The Cleveland Museum of Art will open a new exhibition room for its Japanese art on June 16 as part of a $350 million renovation and expansion project.
"We regard it as one of the most important Japanese collections in North America," museum President David Franklin said at an event last month in New York to announce the opening.
The museum's Japanese art collection, including the medieval-era statue "Buddha of the Western Paradise, Amida Nyorai," will be displayed in the new gallery after spending the last 10 years in storage, according to the museum.
Beginning next February, the museum will display about 50 Japanese artworks for three months on loan from the Tokyo National Museum at a separate special exhibition hall in the building.
"I think our visitors will be surprised and enthralled by these beautiful objects," Franklin said.
It is part of a 2014 cultural exchange that will include works designated as important cultural properties by the Japanese government, such as Kuroda Seiki's "Maiko Girl."