Collectors Week
“Collectors Week,” a collection exhibition by art collectors organized by The Artcomplex Center of Tokyo, was held.
It is a collection of works handled by three collectors (Makoto Sasa, Kiyoshi Koizumi, and Kazuhiko Seki) and the director of The Artcomplex Center of Tokyo (Yuzuru Shikida).
Kiyoshi Koizumi
The collector Mr. Kiyoshi Koizumi seems to be a grand veteran in the collecting world, and I had often seen his name in gallery guestbooks myself. This time, being his first showing in roughly 20 years, it made for a precious collection exhibition.
I was lucky enough to catch him while he was at the gallery, and we talked about all sorts of things. His collection apparently amounts to some 1,000 works, but he says he basically only collects female nudes and abstract paintings.
His gallery rounds seem to stay within the Kanto region, but he apparently also purchases photographic works. He seemed to own works by overseas artists as well.
The lineup was pared down and centered on large-scale works. Each and every one had an overwhelming presence—works from which you could feel an intense breath.
For me, the work by Takao Ono in particular stood out. He is an artist skilled enough to live in Italy and make his living in painting restoration, and this was a piece from the first half of the 1980s. It was a work from which I felt an intense force.
I couldn’t capture it in a photo, but as the conversation grew lively, I was even able to view a “hand-painted shunga work” he had tucked in his bag.
It was a set of 12 pieces, and I got to hear fascinating stories—how it expressed the seasons, how it functioned as one of a bride’s trousseau items, and so on.
“A trousseau item!?”—I didn’t grasp what he meant at first, but as I listened closely, it clicked—aha! People would look at shunga and use it as a reference for their marital relations.
Summary
Believe it or not, I ended up making the trip twice during the run. Among the individual collectors featured this time at The Artcomplex Center of Tokyo, his was the fewest in number, yet it left the impression of the most substantial, content-rich collection exhibition.
Both times I was able to speak with Mr. Kiyoshi Koizumi himself, and I found myself imagining what a collector ought to be.
I made my request—”I’d love to see the other works, too!”—but I wonder when the next collection exhibition will be held…
