When Joe Price visited New York at the age of 24 with renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright -- his father's friend and the designer of the famous Price Tower in Bartlesville, Okla. -- it had never crossed his mind to join the art world. But there in an antique shop, captivated by deft brushwork on an old Japanese scroll, he decided to use money he had earmarked for a sports car and buy the artwork instead.
The painting was an early piece by Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800), now acclaimed as one of the top two or three Edo Period painters, whose works have become so highly valued that they almost never appear on the art market.
After that first purchase in 1953, Price went on to buy more Jakuchu masterpieces, along with works by other (mainly) Edo Period artists, concentrating on outstanding works by highly individualistic painters that had escaped the eyes of Japanese scholars.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.