Picasso in Japan?

In my previous post, I didn't use to like Picasso, I wrote about how I found two of his self-portraits, painted at the age of 91, really impressive.

I was also shocked because I tend to read labels closely when something interests me, and I discovered both paintings had come to the Barcelona Picasso Museum from as far as Japan. So I decided to look them up.

Head of a man 

was there thanks to the Hakone Open Air Museum; 

Self-portrait 

was courtesy of the Fuji Television Gallery, which was even more surprising. Wasn't that weird? A Japanese TV company lending Barcelona a Picasso painting for a temporary exhibition.

Just click on this picture of Hakone to see where this town is, ten thousand kilometres away:

Hakone

Fortunately, Fuji Television has an English translation of its website, so I could learn that the TV giant that owns Picasso's Self-Portrait also sponsors the Hakone Open Air Museum, which has lent Barcelona Head of a Man. 

The Hakone Open Air Museum owns three hundred, yes, three hundred, works by Picasso and has a whole pavillion devoted to his art. I am curious about and amazed at what other Picasso wonders unknown to old fashioned European museum goers Asia may be hiding. 

These are the headquarters of the Fuji Television Gallery, part of a conglomerate of 79 companies, five foundations and three museums, called the the Fujisankei Communications Group (FCG). 

No wonder so many Japanese tourists come to Barcelona and queue to visit our Picasso Museum.