In 2005, when Takashi Hashiyama, CEO of Japanese tv equipment company Maspro Denkoh, resolved to auction off the collection of Impressionist paintings owned by his company, which includes operates by Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh, he contacted two foremost auction residences, Christie's International and Sotheby's Holdings, looking for their proposals on how they would carry the assortment to the industry as very well as how.