About Sompo Museum of Art

About the Foundation

The Sompo Fine Art Foundation collects and preserves paintings, sculptures, and other artworks, and makes them widely accessible to the general public, while also encouraging aspiring artists. The foundation operates the Sompo Museum of Art, holding exhibits, as well as supporting and awarding artists and creating greater awareness of art appreciation. These efforts are performed with the dual aims of contributing to Japanese arts and culture and enriching people’s daily lives.

The foundation was established in June of 1976 to administrate and operate the art museum. The vision to create a museum emerged when the high-rise headquarters of Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. was built in the center of Shinjuku, and the concepts for its realization were formulated with cooperation from the artist Seiji Togo, who had a deep connection with the company.

Our Purpose

As a safe, secure and trusted art museum, we will work to create a spiritually rich society through art and culture, and link art and culture to the future

<Social value which we would like to deliver>

  • We will foster the ability to create art and culture for the present and future with diverse talents and connections
  • We will stimulate peoples’ intellectual curiosity through providing opportunities to appreciate works of art
  • We will preserve the collection and the results from our activities
June 1976 - Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Fine Art Foundation is established.
July 2002 - In connection with the establishment of Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., the foundation’s name is changed to ‘Sompo Japan Fine Art Foundation.’
September 2014 - A merger between Nipponkoa Insurance Company, Limited and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., leads to the foundation’s title being changed to Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Fine Art Foundation.
April 2020 - In connection with the move to the new museum facility, the foundation’s title is changed to ‘SOMPO Fine Art Foundation’.

Grant Activities

The foundation provides awards and hosts public competitions, aiming to support the activities of emerging artists and contribute to development of the arts in Japan.

(1) Sompo Museum of Art Award

The Sompo Museum of Art Award was established in 1977 to stimulate creative activities amongst new artists and inspire new life in the Japanese art scene, and thus help to ensure a level of artistic achievement that compares favorably with the rest of the world. The foundation’s grants provide prize money and certificates to winners.

(2) FACE (Public Competition)

The ‘Seiji Togo Memorial Museum Grand Prix Award’ for established artists, and the ‘Outstanding Rising Artists Award’ designed to support new artists, were created in 1977. Exhibitions for both of these awards were then held over the following years.

FACE, an open-call competition open to the public at large, was created in 2012 after the foundation’s shift to become a public interest incorporated foundation. The new competition had the aim of both continuing and expanding the support that the foundation had provided to artists over the previous 35 years.