Kyoto's Garden of Fine Arts

Nestled alongside the entrance to the Kyoto Botanical Gardens entrance is a small quiet space that offers, in the words of Monty Python "something completely different". Kyoto's 'Garden of Fine Arts' was designed by the architect Tadao Ando and is the first of it's kind in the world as far as enjoying artwork reproductions outdoors.

Reproduced on porcelain panels are eight 'masterpieces' exhibited, including Michelangelo's 'Last Judgement' pictured above and originally created in this format for the Osaka International Garden and Greenery Exposition in 1990, as well as Renoir's 'On The Terrace' (pictured below right, next to a reproduction of Seurat's 'A Sunday Afternoon').

Admission to the gallery is just 200 yen and you can spend as much time as you want to either walk around or just take a seat on a bench and have some peaceful contemplation time. The concrete art garden is on three levels with a total area of 2,824m2. Construction began in July of 1992 and the site was opened in March 1994.

Pictured below, reproduction of Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper'.

If you visit the Kitayama area of north Kyoto, mainly for the botanical gardens or the concert hall, don't miss this little, almost hidden, gem of Kyoto.

Below, water features play a key role in the garden running around and down the gallery building offering relaxing audio and visual aesthetics to the environment.

The gallery is open daily between the hours of 9:00am and 5:00pm (last entry is at 4:30pm). For more information go to the gallery website ( http://www.kyoto-toban-hp.or.jp ).

Below, a reproduction of 'Qingming shanghe tu' by Zhang Zeduan.