Bobby, some material for your research on inflation/deflation :)
Japanese sell off treasures as art bubble bursts
By Juliet Hindell in Tokyo
JAPANESE art collectors who bought some of the world's most famous
paintings in the Eighties boom are selling them because of the current
financial crisis.
The sell-off is a humiliating reversal of fortunes for Japan which
acquired a taste for expensive Western art when the economy seemed
unstoppable. Sotheby's estimates that 40 per cent of the paintings it
has been asked to sell over recent months have been from Japan.
Christie's is also reporting a huge increase in the number of paintings
coming up for sale in Japan. Last year the auctioneers sold œ25 million
of art in the hands of Japanese collectors.
At the Kawamura Museum of Art in Tokyo, Japanese art lovers have been
snatching a last glimpse of 11 works by Anselm Kiefer before they leave
the country. A Japanese businessman, Harunori Takahashi, bought the
collection of the German artist's work - which once belonged to the
Saatchis - for a reported œ8 million in 1988. But after the collapse of
Mr Takahashi's two companies, he decided to sell. The British art dealer
Entwistle paid œ4 million for them.
Roberta Entwistle, director of Entwistle Art, said: "We first saw them
in a warehouse full of fridges and sewing machines, they've never been
on show in Japan." Before taking the works out of Japan however, the new
owners thought that they should be seen, and two exhibitions have been
held in the last six months.
Mrs Entwistle said: "You have to admire the Japanese collector. He chose
an avant garde artist when for the same money he could have bought
famous Impressionists like most people in Japan."
The story of the Kiefer paintings is typical. The Japanese bought huge
numbers of paintings from Europe and America when the economy was
booming in the Eighties "bubble period". What is now dubbed "bubble art"
is being sold by the Japanese and most of it is ending up back in the
West.
Van Gogh's Sunflowers and his portrait of Doctor Gachet were bought by
the Japanese for record prices. Sunflowers is still on display at the
headquarters of Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance in Tokyo and the
company has no plans to sell.
But the fate of Doctor Gachet is less certain. When Ryoei Saito bought
it for œ50 million in 1990 he shocked the world by pledging to have it
cremated with him. The painting survived Mr Saito who died in 1996 but
it could soon be sold by his heirs. Last year they sold Renoir's Le
Moulin de la Galette for œ30 million - œ17 million less than they paid
for it. Many other works are selling for much less than the Japanese
paid out.
Some Japanese collectors are making a profit. The art market in America
is booming and Monet's Le Grand Canal sold in May for œ7.2 million,
reportedly to Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. The Japanese owner
bought it for œ6 million in 1990. Few will be so lucky. |
