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
Charles-Edouard Levillain Charles-Edouard Levillain Charles-Édouard Levillain (born 1971) is a French historian of early modern Britain and the Low Countries. He is currently a professor of British history at Paris Diderot University. Levillain was educated at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. He holds a BA in History from the Sorbonne (Paris 1) and a degree in Public Law and Administration from Sciences Po. He obtained his PhD from the in 2003. Levillain has held fellowships at King's College London (1999-2000), the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (2007-2008), Yale University (James Osborne Fellow, 2008-2009), Churchill College, Cambridge (2011), the Casa de Velázquez