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
Albert Edouard Gilou of Culture supported Gilou's project to establish a collection of France's religious architecture and art, but Gilou's brutal and accidental death in 1961 put an end to the ambitious project. Gilou was married to Miriam Gilou-Cendrars, the daughter and biographer of the writer and poet Blaise Cendrars. They had three children. Albert Edouard Gilou Albert Edouard "Bertie" Gilou (1910-1961) was a French art collector and founding art director of the magazine "". He was also art director of the magazine "Realités" from 1950 to 1961. Gilou was a descendant of Charles Sedelmeyer on his mother's side, and his father, Pierre