The NMWA was founded in 1959 on the basis of the so-called Matsukata Collection, works that came from the massive number assembled by Matsukata Kôjirô, the first president of Kawasaki Shipbuilding, in Europe during the latter half of the 1910s and the 1920s. The year 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the NMWA and as one aspect of the commemorative events, a retrospective exhibition on Frank Brangwyn, advisor to Matsukata, is being held in the Special Exhibition Galleries. This exhibition is a small-scale exhibition held in connection to the Brangwyn display, and features 38 watercolors and drawings primarily of the 19th to 20th centuries from the Matsukata Collection and today in the NMWA collection.

Artists create watercolors and drawings either as preparatory drawings for a finished work in another medium or as finished works themselves, and they reveal a unique character and expression that differ from that found in oil paintings. These works were made on paper, which is a fragile medium sensitive to changes in environment and light levels. As a result, they are only occasionally displayed. We hope that museum visitors will enjoy the fascination of these rarely seen watercolors and drawings.