Japan: The Land The Art Boom Forgot

[Mulboyne]

Hisashi Tenmyouya

Bloomberg: Art Boom? What Art Boom? Collectors Head to Japan for Bargains
Here is the scorecard for the recent contemporary art auctions around the world: New York, $240 million; London, $229 million; Hong Kong, $67 million; Tokyo, $1.1 million. How can this be? Japan, the world's second-biggest economy, enjoying its longest expansion in six decades, has been left out of the current art market boom. For collectors, the message is: Buy now. Tokyo's overlooked galleries are attracting a new generation of young, wealthy Japanese in their 30s and 40s, unfazed by the asset slump of the 1990s and encouraged by skyrocketing overseas prices for established artists like Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara and Yayoi Kusama. "Japan is one of the last places where you have a long history of art, some of it quite good, with depressed prices," said Edwin Merner...Sueo Mizuma, owner of Mizuma Gallery [said] "Recently, a collector bought a Tenmyouya piece from me for 1.5 million yen and sold it three months later at an auction in New York for 6 million yen -- amazing"...more...

[Mulboyne]

Business Week: A New Wave for Japanese Art

It all seems like a distant memory now, but back in the late 1980s, Japan was the center of gravity in the international art market. Cash-flush corporations and real estate moguls snapped up trophy works by Vincent Van Gogh and Picasso for then-huge sums. Then, as the 1990s arrived, it all ended in tears with the end of Japan's fabled "bubble economy." Japanese art collectors were more likely to be frantic sellers than sophisticated buyers.

Now, the Japanese art market, though nowhere near the size it was back in the go-go '80s, is showing tentative signs of a comeback. The difference this time is that a new wave of Japanese modern artists are driving the way, rekindling collector interest at home and abroad. The Japanese have always been avid art lovers. An estimated 1 million of them visit the Louvre in Paris every year. And the economy's revival this decade has given many of them the financial wherewithal to buy artworks that catch their fancy.

At the same time, contemporary Japanese artists such as Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara, who are gaining an international following, have sold some works for in excess of $1 million in the U.S recently. Japanese art exhibits showcasing contemporary artworks are also drawing huge crowds.

Small Piece of the Pie
In January, an art fair called Art@Agnes at a Tokyo hotel was packed with 4,500 people, including young women and families who usually don't go to art galleries. A group of more than 30 contemporary art galleries in Tokyo and Osaka displayed their collections all together to the general public for the first time. "There were far more people than we expected. It was amazing," says Sueo Mitsuma, director of Mizuma Art Gallery, one of the organizers of the fair.

Japan's art market, though growing again, is still a small piece of the global art market. Last year, total sales generated by the country's top eight art auction houses were just under $150 million. In contrast, annual sales worldwide at the prestigious Christie's auction houses hit $4.67 billion. The $8.2 million or so the Tokyo Art Fair draws in sales is dwarfed by the $573 million that premier modern art exhibits such as Art Basel raked in last year.

Still, optimists point out that Japanese contemporary artworks have only recently gained notice abroad, or even domestically. "Japanese contemporary art has never received much attention in Japan," says Mitsuma of Mizuma Art Gallery. Another edge is price: Japanese works are reasonable, at least compared with the inflated prices now surfacing for similar fare in fashionable art markets like China and India.

Auction Houses Take Notice
Kyoko Hattori, 32, a vice-president with the acquisitions group at Aetos, started to collect contemporary art about 18 months ago and has bought works, mostly paintings, ranging from $400 to $4,000 or so. One somewhat outlandish work she picked up at the Art@Agnes show is a drawing of a train traversing a women's cleavage. "Contemporary art is interesting," says Hattori. "You can feel personal feelings of the artists through their work."

Japanese auction houses have also taken notice of the demand for affordable contemporary art. Shinwa Art Auction, which is listed on the Osaka Stock Exchange, controls 33% of the art auction business in Japan. The art house started a separate contemporary art auction last year. Shinwa officials were surprised to see works by modernists such as Yoshitomo Nara and Hisashi Tenmyouya sell for $115,000 and $136,000, respectively. Back in 2004, one painting by Tenmyouya only managed to fetch $12,000, suggesting a sizable increase in art market valuations.

The "Japanese art market had suffered from the after-effects of the collapsed bubble economy and deflation for years," notes Yoichiro Kurata, a former fund manager who now, as president, handles auctions for Shinwa Art. "But there is a huge possibility of growth in Japan, and we're finally entering a new phase triggered by contemporary art." Overseas art collectors are also now quite active in Japan's modern art scene. In the latest auction by Shinwa in April, some 40% of bidders were foreigners.

Younger Artists Gain Global Appeal
Investment funds that buy works, promote them, and hope they appreciate in value long-term are also fueling the contemporary art revival in Japan. Eijiro Imafuku, CEO of Fine Art Investment, which established the Contemporary Art Fund in 2005, thinks interest in buying modern art will grow as consumers start to become more sophisticated about how to price and procure pieces. His fund also publishes an art magazine on the inner workings of the traditionally opaque Japanese art market. "When people become aware of that, it will lead to an expansion of the art market in Japan," says Imafuku.

The revived interest in Japanese contemporary art is encouraging in another respect. Younger artists, less beholden to Western artistic styles and inspired by uniquely Japanese ones based on manga comic books and animation, are developing original works that have global appeal. "There is a generation of artists who are not copying European or American art but have new ideas based on Japanese traditions and culture," says art gallery owner Mitsuma. "They don't have an inferiority complex toward Europe or America like old Japanese."

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

Autumn and Winter Landscape, artist unknown, 18th century. Pair of six-panel folding screens, sold. The oldest religion in Japan, Shintoism, is based on a profound reverence for nature in all its forms. This unknown artist of the Unkoku school departed from a serene depiction of the subjects through the use of bold colors, imparting an almost surreal feeling.


Mount Fuji and Musashino Grasses, artist unknown, ca. 1640. Pair of six-panel folding screens, $195,000. After a period of great Chinese influence from the 14th through 16th centuries, many Japanese artists returned to a pure Japanese style, illustrating themes from native literature and poetry accentuated by bold color and design. This screen section depicts the grasses of the Musashino plain, described in countless examples of Japanese verse.


Gold Lacquer Paper Box With Conch Décor, Meiji period (1868–1912) $25,000. This box for writing paper is done in a style known as uramasari, meaning hidden decoration, or inner victory. The simple conch shell on the lid gives little indication of the elaborate interior of leaves, flowers, rocks, blossoms and richly sculpted rocks The artist used a variety of lacquer techniques, with gold foil thrown in for luminescence.

Forbes: The Hidden Strength Of Japanese Art

As the tanking economy batters art prices, collectors should think about exploring categories that let the air out of their bubbles long before the stock market blew up. Consider Japanese art. From the end of World War II until the early 1990s, Western and Asian collectors drove demand for screens, hanging scrolls, prints and ceramics made between the fifth and the 19th centuries. Then came Japan's 1990 economic nosedive. The sudden exit of Japanese speculators pummeled art prices worldwide. In the realm of Japanese art, both Western and Japanese buyers pulled back. As the crash receded into the past, prices stabilized and then rose steadily without the froth of speculative pressures.

In contrast to the $8 million hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen paid for British contemporary artist Damien Hirst's formaldehyde-soaked shark, the finest Japanese art infrequently costs more than $1 million. This is a field devoid of glamour and hype. Rather, collectors are attracted to the sheer beauty and exquisite execution of Japanese artists. The root of Japanese aesthetics is nature, embraced by Shintoism, and later Buddhism, which arrived in Japan in the sixth century. Early Japanese artists created finely balanced depictions of the Buddha and of Japan's lush hills, trees, flowers and landscapes. Example: "Mount Fuji and Musashino Grasses," a 1640 pair of six-panel screens that shows a traditional approach to broad expanses of nature. The price for this piece: $195,000. Later, Western artists including Van Gogh, Monet and Louis Comfort Tiffany were inspired by pieces like "Flowering Wisteria," a six-panel screen that shows flowers in riotous bloom. The price for this piece is in the low to mid-six figures.

A departure from traditional subjects emerged in the Ukiyo-e, or "floating world," genre, which began in the late 17th century and continued into the 20th. The term initially described inexpensive woodblock prints for a new merchant class who wanted art but couldn't afford original painting. This new class was breaking free of traditional restrictions and hence, "floating." Japanese artists are also famous for their lacquer work, an art form that began in China. One stunning example is a gold lacquer box in a style known as "uramasari," which means hidden decoration, or inner victory. While the box cover is decorated with a relatively simple conch shell, the decoration inside is wildly intricate, with leaves, flowers, rocks, blossoms and richly sculpted rocks. The price: $25,000.

Starting March 14, Japanese art will be available for sale and view in New York, during Asia Week. Bonhams is holding two auctions that feature Japanese works and Christie's is including Japanese pieces in its Asian art sales. A group of dealers, the Japanese Art Dealers Association, is collaborating on a three-day exhibition of some 100 works, all of which are for sale. The show will be at the Fletcher-Sinclair mansion at 2 E. 79th St. March 15 through 17. Dealer Leighton Longhi says enthusiasm is running high for the upcoming show. In the last week, Longhi reports, two museums approached him to buy pieces.

The most expensive work in the exhibition, "Tale of Heike" by Kano Jinnojo, a 1600 screen showing a medieval battle scene, priced at around $1 million, has already generated interest from three potentially serious buyers. Because the Japanese art market adjusted prices to reflect value following the 1990 crash, explains Longhi, current prices have not been affected by the economic crisis. The price on "Tale of Heike," had he sold it a year ago? The same as today, says Longhi.

Tale of Heike; Battles of Ichinotani and Yashima by Kano Jinnojo, ca. 1600. Pair of six-panel folding screens, $1 million. The early medieval narrative, "The Tale of Heike," recounts the epic struggle for control of Japan between two dynastic clans. The subject was enormously popular with Japan's warrior elite from the late 16th into the 17th centuries, and this version focuses on the two most important battles between the clans.


South Wind, Clear Dawn, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). Color woodblock print, $250,000. In early autumn, a south wind blows and Mt. Fuji takes on a reddish tone at dawn and dusk. The phenomenon is known as "Red Fuji," the nickname given to this piece by graphic artist Katsushika Hokusai. This simple image of Fuji has become an icon of Japanese art.


Porcelain Dish With Dragon Design, Edo period (1615–1868 ) $130,000. The Japanese produced a lot of porcelain for export. But the most prized pieces were made for the Japanese market, like this dragon dish with fine under-glaze blue decoration and colored enamels. Set on a tripod with short legs.

[Sentakki Fried Chicken]

Forbes: The Hidden Strength Of Japanese Art


[I]South Wind, Clear Dawn, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–]

Despite being occasionally called a "bullshit artist," I know sweet FA about art. But the pricetag for this seems absurdly cheap based on prices other works command. This is an iconic work...even I'm amazed it's only selling for what seems to be a pretty trifling sum in even a depressed economy.

[prolly]

it's a print, which means there are up to 15000 of them out there, assuming it's authentic and not a fake.

Despite being occasionally called a "bullshit artist," I know sweet FA about art. But the pricetag for this seems absurdly cheap based on prices other works command. This is an iconic work...even I'm amazed it's only selling for what seems to be a pretty trifling sum in even a depressed economy.

[Sentakki Fried Chicken]

it's a print, which means there are up to 15000 of them out there, assuming it's authentic and not a fake.

That explains it! Thanks for that.
And with that many out there, the price is now as exorbitantly overblown as most other artworks.

[prolly]

that particular print, however, has transcended being just a piece of art and has crossed over to being a historical document - not like the u.s. constitution as a document but rather something else. sure, the image is pretty but in the age of mechanical reproduction it's less about what it looks like and more about what it <i>is</i>.

That explains it! Thanks for that.
And with that many out there, the price is now as exorbitantly overblown as most other artworks.

[Sentakki Fried Chicken]

that particular print, however, has transcended being just a piece of art and has crossed over to being a historical document - not like the u.s. constitution as a document but rather something else. sure, the image is pretty but in the age of mechanical reproduction it's less about what it looks like and more about what it <i>is</i>.

Fair enough! I can totally understand that. It also looks bloody good on bathhouse walls, which is probably something the U.S. Constitution is not in a position to say for itself!:D

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]