News: Bubble era Japanese art comes out of hiding
Charles Eicher
Newspaper" which is a fairly obscure British newspaper, so I thought I
would repost (within the limits of scholarly fair use) some of this
interesting news for a wider audience.
The article is at the top of page 1, the lead story of the Sept 98 issue.
The headlines read:
Government policy, Japan
Come out of hiding
A ground-breaking law may lure Bubble era investment art out of bank vaults
into museums--and onto the market.
Ground-breaking new legislation was passed in Tokyo on 4 June, aiming to
get Japan's vast store of "hidden" art out of storage or private homes and
into museums.
The new law will enable owners to register their works of art and then loan
them to museums, which will be obliged to insure, conserve, and exhibit
them for five or more years.
The measure may well mean that some of the thousands of paintings bought
during the Bubble era and since then languishing in storage, will
re-emerge. "We think that significant works of art will surface," comments
Emiko Kakiuchi, director of the Cultural Policy Office at the Agency for
Cultural Affairs.
The new law is the brainchild of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, part of
the Ministry of Education, which is responsible for Japan's museums. "This
is only the second law regarding the fine arts that has been enacted during
the modern history of Japan, and the first since the founding of the Agency
thirty years ago," explains Ms Kakiuchi. "The first law, passed in 1950,
pertains to the protection of cultural property. This new legislation
responds to the desire of the Japanese people to see art and so focuses on
improving public access...
...The attraction of the scheme is obvious for the many companies and banks
who are storing and insuring large quantities of art in expensive
warehouses, often under unsuitable conservation conditions...
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Anyway, I've just about pushed the limits of Fair Use there, so let me just
make a few general observations. The article speculates a bit about
quantities of western vs Japanese artworks that might emerge, and that a
vast amount of second-rate but seriously expensive major western artworks
are being held in private collections. On the other hand, some extremely
major pieces like a very expensive Van Gogh that has been rumored to been
sold privately and left Japan. There is some speculation that these western
artworks should be treated under "cultural properties" and not allowed for
export. The law allows for these properties to be sold but the maintain the
prior agreement, the Japanese museums will continue to pay for the
conservation, insurance and exhibition of the works..as long as they leave
they on public display IN Japan.
Well, this is an interesting turn of events. Back 2 years ago when I was in
Japan, I started reading articles about how large museum projects, started
during the bubble era, were now coming to completion. But as the bubble
burst, funds dried up, construction was continued but it depleted the
monies intended for purchasing a museum collection! The whole purpose for
the museum was defeated, one museum even resorted to purchasing inexpensive
reproductions of famous western artworks. The critics were decrying that no
serious collections of modern artworks were on public display inside Japan,
and it was even hard to attract traveling exhibits due to the expense and
the distances involved.
So.. It appears that the folks who spent all their bubble money on
"investment art" and are now having trouble paying maintenance, this seems
like a way to give them a tax break, and benefit the public at the same
time. Unfortunately, with economic hard times, much of this work might be
liquidated (and at a fraction of Bubble era prices), and they may end up
outside Japan. I don't see how this new law will do much to stop the
outflow. But then, economic conditions cause these sorts of trade issues.
This same newspaper reported that in the months leading up to Hong Kong
returning to China, billions of US dollars worth of private collections of
asian art left Hong Kong.
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Charles Eicher
cei...@inav.net
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