Tokyo Gallery
Japan's first contemporary art gallery, founded in Ginza in 1950 and operating today as Tokyo Gallery + BTAP with spaces in Tokyo and Beijing.
Last updated September 26, 2026
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Overview
Tokyo Gallery (東京画廊) is a Japanese contemporary art gallery founded in Ginza, Tokyo, in 1950 by Takashi Yamamoto with the cooperation of Kusuo Shimizu. It is widely described as Japan's first contemporary art gallery. The gallery began by showing Japanese figurative painters such as Seiji Togo and Sotaro Yasui, but a 1958 solo exhibition by Yoshishige Saito, introduced by the critic Shuzo Takiguchi, shifted its focus decisively toward contemporary art. From the 1960s onward Tokyo Gallery became a key conduit for introducing international avant-garde movements to Japan, staging exhibitions of Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Jackson Pollock, Friedensreich Hundertwasser and Zao Wou-Ki, while also presenting major Japanese postwar figures including Jiro Yoshihara, Kazuo Shiraga, Sadamasa Motonaga, Masunobu Yoshimura, Ushio Shinohara and Jiro Takamatsu. Its 1968 exhibition "Tricks and Vision," co-organized with Muramatsu Gallery, is regarded as a historically important precursor to the Mono-ha movement. In the 1970s the gallery turned its attention to Asia, beginning with Korean artists such as Kim Whanki, Park Seo-Bo and Lee Ufan, and from the 1980s it engaged with Chinese contemporary art, showing artists including Cai Guo-Qiang. In 2002 it opened BTAP (Beijing Tokyo Art Projects) in the Dashanzi district on the outskirts of Beijing, and in 2006 it adopted the combined name Tokyo Gallery + BTAP, operating from bases in Tokyo and Beijing. Leadership passed to the founder's eldest son, Toyotsu Yamamoto, who became president in 2000; BTAP was initiated by his brother, Yukihito Tabata. The gallery marked its 70th anniversary in 2020 and continues to represent a broad, cross-generational and cross-regional roster of artists, participating in art fairs such as Art Fair Asia Fukuoka and placing works in museum exhibitions across Japan, China and South Korea.
History
Tokyo Gallery was founded in 1950 in Ginza, Tokyo, by Takashi Yamamoto with the cooperation of Kusuo Shimizu; some accounts date the founding to 1951. Yamamoto had previously worked at the antique art dealer Hirayama-do, and in 1948 he established the Sukiyabashi Gallery in Ginza as a predecessor. The gallery's first exhibition was a show of the painter Seiji Togo, and in its early years it focused on Japanese figurative painters, including Sotaro Yasui, Tetsugoro Yorozu and Matazo Kayama. A turning point came in 1958 when, through an introduction by the critic Shuzo Takiguchi, the gallery held a solo exhibition of Yoshishige Saito. This abstract painting exhibition led Tokyo Gallery to engage broadly with contemporary art at home and abroad. During the 1960s the gallery introduced Japanese audiences to Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Jackson Pollock, Friedensreich Hundertwasser and Zao Wou-Ki, while also presenting leading Japanese postwar artists such as Jiro Yoshihara, Kazuo Shiraga, Sadamasa Motonaga, Masunobu Yoshimura, Ushio Shinohara and Jiro Takamatsu. The 1968 exhibition "Tricks and Vision," organized by Yusuke Nakahara and Junzo Ishiko and co-hosted with Muramatsu Gallery, is historically recognized for shaping the currents that led to Mono-ha. In the late 1960s and through the mid-1970s, artists including Lee Ufan, Nobuo Sekine, Katsuro Yoshida, Susumu Koshimizu, Kishio Suga, Katsuhiko Narita and Koji Enokura formed the movement later named Mono-ha; Tokyo Gallery has continued to hold solo exhibitions of Mono-ha artists since 1969. In the 1970s the gallery also turned toward Asia: Yamamoto visited South Korea under martial law and selected Park Seo-Bo, Lee Dong-whak, Suh Seung-won, Heo Hwang and Kwon Young-woo for the group exhibition "Five Hinsek 'White': 5 Korean Artists" (1975). Subsequent solo exhibitions of Kim Whanki, Kim Tschang-yeul, Park Seo-Bo, Lee Ufan, Shim Moon-seup, Yoon Hyong-keun, Chung Chang-sup and Lee Kang-so made Korean art a central pillar of the gallery's program. From the 1980s the gallery devoted increasing attention to Chinese art, introducing artists such as Cai Guo-Qiang. In 2000 Toyotsu Yamamoto, the founder's eldest son, became president. In 2002, led by his brother Yukihito Tabata, the gallery opened BTAP (Beijing Tokyo Art Projects) in a former factory site in the Dashanzi district on the outskirts of Beijing. In 2006 the gallery adopted the combined name Tokyo Gallery + BTAP, operating from Tokyo and Beijing and presenting artists across generations and regions. The gallery reached its 70th anniversary in 2020. Today Tokyo Gallery is led by Toyotsu Yamamoto and BTAP by Yukihito Tabata, and the gallery continues to participate in art fairs and place its artists in museum exhibitions across Asia.
- 2020
Tokyo Gallery celebrates its 70th anniversary.
- 2006
The gallery adopts the combined name Tokyo Gallery + BTAP.
- 2002
BTAP (Beijing Tokyo Art Projects) opens in the Dashanzi district on the outskirts of Beijing, led by Yukihito Tabata.
- 2000
Toyotsu Yamamoto, eldest son of the founder, becomes president.
- 1980
Solo exhibition of Susumu Koshimizu.
- 1979
Solo exhibition of Katsuro Yoshida.
- 1978
Solo exhibition of Koji Enokura.
- 1976
Solo exhibition of Kishio Suga.
- 1975
Group exhibition "Five Hinsek 'White': 5 Korean Artists" introduces Korean contemporary art.
- 1973
Solo exhibition of Lee Ufan.
Products and positioning
Pioneering Japanese contemporary art gallery bridging Japanese postwar art with Western avant-garde and Asian contemporary art, operating across Tokyo and Beijing.
Solo and group exhibitions of Japanese postwar and contemporary artists
Exhibitions of Western avant-garde artists (Fontana, Klein, Pollock, Hundertwasser, Zao Wou-Ki)
Mono-ha artist exhibitions (Lee Ufan, Sekine, Suga, Koshimizu, Enokura, Yoshida)
Korean contemporary art exhibitions (Kim Whanki, Park Seo-Bo, Lee Kang-so, etc.)
Chinese contemporary art exhibitions (Cai Guo-Qiang, etc.)
Art fair presentations (e.g., ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA)
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