Great Art Deco/Art Nouveau museum in Takayama, Japan

This 1926 fountain by Lalique once graced a shopping arcade on the Champs Elysees and has been called the greatest work in Art Deco; after the arcade closed the fountain was lost but rediscovered in 1989 and now the showpiece of this museum

Peacock Lamp, Tiffany, 1905; items for sale in the museum gift shop were almost as impressive as those in the permanent exhibition

The pieces here reminded me of my visit to the Ecole de Nancy Museum in Nancy, France (also a sister city to Takayama); I've always admired Art Nouveau works which transformed everyday items into works of art

Japanese Fan-shaped Vase, Galle, 1889; in 1901, together with Prouvé, Majorelle, Daum and Vallin, Galle founded an Art Nouveau movement known as École de Nancy (The Nancy School)

Crane-necked Bottle, Galle, 1900; at $13, admission is relatively expensive but if the subject matter is of interest then it is money well spent

Dining room from the Wiener Studio representative of the Vienna Secessionist movement; designed by some members of the movement, the Vienna Secession House, hosted exhibits by artists who felt that style came from necessity

Rose de France Vase, Galle, 1900; one of only six sights in Japan to get three stars from Michelin

Table Lamp, Ishii, 1996; this Japanese artist is famous for blending Japanese aesthetics with the historical Art Nouveau influences

Midnight Perfume, Lalique, 1912; Lalique is buried with so many other greats in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris

Gruber, 1900; this wonderful museum, on the outskirts of Takayama, was one of the nicest surprises of my 4 month trip

For such an exceptional museum, its website is really poor; it is more like the brochure copied and pasted on the web with little information on the contents of their collection

Promoted as the leading Decorative Arts Museum in the World, the Takayama Museum of Art, features glass art works and furniture of European Art Nouveau and Art Deco style which flourished at the end of 19th century

As best I can tell, the person who started this collection is a famous physicist; searching on google in English doesn't pull up Japanese entries unless they've already been translated

Winter Vase, Freres, 1905; I wish they showed a video on how some of these pieces were made so that we could better appreciate the artistry

This dining room is by a Scottish architect and designer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was a dominating artist from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century

Heart-marked Bowl, Wiener Werkstatte, 1916; the museum is about 4 hours by train from Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto

Dragonfly, Galle, 1889; this museum has received 3 Michelin stars (the highest rating and very prestigious) each year since opening in 1997

For a world-class museum, they had little information in English; only some info sheets in poor English which contained biographical sketches on a few of the artists

Pumpkin Vase, Daum Freres, 1910; the Daum family worked at the beginning of Art Nouveau and were creators of one of France's greatest glassworks (it still operates in Nancy today)

Jack in the Pulpit Vase, Tiffany, 1913; Takayama is small enough that you can enjoyably walk anywhere in nice weather

Admiration Vase, Ishii, 1991; the museum had a small section devoted to Asian artists who were inspired by the Art Deco and Art Nouveau movements

Vase, Marinot, c. 1920; Marinot was a painter considered a member of Les Fauves, before becoming a major artist in glass

Some Art Nouveau pieces, like this one by a modern Japanese artist, seem to have prioritized form over function; of course, they may be so expensive that you would only display them