The BBC does a quick limning of the week’s big buyer, Yusaku Maezawa who took two days to acquire seven works worth nearly $100m and, in the process, pretty much saved the Spring New York auction cycle.

It is no secret that the art market follows influential collectors in whatever category they are passionate about. It is rare, though, for a buyer to emerge in this way, making seemingly random purchases of what happens to be on offer. It remains to be seen whether a buyer like Maezawa can shore up confidence and provoke more buyers to follow him.

In the meantime, the BBC offers some background information on the man:

Yusaku Maezawa made his money setting up the Start Today company in 1998 and online fashion retailer Zozotown in 2004.

The companies made him a billionaire by his mid-30s, and at the age of 40, Forbes magazine listed him as the 17th richest man in Japan with a personal wealth of $2.7bn. […]

Mr Maezawa is also the founder of the Contemporary Art Foundation in Tokyo, which he says puts on public shows twice a year.

He said in a statement he also plans to open a private gallery in his hometown of Chiba.

Japanese art enthusiast Yusaku Maezawa in $98m art spree (BBC News)