Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo takes great pleasure in presenting "We Love Painting — The Contemporary American Art from Misumi Collection." The museum has emphasized the important role of American art in the postwar world art scene, introducing its prominent movements in permanent and temporary exhibitions.
In the years after World War II, painting played an especially important role in American art as it staked out an independent position. Although we are surrounded by diverse new expressions today incorporating photography, video, and CG, painting continues to have enormous potential that is once again attracting the attention of young artists. The lively and innovative spirit of American painters has continued to energized the art scene, producing a great deal of fascinating art and attracting many collectors.
The MISUMI Corporation, with headquarters located in Toyo, Koto-ku, is widely known in business circles for its open management policies. Responding to the innovation and creativity that characterizes American art, it has been forming its collection since 1989, amassing the works from the prints of the sixties to the paintings of recent years. The works of art acquired by the MISUMI Corporation are displayed in the company offices, providing fresh surprises and enlivening the working environment of the staff. The Misumi Collection is one of the most foreward-looking corporate collections because of the energy and persistence of its acquisitions program and its practice of displaying the works on the company premises.
This exhibition presents approximately one hundred works by forty-three artists from the Misumi Collection as well as a certain number of works from our own collection. A new work made especially for the exhibition by Peter Halley, presented in the B2 atrium, is an important new addition to the collection. We hope that visitors to this exhibition will rediscover the pleasures and rich possibilities of painting and the unique qualities of this collection.
We would like to thank Embassy of The United States of America for the patronage of this exhibition and the many other people who have provided assistance. We are especially grateful for the generous support provided by the MISUMI Corporation in both tangible and intangible forms in addition to the loan of a substantial portion of its collection to the exhibition. Tadashi Saegusa, President & CEO, and Hiroshi Taguchi, Executive Adviser & a member of the Board, were particularly helpful and we would like to recognize their contribution.