Update: The house was demolished in 2018 and replaced with a subdivision of 10 homes.

The residence and atelier of Iwami Furusawa (1912-2000), surrealist painter and Japan’s Dali, will be demolished. A farewell party was held in late March by local volunteers.

Furusawa made his residence in Tokyo’s Itabashi ward after WWII, building his private art studio from a salvaged barn from a nearby farm. At the time, the neighborhood was a mixture of small workshops and homes.  The roof was replaced with red tiles, while the 5-meter high ceilings provided ample space to work on large artworks. The studio currently sits on almost 1,000 sqm of land with a large European-style garden.

The property is owned by surviving family members, but they have struggled to maintain the extensive grounds and old building. The building will be demolished and the land will be subdivided by a developer. Based on current land prices, the market price for a property of this size could potentially be around 500 million Yen (approx. 4.6 million USD).

Sources:
The Saga Shimbun, April 27, 2018.
The Asahi Shimbun, March 27, 2018.

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