Gallerist's small episodes vol.5 | Essay Higashinaka Street

【BUNGO Kamise from NANAYA 】  

I forgot the details, but when I saw the movie Yves Saint Laurent (2014), the genius Saint Laurent, who became a darling of the times, was walking through what appeared to be an antiques street when he came across the window of an art dealer. Fascinated by the life-sized seated statue of the Tathagata that he saw over there, he bought it on impulse and displayed it in his atelier.

There was a scene like that, and the elegant behavior of the young man left a deep impression on me. And when I watched that shopping scene, I felt a deep sense of empathy and realized that this is really what happens when you go shopping.

In fact, it seems that Saint Laurent lived surrounded by many works of art until his death at the age of 71, and in 2009, the year after his death, his vast collection was auctioned and became a hot topic at the time. I remember that.

The story goes quickly and even in our Nihonbashi/Kyobashi Higashinaka-dori area, there are many famous and unknown people, including writers such as Yasunari Kawabata and Hideo Kobayashi, businessmen such as Eiichi Ataka, and some of the world's richest men such as Rockefeller III. I was moved to think that many art lovers, just like Saint Laurent in the movie, peered through the windows, opened the rather heavy gallery doors, and were playing around with world-class works of art. Here in the Higashinaka-dori neighborhood, such activities continue unabated to this day.

However, even if I were to casually walk around the streets of Kyobashi right now, no one would know about this, I would feel nothing, and I would not understand anything. This may be a far-fetched analogy, but it's similar to how when you go whale watching, all you can see from the sightseeing boat is the dorsal fin and tail fin, making it difficult to get a complete picture of the whale.

I think this is because art dealers rarely talk about the past, such as what kind of customers each shop had and what kind of products they distributed, etc. Even if you wander into the store, you won't be able to see even a 10% of what's going on in the back of the store. It's just a selfish image, but it would probably be a little easier to understand if 100 colored papers of famous people's autographs were displayed all over the wall, like in popular and famous restaurants, but the flower of this city's culture is visible to the public. It feels like it's secretly open in a slightly recessed area that's hard to reach.

The same is true for customers, as cultural and business figures who competed in collecting during the Showa era have written almost nothing about Higashinaka-dori. Is it about ``authenticity''? I feel that ``Banryaku Akae'' was mainly about clubs in Osaka and the continent, and as far as I can remember, I have never come across any literary work that takes place in the Kyobashi area. I was astonished at the mention of ``The owner of a rare item shop,'' and there was no mention of Kyobashi-Nihonbashi.

Although it is a very important area in the art industry, I feel that this city is a little quiet overall. And I almost mistakenly think that his reticence is his charm; isn't the fact that no one knows him so appealing? That's it.

But I can't say that, so I'm doing my best to promote Kyobashi and Nihonbashi Art District! ! ! !

(I vaguely remember all the movies, literature, etc. that appear here, so please forgive me for everything)

【BUNGO Kamise from NANAYA 】 

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古美術 奈々八　NANAYA

12:00-19:00
京橋3-7-10 東宣ビル1階
Tosen bldg. 1F, 3-7-10 Kyobashi
TEL：03-3561-8118
WEB：https://nana8.jp/
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"Gallerist's small episodes'' features contributions from unique shopkeepers who set up shops in this artistic town. If you have any interest in art, the town, or anything else, please come visit the owner's shop and listen to what he has to say.