By WAKATO ONISHI/ Senior Staff Writer
October 9, 2025 at 07:00 JST
“Le Songe du Roi David” (1966) by Mark Chagall (© Christie’s Images Ltd. 2025)
A rare treat awaits the artworld in November when paintings by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse come up for auction through Christie’s in New York.
The masterpieces are owned by chemical manufacturer DIC Corp., which is in the process of selling off the bulk of the 384 works in its Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art collection.
DIC closed the museum in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, at the end of March.
It said that around 80 paintings comprising “the most significant” pieces will be offered for sale, of which 20 or so have “high economic value.”
DIC announced its intention last December to sell about three-quarters of the collection amounting to roughly 280 pieces.
Aside from the 80-odd paintings already earmarked for sale, the remaining works will be offloaded gradually through other means by the end of 2026, the company said.
The company set a goal of earning at least 10 billion yen ($66.7 million) within this year from the sales.
A representative said DIC is “confident this will be achieved.”
DIC also announced it will retain around 100 artworks, mainly postwar American art, including pieces by Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock.
These will be relocated to a new facility scheduled for completion in 2030 at the International House of Japan in Tokyo’s Roppongi district.
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