Discover The Exceptional Museum Of Asian Art Of Corfu

This week on Easy Reserve, we have been talking about the incredible island gem that is Corfu. A luxury destination in the Ionian Islands in Greece, it is a place for sun, sea, and fun. The landscape of the island is rugged and charming with lots of opportunities for hiking and exploration and also boasts perfect beaches (such as the beach of Porto Timoni that we discussed in our last post) and glittering sapphire waters made for relaxing, sunning oneself, snorkelling, and lazy days on a boat. However, in addition to the overwhelming natural beauty and perfection of the island, Corfu is also an unexpected cultural gem. Having spent time under under Venetian, French, and British rule throughout the centuries before being united with Greece in 1864, it is a place with a diverse and rich cultural heritage and history, which is reflected in the range of architectural styles that one stumbles past on the island and in the excellent cultural institutions on the island, such as the Museum of Asian Art of Corfu.

The Museum of Asian Art of Corfu is located in in the Palace of St. Michael and St. George in Corfu City on the island of Corfu. This Greek Revival style neoclassical gem by Colonel George Whitmore was originally commissioned by Sir Thomas Maitland as the residence of the British Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands and was built between 1819 and 1824. It was then used as a Royal residence after Corfu became part of Greece, until the Second World War. While it survived the Italian bombardment of the city during the Corfu Incident in 1923, it was later used for the temporary housing of refugees from Epirus during the Greek Civil War in the 1940s, which left it in a state of disrepair. Thankfully, with the help of a private trust organised by Sir Charles Peake, the then British Ambassador to Greece, the state was able to restore the palace interiors in 1954. The Greek king continued to use the palace for some state occasions until the 1960s but, today, it is solely used to house the Museum of Asian Art of Corfu.

Unique, as it is the only museum in Greece dedicated to Asian art, the collections of the museum were first started in 1927 and are largely made up of donated works, with the majority being from collector Gregorios Manos, who donated an astounding 10,500 pieces out of around 11,000 in the museum. The collection boasts works from China, Japan, and India, among other countries, with the oldest pieces dating all the way back to the 11th century BCE. Works represented by the collection include Japanese prints, Chinese porcelain, and Indian sculptures in bronze, wood, and more.

Originally opened as the Museum of Sino-Japanese Art, the donations of Gregorios Manos were key to the establishment of the museum. Regarded as the first Greek authority on Asian art, he was the Greek ambassador to Austria and collected Chinese, Korean and Japanese artefacts at art auctions in Vienna and Paris in the late 19th and early 20th century. His incredible records and cataloguing of the collection and the quality of the collection itself were extraordinary and an amazing gift that was donated to the state on the condition that a Sino-Japanese art museum be opened in Corfu.

The museum was further enhanced by the donation of the private collection of N. Chatzivasileiou, the former Greek ambassador to India and Japan, contributing artefacts from India, Pakistan, Tibet, Siam, and Northeast Asia and changing the Sino-Japanese focus of the museum to a more broadly Asian art focus that lead to the renaming of the institution to the Museum of Asian Art. Other, smaller donations have further enriched the incredible base upon which the museum was founded throughout the years.

Costing only a few euros to enter, this excellent museum is full of incredible works of art and craftsmanship and the building in which it is located and the gardens that surround, alone, make it a must-see; some serious bang for your buck if you are looking to stretch a budget a bit further on this luxurious, and often expensive, island! If you are spending time in Corfu, be sure to check it out.