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 Japan's long dormant art market has been turbo-charged by
economic policies that have dragged the nation from decades of
deflation, as well as by the weakening of the yen, spurring
demand for post-World War Two and contemporary works both at
home and abroad.
Japan's art collectors were once known for their aggressive
bidding during the booming 1980s even before a domestic art
auction market was formally established. Collectors bought works
directly from museums and galleries, paying sky-high prices set
by sellers without complaint.
Overseas, they were famed for paying record-breaking prices for
noted works, such as Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers," purchased
by an insurance company.
But the bursting of the asset-inflated bubble the following
decade sent art prices in Japan plunging by more than 80 to 90
percent, leaving collectors traumatized for decades. Further
pain came with the 2008 global financial crisis.
Now, with signs of economic recovery under Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe's policies, known as "Abenomics," the art market is reviving
as well as the Nikkei stock index pushes to multi-year highs -
and the yen falls to multi-year lows.
"Abenomics has had a positive impact on the art market,
surprisingly rather more on the seller side due to the weakening
yen," Yasuaki Ishizaka, the president and managing director of
Sotheby's Japan, founded in 1979, told Reuters recently.
A weaker yen usually helps bolster business and investor
sentiment because it boosts the exports that are a key driver in
Japan's economy. It also encourages collectors to sell their art
to foreign buyers since buyers are willing to pay more because
their money goes further.
Turnover in Japan's art market for the first half of 2014 hit
$30.7 million. That puts it on course to top last year's $54
million and possibly challenge 2012's $76 million, the highest
since 2009.
"Buying is increasing in Japan, but because of the long period
of stagnation, the market is still in the midst of regaining
momentum," Ishizaka said.
UNCONVENTIONAL MATERIALS
Especially popular at present are works by "Gutai," Japan's most
influential avant-garde group, whose name means "Concreteness"
and was founded in the western Japanese city of Ashiya in 1954,
when memories of wartime totalitarianism were still fresh.
Its members used unconventional materials such as smoke, light
and sound due to their belief that art should "impart life to
matter" by "merging human qualities and material properties," as
they wrote in their manifesto.
Many "Gutai" works appear to be chaotic splashes of paint on a
canvas, some in just one color, such as black or red. Jiro
Yoshiara's "Work" consists only of a black circle on a brown
background. Others incorporate objects as "found" art.
The group only had about two collectors until a few years ago,
gaining popularity after a ground-breaking exhibit at New York's
Guggenheim Museum in May 2013 and growing interest among foreign
collectors.
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A fiery red 183 by 229 cm (72 by 90 inch) abstract work called "Gekidou
Suru Aka" - "Dynamic of Red" - by Kazuo Shiraga, who was known to
paint with his feet, set a world record for a Gutai work with a
hammer price of 3.9 million euros ($4.95 million) at Sotheby's Paris
auction in June 2014.
"Gutai's works are especially popular among European and American
collectors," said Tomoaki Takahashi, spokesman at art house Mallet
Japan.
"Unlike figurative art, which is very popular here, foreign buyers
are able to appreciate abstract works more because of their
universality."
Japanese auction houses, which deal with mostly domestic clients,
are also seeing better times.
"There is an increase in purchases, definitely a sign of recovery
from when the art market hit rock bottom during the economic crisis
in 2008,” said Hirotarou Ando, a spokesman for Japan's largest
domestic auction house, Mainichi Auction.
Particularly in demand are works by Yayoi Kusama, who is known for
her obsessive, dot-covered art and pumpkin motifs.
Ten years ago, a Kusama pumpkin motif lithograph titled "Kabocha"
sold for roughly 60,000 yen ($550). Now, a Kusama painting as small
as 33 by 24 centimeters goes for as much as 8,000,000 yen, said Rie
Nakayama, spokeswoman of Japanese auction house iArt.
But Japan has a long way to go.
Among the top 15 countries in terms of auction turnover, Japan
ranked 11th last year, generating about $53.7 million in sales,
according to leading art market database company Artprice. That's a
mere 0.44 percent of the global market.
By comparison, top-ranking China accounted for around $4.2 billion
while the United States followed with $4.0 billion.
"We are feeling the impact of the recovering economy, but it's not
as if the prices are rising for everything," said iArt's Nakayama.
"Gains are limited to specific artists and specific works."
An additional problem is that art has yet to register on the radar
of the country's wealthy.
"One of the reasons why Japan's art market is still very small is
perhaps there is not enough opportunity to encounter art," Ishizaka
said. "There are many wealthy people in Japan, but they are not
going to buy art if they have not seen it."
(Editing by Elaine Lies, Michael Roddy and Neil Fullick)
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