Japanese Museum to sell $77.5m of Monets, Renoirs and Chagalls
September 21 2025
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News has arrived that the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art will be selling off a reported $77.5m of artworks by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, and Henry Moore at Christie's New York in November. The Sakura based museum, which is owned by the Japanese owned by Chemical company DIC Corporation, is currently planning to 'downsize and relocate' by reportedly selling off 25% of its collection.
The article above contains quotes from the Japanese art collector and entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa (not officially connected to the company) who said:
“Regarding the closure of the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, if the collection is to be sold, I hope that they will first approach Japanese buyers so that the many masterpieces do not leave Japan. I will be waiting,” stated the Japanese billionaire and art collector, who appeared on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list in 2023.
[...]“Japanese people need to protect Japan’s traditional things, whether it’s the land, nature, art, or traditional culture, as much as possible. If we sell them off piece by piece for short-term profit, Japan will no longer be Japan. I need to earn enough to be able to buy and pass on the things that should be passed down to future generations.”
