Recap: Merrill, UBS Follow Rockefeller to Back Japanese Art

Art works are exhibited at Bridgestone Museum of Art in Tokyo, Jan. 8, 2008. Photographer: Toshiyuki Aizawa/Bloomberg News

According to Bloomberg.com  John D. Rockefeller III and his wife Blanchette would be pleased. The couple, major Japanese-art patrons from the 1950s and '60s, are now being followed by a growing band of individual and corporate sponsors such as Merrill Lynch, who are turning the spotlight on Japan's student artists.

On Feb. 21, Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co. and Mitsubishi UFJ Merrill Lynch PB Securities Co. will host a charity auction of university students' artworks called ``Tomorrow's Masters.'' Four days earlier, works by artists at four Kyoto art universities go under the hammer. The first student art auctions held in Kyoto last February and October drew heavyweight collectors such as Makoto and Ayako Yamamoto, owners of the Reicof Group hotel chain.

``I'm trying to create the new Rockefeller of Japan,'' said Tetsuji Shibayama, president of art-consultants AG Holdings, who helped organize the Kyoto sales. The former head of Sotheby's in Japan is trying to encourage companies and rich individuals to sponsor contemporary artists in the country.

``Corporations here lost their mission to develop culture and art after World War II because they had to rebuild the country first,'' he said. ``There are wealthy people in the new industries here -- IT, service, banking, medical and science -- but they need to be taught about the benefits of art patronage.''

The Tokyo and Kyoto auctions are part of a renaissance in Japanese contemporary art that has pushed prices up 30 percent to 50 percent a year in the past five years. By targeting students, they allow collectors with a good eye to buy promising works at a fraction of the price of those by more established artists.

Won the Lottery

``We had more than 500 attendees and all the lots sold well,'' said Shibayama. At the October sale, undergraduate Sachi Shigeno said she felt like she'd won the lottery when her painting sold for 300,000 yen to the Yamamotos. For the buyers, it was a bargain. The 162-by-145 centimeter Chinese ink painting ``Fireworks'' will hang in their hotel in Atami, a hot-spring resort south of Tokyo.

``So far, art universities in Japan have done little to prepare their students for art careers after graduation, so many end up unemployed,'' said Shibayama.

Half the proceeds of the Merrill sale will go to the artists and half to charities. The auction will include works by undergraduates such as Chie Shibata and recent graduates like Taro Sakakibara. Many have never sold works commercially before.

Jason Kendy, director of marketing and communications for Merrill Lynch Japan Securities, said the sale would ``contribute to two highly deserving communities -- budding art students who need to gain exposure and Japanese charitable organizations that have funding challenges.'' Merrill is the first financial institution in Japan to sponsor an auction of this kind.

UBS Collection

The bull market has also given an added fillip to more traditional corporate patrons. ``Art is for the Spirit: Works from the UBS Art Collection'' at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo until April 6, shows part of the extensive UBS AG collection, much of it acquired with the purchase of PaineWebber in 2000. The collection, featuring works by Nobuyoshi Araki and Andy Warhol, now focuses on contemporary art in Asia and Latin America.

``It's the perfect community program because it can be shared with everyone,'' said Petra Arends, the collection's executive director. ``We don't even have to brand it because the UBS name and collection philosophy is in the title of the show.''

One of the speakers at a symposium linked to the show was Soichiro Fukutake, chief executive of Benesse Corp. and one of Japan's leading contemporary art patrons. To help revive the rural economy around the company's headquarters in Okayama, Benesse developed Naoshima Island, in the Seto Inland Sea, as a center for contemporary art. The island's Benesse House, Art House Project and Chichu Art Museum attracted more than 190,000 visitors last year.

Economic Art

``We've proven that contemporary art can help revitalize an economy,'' said Fukutake.

The Ishibashi Foundation, established by Bridgestone Corp. founder and art patron Shojiro Ishibashi, is also modernizing its collection. Spearheaded by grandson Hiroshi, current head of the foundation, the collection began to actively acquire modern and contemporary works by established Western and Japanese artists again in 2004.

A designer educated in the U.S., Hiroshi is reviving a family tradition. His father Kanichiro, a former head of Bridgestone, amassed an impressive private collection of '50s and '60s abstract works. An exhibition at the Bridgestone Museum of Art until April 13, titled ``New Horizons, the Collection of the Ishibashi Foundation,'' reflects the new direction.

``When Blanchette Rockefeller saw my grandfather's collection in the early 50s, she encouraged him to establish the museum,'' said Hiroshi.

(Lucy Birmingham writes on the arts for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)