It also features the work of less celebrated but highly talented artists, such as the abstracts of Jean Miotte, the complex work of black American Jean-Michel Basquiat and the evocative symbolism of the Ivory Coast painter known by a single name - Quattara.

''It is the collision of ideas across cultural boundaries. Basquiat was one of the very few black American painters to win a big reputation during his lifetime,'' Mr Boulakia said.

''His work obviously points to the dislocations of the black man in the US, and while Ouattara, working in Africa but with Western techniques, reaches deep into the same ethnic culture, it is in a different context.

''Ouattara, obviously influenced by Basquiat, invited him to Africa and they worked together for two months.

''The results showed how each had his own distinct artistic language but also showed them drawing on similar wellsprings.'' Galerie Boulakia, in the heart of Paris in rue Bonaparte, has had Asian connections from its inception in 1965 but, while the Japanese dominated the art buying world for two decades, that era has now past.

The new force in art sales is the Taiwanese, according to Mr Boulakia.

''We had our first clients from Taiwan about two years ago, and it is their influence that has again made Southeast Asia so important in the worldwide art trade.''