In 2005, when Takashi Hashiyama, CEO of Japanese television tools maker Maspro Denkoh, determined to auction off the assortment of Impressionist paintings owned by his corporation, like works by Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh, he contacted two major auction residences, Christie's International and Sotheby's Holdings, searching for their proposals on how they would carry the collection to the market place as very well as how.