Gallery

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid both have unique collections of oil sketches by Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-Antwerp 1640). For years they have shared a wish to bring together the finest works from their collections and complement them with masterpieces from other museums to create an unprecedented overview. Rubens was the master of the oil sketch. He was the first artist to prepare a great many of his important compositions by painting sketches on panel. Whereas Rubens’s large works are sometimes described as hackwork, in part because of the contributions often made by assistants, the brilliant, virtuoso – almost impressionistic – touch of the master himself is always present in his oil sketches.

This article was originally published on July 22, 2016. To read the stories behind other celebrated architecture projects, visit our AD Classics section.

The New Museum is the product of a daring vision to establish a radical, politicized center for contemporary art in New York City. With the aim of distinguishing itself from the city’s existing art institutions through a focus on emerging artists, the museum’s name embodies its pioneering spirit. Over the two decades following its foundation in 1977, it gained a strong reputation for its bold artistic program, and eventually outgrew its inconspicuous home in a SoHo loft. Keen to establish a visual presence and to reach a wider audience, in 2003 the Japanese architectural firm SANAA was commissioned to design a dedicated home for the museum. The resulting structure, a stack of rectilinear boxes which tower over the Bowery, would be the first and, thus far, the only purpose-built contemporary art museum in New York City.[1]

The Enoura site, situated on a hilly citrus grove in the Kataura district of Odawara, offers breathtaking panoramic views of the Bay of Sagami. The facility was envisioned by contemporary artist Hiroshi Sugimoto as a forum for disseminating art and culture both within Japan and to the world and comprises a gallery space, two stages, a tea house, and other features that make the entire premise into a truly magnificent landscape.