Hiroshima Museum of Art was opened on November 3, 1978. In the role of the founder of the museum made the Bank of Hiroshima, the reason for the opening of this cultural institution was the centenary of the financial institution. Hiroshima Bank announced a symbol of peace created by the museum and provided money for the construction of buildings and acquisition of paintings, formed the basis of the museum's collection.

The museum was built in the central park of Hiroshima. Its complex includes the main building in the form of one-story rotunda and a few other buildings, which are located in the exhibition halls. All museum buildings are connected by underground corridors. On its territory it is also a lecture hall, a cafe and a gift shop.

The collection of the museum make paintings XIX-XX centuries, written by the well-known French artists representing various areas of painting, as well as the Japanese masters. It is noteworthy that in the selection of paintings, you can see the impact of the European school of painting on Japanese and vice versa - the influence of Japanese painting traditions in the French masters.

The earliest works in the collection of the museum date back to the first half and middle of the XIX century and painted by Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Francois Millet, Gustave Courbet, and Eugene Bourdin. These and other authors are romantic, realistic directions, some of them are considered the forerunners of Impressionism.

Impressionism is represented by the works of Edouard Manet, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and other famous painters of this school. In addition, the museum has to offer its visitors paintings by Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, pointillist work. XX century European paintings in the museum are Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, the painters of the "Paris School".

Japanese authors of the museum has works tsuguharu foujita, known in Europe under the name of Leonard Fujita and Shotaro Koyama, Seiki Kuroda and other painters, who lived mostly in the XX century.