ĐÀ NẴNG — The Đà Nẵng Fine Arts Museum at 78 Lê Duẩn Street has created a display space for paintings from the late Japanese collector Toyokichi Itoh to honour his memory after his death one year ago.

Deputy director of the museum Nguyễn Thị Trinh said that Itoh, who died in 2025 at the age of 84, had donated a collection of 259 paintings by famous Vietnamese artists to the museum starting in 2020. He also lent 49 other works in the collection, named Houri (Prosperity), to the museum for long-term display.

 

Trinh said the collection includes works by many well-known painters who graduated from the Indochina College of Fine Arts (the predecessor of the Việt Nam University of Fine Arts), including Nguyễn Gia Trí, Trần Văn Cẩn, Tự Duyên and Dương Bích Liên.

She said Itoh began to collect works by Vietnamese painters after first travelling to the country in late 1986, and had held a series of exhibitions in Japan and abroad in the hopes that the valuable works would promote Việt Nam’s historical and cultural value to the world.

 

“His collection features both the value of the art itself as well as the love and respect of a Japanese friend for Việt Nam’s fine arts. We are honoured to house and display his collection at the museum for daily visits from Vietnamese and international visitors,” Trinh said.

“He passed away, but his image and love remain in our minds.”

 

Before his death, the Japanese collector had been given certificates of merit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Đà Nẵng City, along with a commemorative medal from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, for his contribution to the friendship ties between Việt Nam and Japan. — VNS