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kyonen ha bizyutukan de e wo mimasita.

去年きょねん　は　美術館びじゅつかん　で　絵え　を　見みました。kyonen ha bizyutukan de e wo mimasita.
I saw paintings at the art museum last year.
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Questions & Answers about kyonen ha bizyutukan de e wo mimasita.

What does the particle は after 去年 indicate here?
In this sentence, は marks 去年 (“last year”) as the topic, setting it as the general frame or context for what follows. It doesn’t necessarily imply contrast—just that “last year” is what we’re talking about.
Why is there no に after 去年?
Time words like 去年, 今年, 昨日, and 明日 usually act as adverbial phrases and omit に, whereas more precise time points do require it (e.g. 3時に). Since 去年 is treated as a broad time frame here, に is unnecessary.
What role does で play after 美術館?
The particle で indicates the location of an action. 美術館で tells us that the action of seeing (見る) took place “at the art museum.”
Could we use に instead of で after 美術館?

Not for this meaning. に often marks:

  • direction (e.g. 学校に行く “go to school”)
  • location of existence (e.g. 庭に猫がいる “A cat is in the garden”)
    But to mark where an action happens, you use で.
Why is 絵 followed by を?
を is the direct object marker for transitive verbs like 見ました. Here, 絵 (“picture/painting”) is what you saw, so it requires を.
What tense and politeness level is 見ました?
見ました is the past polite form of 見る, indicating a completed action in the past and showing a polite register (e.g. to someone not super close).
Could we use the plain past form 見た instead?

Yes. 見た is the plain/informal past.

  • 去年は美術館で絵を見た。 (casual, among friends)
  • 去年は美術館で絵を見ました。 (polite, in more formal settings)
Why does the verb come at the end of the sentence?

Japanese follows a Subject/Topic–Object–Verb (SOV) word order. Even though the subject (“I”) is omitted, the structure remains:
[Topic] [Location] [Object] [Verb].

Can we omit the topic marker は after 去年?
Yes. Saying 去年美術館で絵を見ました。 treats 去年 purely as an adverbial time phrase and removes the topical emphasis. Both sentences are correct but carry slightly different nuances.
Is it possible to change the order of the time, location, and object phrases?

Word order in Japanese is flexible thanks to particles, but the default and clearest sequence is:
time/topic (去年は) → location (美術館で) → object (絵を) → verb (見ました).
You could shift elements (e.g. 美術館で去年は絵を見ました), but it may sound less natural or change focus.