Mori Yoshiko, co-founder and founding chairperson of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, died from pneumonia on 23 December, aged 85, the museum has announced.
Mori founded the Mori Art Museum in 2003, along with her late husband Mori Minoru, and served as its inaugural chairperson, a position she served until December 2024. During her 22-year tenure she oversaw over 60 exhibitions, including solo exhibitions of Yayoi Kusama (2004), Ai Weiwei (2009) and Chiharu Shiota (2019) as well as group shows including the triennial Roppongi Crossing series launched in 2004, whose latest edition, What Passes Is Time. We Are Eternal, opened last month.
In addition to her role at the Mori Art Museum, Mori was a trustee of London’s Royal Academy of Arts from 1999 to 2017 (afterwards she was named an Honorary Trustee) and of artist Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Odawara Art Foundation, from its founding in 2009. From 2012 Mori was a member of the international councils of MoMA and Tate (2012). She was awarded the Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur of the French Republic in 2013 and an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2025.
A memorial event is being planned by the museum, with details to be announced. According to the museum no gifts or flowers will be accepted to honour the family’s wishes.
