and material, we strive to enrich our everyday lives.”²⁴⁸ This also reflects efforts harmonious to corporate values concentrated in the corporation’s slogan; “Ideas for life”. The museum arranges various cultural events with the objective of “stimulate both the intellect and the senses”, and;

Through a broad variety of cultural pursuits, our aim is to create an environment which provides an oasis of inspiration for visitors within a busy urban surrounding.²⁴⁹

247 http://panasonic-denko.co.jp/corp/museum/en/ (02.15.2011)

248 http://panasonic-denko.co.jp/corp/museum/en/ (02.15.2011)

249 http://panasonic-denko.co.jp/corp/museum/en/ (02.15.2011)

3.2.4.2 Idemitsu

The Idemitsu art collection is gathered in the internal Idemitsu Museum of Arts in the headquarters of the Idemitsu Kosan Corporation in Tokyo. As described by the corporation, the museum is; “…a public interest incorporated foundation that is not part of the consolidated corporate structure,”²⁵⁰ which means that the museum is considered as an independent institution supported by the corporation.

Among the objectives of the Idemitzu collection, is to collect Japanese art objects both with the purpose of educating people today, and to preserve the art for new generations. As pronounced by the founder, Sazo Idemitsu;

A museum is an art piece created by the people, therefore the presence of Japanese originality and beauty is essential. Its most important duty is to continue its collection of art masterpieces, not only for the education of the present but for the preservation of the artworks for the coming generations.²⁵¹

In light of the public orientation of the museum, Idemitsu arranges events in the museum, such as the “Music in the Museum by Idemitsu”, which; “…provide readily enjoyable experiments of fine arts, music and other arts”.²⁵² The concerts are planned in the hope that the collection will deepen the experience of music, and “…that they will gain an intimate experience of the ways in which art can be a close and colorful presence that enriches our lives.”²⁵³ The Idemitsu Museum of Arts has a branch museum, the Moji in Kitakyushu, but Idemitsu also sponsors art exhibitions outside of the museums. Idemitsu has a broad CSR program, through which they conduct an active exchange with local societies, that contribute to enrich regional communities. As a part of the CSR activity, Idemitsu also supports culture, art and education, and among other they have arranged the Children’s Art Contest in the Hokkaido Branch Office and

Hokkaido Idemitsukai, awarded with a Grand prize and 20 awards for excellence.

3.2.4.3 Bridgestone

The founding of the Bridgestone art collection was initiated when a friend of Ishibashi, the founder of Bridgestone, the Japanese artist Sakamoto Hanjiro returned to his home in Kurume, after studying art in France, where he had developed his Western style of painting. He encouraged Ishibashi to collect paintings from the Japanese artists Aoki Shigeru, and before World War II he also started to collect art from Fujishima Takeji. Already at this point Ishibashi

250 Idemitsu Group CSR Report 2010, page 22.

251 http://www.idemitsu.co.jp/museum/english/honkan/index.html (12.29.2010)

252 Idemitsu Group CSR Report 2010, page 22.

253 Idemitsu Group CSR Report 2010, page 22.

started to systematize his collection of art. After World War II, he also started to collect Western art, when Western art that was brought to Japan before the war started to appear on the art market in Japan, provided by people who started to sell out art in order to restore their assets after the war, (Curatorial-Department 2009) as mentioned also in chapter 2.1.7.3. The collection was concentrated on Impressionist and Post Impressionist paintings, and the following early twentieth century styles. An important objective of the art collection, was that it “…should not be kept private but should contribute to the society as a whole.” (Curatorial-Department 2009)²⁵⁴

Inspired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York on a trip to the metropolis in 1951, Ishibashi decided to found a museum with his personal collection in the corporate headquarters that should be open to the public, similar to MoMA in New York, where he observed a diversity of people in all ages enjoying the art exhibitions. The museum opened in 1952. Four years later Ishibashi used his private funds to found the Ishibashi Foundation with a legal framework to ensure that the Bridgestone Museum of Art should remain as a public art institution also in the future. Ishibashi wanted to show that the high quality of the collection constituted its public value, although it was built by an individual collector.

Based on the founders creed of the collection; “For the welfare and happiness of all mankind”, the museum has, since its founding in 1952 “…expanded its collection, research, exhibition and education and outreach activities under each successive president of the foundation and director of the museum”. (Curatorial-Department 2009)²⁵⁵ During the last decades the collection has started to purchase art also from the last half of the twentieth century, such as Jackson Pollock’s Number 2 from 1951, which was bought for the fiftieth anniversary of the Ishibahi Foundation. According to the Bridgestone Museum of Art: “Works of art and the museum that houses them are meaningless without the people who visit and enjoy them”, (Curatorial-Department 2009)²⁵⁶ a statement that shows the public attitude of this internal corporate art museum.