History

1952

Ishibashi Shojiro (1889-1976), founder of Bridgestone Corporation, completes a gallery to house his collection on the 2nd floor of the Bridgestone Building in Kyobashi, Tokyo, which he opens to the public. The Bridgestone Museum of Art thus opens its doors on January 8. The Saturday Lectures start in February the same year.
The completion ceremony for the Bridgestone Museum of Art. Ishibashi Shojiro is in the center of the first row, giving a celebratory cheer.
The Bridgestone Museum of Art opened its doors on January 8.
Mushanokoji Saneatsu giving the Saturday Lecture. (September, 1952)

1956

The Ishibashi Foundation is established and the Bridgestone Museum of Art comes under its management.
Ishibashi Shojiro opens the Ishibashi Museum of Art, sister museum to the Bridgestone Museum of Art, in Kurume city, Fukuoka prefecture the same year.

1957

Contemporary World Art is held.

1959

The Museum is totally redesigned, resulting in an 80 percent increase in floor area to 2,645 square meters.

1961

Shojiro Ishibashi donates most of his art collection to the Ishibashi Foundation.

1962

The Ishibashi Collection Exhibition is held at the National Museum of Modern Art, Paris.
Opening ceremony at the National Museum of Modern Art, Paris, May, 1962. Bernard Dorival, assistant director of the National Museum of Modern Art is third from the right, Ishibashi Shojiro is fifth from the right.

1972

Aoki Shigeru, the Museum's twentieth anniversary exhibition is held.

1976

Ishibashi Shojiro, Founder of the Bridgestone Museum of Art, passed away.

1980

The Museum acquires Picasso's Saltimbanque Seated with Arms Crossed.

1987

The Museum acquires Renoir's Mlle Georgette Charpentier Seated.

1989

Gustave Courbet is held.

1994

Monet: A Retrospective is held.

1996

Cumulative visitors exceed 5 million.

1999

The interior of the museum is redesigned and redecorated, extending the display area to 2,924 square meters.

2001

Renoir: From Outsider to Old Master 1870-1892 is held.

2002

Ishibashi Shojiro, Art Collector and Bridgestone Museum of Art Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration Fujishima Takeji are held.

2004

Over 2,000 Saturday Lectures had been given.

2005

The museum acquires Number 2, 1951.

2006

From SESSHU to POLLOCK: An Exhibition Marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Ishibashi Foundation and Sakamoto Hanjiro: An Exhibition Marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Ishibashi Museum of art are held.

2011

The museum acquires Caillebotte's Young Man Playing the Piano.
Postwar Abstract Paintings in France and Art Informel and Aoki Shigeru: Myth, Sea and Love are held.

2012

Ishibashi Foundation is accredited as a Public Interest Incorporated Foundation.
The museum's sixtieth anniversary exhibitions are held: Ishibashi Collection Selected for the Exhibition in Paris, Spring, 1962; The Bridgestone Museum of Art at Sixty: You've Got to See These Paintings; and Debussy, Music and the Arts.

2013

Gustave Caillebotte exhibition is held.

2015

The Bridgestone Museum of Art closes for renovation on May 18, 2015 to reopen several years later.
Museum to reopen under new name.

2016

The administration of the Ishibashi Museum of Art is handed over to the City of Kurume and it is renamed as the Kurume City Art Museum.

2017

“Tokyo — Paris Masterpieces from the Bridgestone Museum of Art in Tokyo — Ishibashi Foundation Collection Exhibition” is held at the Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris. Approx. 420,000 visitors.

2018

Name change of the Bridgestone Museum of Art (to the Artizon Museum) in July 2019 and its opening in January 2020 are announced.

2019

Completion of Construction of "Museum Tower Kyobashi" on July 1.