The museum opened in 1970 as the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, following the donation of works by Heizo Kanayama, a Western-style painter from Kobe. Later, architect Tadao Ando was commissioned to design the new museumin April 2002 and renamed Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art. Approximately 500 masterpieces by Heizo Kanayama including “The Mogami River in Oishida”, one of his most known pieces, can be found in the museum.Paintings, prints, sketches by other infamous Kobe-born artists are also exhibited in this museum.
In addition to the works with rich history, contemporary art pieces such as modern sculptures and prints from Rodin onwards, as well as works by the avant-garde art group Gutai Bijutsu Kyokai, which continues to make a splash at contemporary art exhibitions in Japan and abroad.
