National Museum of Western Art was designed by the Swiss architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris (1887–1965), who is more popularly known as Le Corbusier. It is the only representative example of his work in the Far East; and the "New York Times" review of its opening suggested that the building itself presented an "artistic significance and beauty" which rivaled the paintings inside. The multi-story, reinforced concrete building was completed in March 1959 as a symbol of the resumption of diplomatic ties between Japan and France after World War II. The museum was built to house the collection of works gathered by the industrialist Matsukata Kojiro between 1920
Gris-Gris managed to book studio time originally reserved for Sonny & Cher. "Gris-Gris" was released in 1968 on Atco Records, a sub-label of Atlantic Records. Atlantic records president Ahmet Ertegun was reluctant to release the record at first, exclaiming "How can we market this boogaloo crap?". "Gris-Gris" failed to chart in the United States and United Kingdom. Modern reception of the album has been very positive. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic gave the album five out of five stars, referring to it as "The most exploratory and psychedelic outing of Dr. John's career". In 1999, Tom Moon of "Rolling Stone" gave the