At 89 Hanasi Boulevard, next door to the Dan Carmel Hotel, is the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art building in Haifa.
Tikotin Museum
The museum is exclusively dedicated to the display and preservation of Japanese art. It was founded in 1959 at the initiative of Felix Tikotin, a wealthy collector of Japanese art, and the mayor at the time, Khushi's father. At the base of the museum is Tikotin's private collection which was brought from Europe to Israel. The exhibition wing of the museum was designed according to the ideas of Tikotin himself, who was an architect by profession, and under the supervision of the architect M. heart. The Tikotin Museum was opened to the public in 1960.
Who are you, Felix Tikotin?
Felix Tikotin (1893-1986), a Jew born in Silesia in Germany, an architect by training, was a dealer and collector of Japanese art objects. His family originates from the town of Tychocin on the border of Poland and Russia and that is the origin of his name. In 1924, he opened an art gallery in Berlin where Japanese art objects were displayed that aroused great interest in those days.
Later he became a successful art dealer in the field of Far Eastern art in general and Japan in particular. During World War II he fled to the Netherlands from the Nazi regime. He and his family were saved thanks to Dutch World Nations followers. After the war he moved to Switzerland and continued his collecting and trading activities from this country until his death in 1986.
The big theft
In 1988 the museum was burglarized and about 200 items were stolen from the collection, many of which have not been found to this day. The Tikotin family claimed that the break-in was possible because of poor security arrangements. Against this background, his relations with the Haifa Municipality, which was responsible for security, became strained. Later, most of the items were located when they were put up for sale by the auction house Sotheby's in London. All the items found were returned to the museum collection and the burglars were arrested.
A new wing with a Japanese-Israeli plan
In 1995, a new wing was inaugurated for the museum which, in addition to the extension of the exhibition spaces, also included an upper level with a lecture hall and a cafeteria. The new wing was designed by the Japanese architect Yoshimura Jonzo (Yoshimouro Junzo) in collaboration with the esteemed Haifa architect, Prof. Al Mansfeld (1912-2004). Mansfeld won many professional awards, worldwide publicity and also won In the Israel Prize for Architecture for 1966 in collaboration with The architect Dora Gad for planning the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Center for the dissemination of Japanese culture
Since the inauguration of the new wing in 1995, over 150 new exhibitions have been held there. Thanks to a wide variety of exhibitions and educational and cultural activities, the museum has become a center for spreading Japanese culture in Israel. In light of its extensive activity, the museum received signs of appreciation from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2009) and the Emperor of Japan (2014). These days there is an exhibition that connects artists from the traditional Japanese art of woodblock prints with contemporary, Japanese and Israeli artists.
Dear readers
The articles in this section are based on open information published in sources such as Wikipedia and other websites and may include various historical inaccuracies arising from the aforementioned sources.
to Yael
thank you for your response. You revealed another area where Haifa was left behind...
The wing in 1995 was the last time we built museums in Haifa. In Tel Aviv, in these 30 years, 6 new museums and two new wings were built in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and now in the Eretz Israel Museum and the Bat Sheva Dance Company Campus
In Jerusalem, 4 new museums were built and the Tower of David Museum was renovated and the National Library and the Performing Arts Campus were built.
The time has come for the state to invest in culture, especially in Haifa, which is the cultural anchor of the north. And the Haifa municipality will also return to Abba Khushi's vision, during which the museums were founded, was to turn Vifa into a city of culture on an international level, which is why he brought in Mana Katz and the Japanese Art Collection and established a national maritime museum.
The buildings have become obsolete and must be invested in renewal and construction as was done in the center of the country.
It can be noted that the museum was built on the plot of the house of Kish, who was a Jewish British officer. A quiche is served in his name.
To Mushik:
Thank you very much for your response. I was glad that I aroused your interest in the history of the city's buildings. Shabbat Shalom!
To Ayelet:
thank you for your response. The articles rely on well-deserved sources, such as Wikipedia and other information sites. They are written after cross-checking information, but no academic research has been conducted on each building. The large amount of information available on the Internet is filtered and summarized and is not simply copied. Recently we also started using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to reach relevant information. And yet, there is room for caution in presenting information to the public and this is the reason for the warning note.
I was happy to see that you enjoyed reading the current article and I hope that you will find interest in my articles in the future as well. Shabbat Shalom!
"The articles in this section are based on open information published in sources such as Wikipedia and other websites and may include various historical inaccuracies arising from the aforementioned sources"
I really enjoyed the article, especially after visiting the museum. But this paragraph undermines the whole content. Why rely on inappropriate sources and upload them as an independent article? It does not respect the readers and certainly not the writer whose degree and CV were a kind of promise for quality content that results from research and not from "copy and paste" from websites known to be unreliable information.
Thank you Dr. "Wikiber-on" for enlightening our eyes on interesting historical topics!
To Rafi Raphael
Thank you very much, my friend, Shabbat Shalom!
All the best to you my friend Dr. David Bar On. Shabbat peace and blessing to you