In 2005, when Takashi Hashiyama, CEO of Japanese television devices manufacturer Maspro Denkoh, decided to auction off the collection of Impressionist paintings owned by his company, including functions by Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh, he contacted two major auction houses, Christie's International and Sotheby's Holdings, trying to get their proposals on how they would bring the selection to the industry as perfectly as how.