On July 25th, I went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. I arrived at 9:30 and waited for my father. At 10:00, we bought tickets and entered the museum. We decided on going to the garden first. The Garden was a combination of Western style and Japanese style. The first section after entering had an abstract statue and a pine tree. The next section had the restaurant and a lot of outdoor chairs. After a brief view, we went to the pond. The pond had many goldfish and a traditional tea house. We lingered in the area a bit more and left for the museum part.
The museum part was currently holding an exhibit of Finnish glass art. It was quite fortunate that we caught the event. It ends on 9/1. The hall contained a famous art piece: the Aalto Vase. It featured a special shape and is very unique. It takes 7 craftsmen to make one Aalto vase. The glass needed to be blown, put in a mold and polished. Also on the first floor were glass birds, and other special art pieces.
We climbed the second floor and noticed that the building’s architecture is very unique and reminiscent of the Art Deco style, which is the focus of the museum. The building is the Former Residence of Prince Asaka, who went to France in 1922. He was very fascinated by France’s unique Art Deco style which flourished during that period. After Prince Asaka’s return, he and his wife, along with numerous engineers and craftsmen from Japan and France, designed the house. On the second floor were many rooms, and we went through them in order. The second floor featured many colorful art pieces and a very beautiful style of architecture.
After resting a little on the couch, we departed for the newly built side museum which held another part of the glass art gallery. We were only able to see gallery 1 because the other is in construction. We saw a documentary on the creation process of the glass birds, and even more pieces of glass art, compared to the art in the main building. The art pieces here were very abstract and colorful, fitting the theme of the new building.
After some more time admiring the pieces of art, we left for home. The museum was very unique and beautiful in its theme of a combination of gardens, exhibits, and historical value. The museum was a short walk from Meguro station, and I recommend people who have time to visit the museum.
