New York gallery sets pace in Japan's nascent art market

Recent sales of contemporary works highlight shift in collectors' attitudes

Yoshitomo Nara's _Puff Marshie_ (Hirosaki Version, Shanghai Version) at the Blum booth. Photo courtesy of Tokyo Gendai 2024 .jpg

Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara's "Puff Marshie (Hirosaki Version, Shanghai Version)" is displayed at the Tokyo Gendai international art fair in July. Strong demand among Japanese collectors at this year's event bodes well for the city's future as a global art hub. (Courtesy of Tokyo Gendai 2024)

MICHIYO NAKAMOTO, Contributing writer

September 6, 2024 08:00 JST

TOKYO -- When the U.S.-based Pace Gallery exhibited several works by the American artist Robert Longo at Tokyo Gendai, an international art fair held in July, most sold on the first day -- an unusual occurrence in Japan's nascent contemporary art market.

More surprisingly, buyers of the works were mainly Japanese, said Marc Glimcher, CEO of Pace, widely considered one of the world's leading contemporary art galleries. "I don't know who these people were, but they flooded in," he said.