In 2005, when Takashi Hashiyama, CEO of Japanese tv products producer Maspro Denkoh, made the decision to auction off the selection of Impressionist paintings owned by his corporation, which include is effective by Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh, he contacted two foremost auction properties, Christie's International and Sotheby's Holdings, trying to get their proposals on how they would deliver the collection to the industry.