Museum

Di-Maccio Museum

Twenty years ago, Japanese art collector Isao Tanimoto fell in love with Di-Maccio's artworks during one of his trips to Paris. Today, Tanimoto's collection counts over 250 oil paintings, pastels and drawings from Di-Maccio.

At the opening of the Di-Maccio Museum in 2010, 150 artworks were displayed. Since 2011, the museum’s permanent collection exhibits more than 200 artworks, including a momumental painting of 27m x 9m. In addition to the permanent exhibition, the Di-Maccio Museum periodically showcases temporary collections. Today, the museum also includes a restaurant and a small boutique.

The Di-Maccio Museum - a place that guarantees a unique experience for the confirmed art lover.

The Grande Toile

Of the many beautiful artworks at the Di-Maccio Museum, there is one particular piece that stands out - the "Grande Toile".

VIEW GRANDE TOILE

It took three years of meticulous planning to meet this challenge, involving three increasingly large scale drawings in black and white. Apart from the idea and the composition of the painting, the main difficulty during this period of time was to realise a balanced, harmonious work of art.

The Grande Toile measures 9 meters (30ft) in height and 27 meters (89ft) in length.

The general theme is based on the notion of the infinite nature of the universe, and the relativity of space and time. Gérard Di-Maccio deliberately eliminated all specific references to our civilisations customs, making this a timeless work. By doing so, this painting, which has no edges, leaves the viewer in a parallel universe, far from our mundane and everyday reality - in a future which has already become past.

To portray the vastness of the universe, Di-Maccio decided to include perpendicular mirrors on all four sides of the "Grande Toile". As a result, the World's Biggest Oil Painting actually extends into infinity. Below is a sketch showing how the mirrors create the sense of infinity on the Grande Toile.

grande toile mirror

Where to Find the Di-Maccio Museum

Address: 204-5, Taiyo, Niikappu-cho Niikappu-gun, Hokkaido, 059-2343, Japan
Museum Phone: 0146-45-3312