At a symposium early this month in Tokyo, Jean-Christophe Ammann, a former director of the Museum fur Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt and an adviser to financial service provider UBS on their art collection, said, "It is important to know that the works of a corporate art collection belong to the shareholders."
Sounds obvious enough, but is it true in Japan?
Ammann was getting at the idea that if a publicly listed company is to collect art, then it has a responsibility to its shareholders to demonstrate how that art is contributing to the success — and share price — of the company.