It's no secret what the mainstream art public really like -- soft, flowery Impressionism and cute, colorful Post-impressionism, with, possibly, a smattering of Picassos and Matisses thrown in to add grit. Hold a show with this kind of art, and you'll have to hang the paintings high so that people can see them more easily in the crowd.
Unfortunately such paintings are in demand all over the world, and, since Sept. 11 led to a spike in insurance and shipping costs, really satisfying exhibitions of this ilk have been hard to come by. Even the recent Van Gogh exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art had to make do with less than 30 oils by the artist.
As project planner Daisuke Kusakari says, "There actually was a break, not only because the cost of insurance was affected, but also storage and carriage charges . . . These kind of exhibitions have carried large financial risk, so we've hesitated to follow them through recently."