Beijing’s Art Auctioneers Aim At Western Duopoly

Chinese art auction giants are aiming at the duopoly of Sotheby’s and Christie’s, but it looks a long shot. State-backed behemoth Poly International and China Guardian, both Beijing-based, now dominate the $7.1 billion global market for Chinese art and antiques. Having crushed smaller local rivals, they are expanding abroad. But their parochial, state-protected nature hobbles them. The Western houses’ offshore share looks safe for now.

The meteoric rise of Chinese auctioneers can be partly attributed to laws restricting foreigners from selling antiquities on the mainland – given a history of Western imperialists sneaking precious artefacts out of the country. That helped China’s Poly Auction, the world’s third largest auction company, rake in sales of $1.6 billion in 2017, according to a report by Art Basel and UBS; Guardian logged over $1 billion.

Dominance at home freed Poly and Guardian to compete abroad. Guardian founder Chen Dongsheng, for example, took a near 14 percent stake in the Sotheby’s two years ago, becoming its largest shareholder. Poly has since set up shop in Sydney, Los Angeles, Tokyo and New York.


https://www.breakingviews.com/considered-view/beijings-art-auctioneers-aim-at-western-duopoly/

The 5 Biggest Myths About the Chinese Art Market—and the Inconvenient Realities That May Give Investors Pause

Myth 1: The market for Chinese art is a juggernaut. 

Reality: Not exactly. The market is growing—but only at the very top end.

On the surface, it all looks fairly robust. In 2017, auction sales of Chinese art and antiques reversed two years of decline—which had coincided with similar downturns around the world—and grew 7 percent year-on-year, to $7.1 billion, according to the latest Global Chinese Art Auction Market Report produced by artnet and the China Association of Auctioneers (CAA).

Beneath the banner figures, however, there are signs that the recovery of Chinese art could be a bit of a dead cat bounce. First, the total is still down substantially from the market’s record high of more than $10 billion in 2011. Second, the numbers—as in the rest of the global art market—are considerably distorted by a thin top end.

Myth 2: It’s only a matter of time before the art markets in Shanghai and Beijing catch up with Hong Kong.

Reality: This is an extremely uphill battle—and one that few seem interested in waging.

Despite their growing presence in Hong Kong, even the big guns from the West have had trouble going deeper into the market in China. Sotheby’s, which opened a joint venture in Beijing with the state-owned Gehua Art Company in 2012, hasn’t held an auction there since 2013. “We have a long way to go before making Beijing and Shanghai as competitive as Hong Kong,” Kevin Ching, the chief executive of Sotheby’s Asia, acknowledges.

Christie’s presence is also limited. The auction house landed in Shanghai to much fanfare and ribbon cutting in 2013, but it now has just one dedicated week of sales and events each year, in September. Rebecca Wei, president of Christie’s Asia, emphasizes her auction house’s commitment to the country but defines its presence as mostly a brand-building exercise for now.

Myth 3: China’s collectors default on art payments left and right.

Reality: This isn’t the whole story. Some of these collectors are just trying to avoid ending up with a forgery.

According to the most recent data, which CAA verified against tax filings, more than half of all money pledged at auction had not actually been paid nearly six months after the winning bids were placed. Analyzing data from 358 auction houses, the artnet and CAA report finds that 51 percent of the total value of sales on the mainland in 2017 had not been fully paid up by May 15, 2018, an increase from the already dismal 49 percent in 2016 and 41 percent the previous year. Of the 18 lots that sold for more than ¥100 million ($14.2 million), only two were paid for in full by this time.

Nevertheless, research suggests that the growing problem may be more nuanced than it seems—and that the blame for nonpayment may not rest solely with the absentee buyers.

Myth 4: Chinese collectors are primarily interested in Chinese art.

Reality: This is changing—fast.

“I would describe the market in China as stable for us, but Chinese buyers’ purchases of Western art have increased most significantly,” says Rebecca Wei. In the first half of 2018, 12 percent of total sales at Christie’s were made in Asia, while Asian buying as a whole accounted for 24 percent ($960 million) of worldwide sales for the same period. Of the money spent by the Asian buyers, Wei notes, 60 percent was for non-Asian pieces (including luxury items), up from 48 percent during the equivalent period last year.

Myth 5: Western collectors are becoming increasingly interested in Chinese art.

Reality: Sit back…this is going to take a while.

Most Chinese artists—apart from a few high-profile contemporary practitioners—have experienced scant interest from Western collectors. And the mainland galleries that support and promote Chinese art have yet to make their presence felt much beyond Hong Kong.

https://news.artnet.com/market/5-biggest-myths-chinese-art-market-1371619

Chinese Artist Fears Ink Painting Tradition Is Being Tarnished By Need To Stay Relevant

Luo Ying is a purist. The professor of traditional Chinese painting practises what she teaches: her classical ink landscape paintingsborrow techniques and styles of brushwork used as far back as the Song dynasty (960 – 1279AD).

“Chinese ink painting is the quintessence of our nation’s heritage. It is a timeless, classical art form that we can proudly show off to the world. There is no need to adulterate it with contemporary elements,” says the 44-year-old Hangzhou native at her first exhibition in Hong Kong.

Luo fears that clumsy attempts to make Chinese ink art relevant to today’s world can take the focus away from traditional techniques and the underlying philosophy of the ancient art form. “Showing figures wearing face masks to make a point about air pollution is a bad idea, I think. You can watch the news if you want to find out about current affairs. Chinese paintings are not supposed to be about that.”

https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2155665/chinese-artist-invigorates-ink-painting-keep-tradition

Ancient Chinese Painting Expected To Fetch $51 Million

Hong Kong (AFP) - A nearly 1000-year-old ink painting by one of China's greatest literati masters Su Shi is expected to fetch US$51 million at auction, Christie's said Thursday as the work went on view in Hong Kong.

The Song Dynasty artwork created by Su is "one of the world's rarest Chinese paintings," said the auction house.

Entitled "Wood and Rock," the ink-on-paper handscroll depicts a dragon-like old tree with withered branches and a sharp rock resting at its root.

The versatile literati, also known as Su Dongpo is one of the most important cultural figures in Chinese history and was an esteemed scholar, poet, prose-writer, painter, calligrapher and statesman.

The 185.5cm-long scroll is inscribed with calligraphy and the poems of four important literati of the 11th century in China, and also exhibits the seals of 41 collectors.

The painting will be on view until September 1 and will go under the hammer on November 26 as part of Christie's Hong Kong Autumn Sale.

Stone said the artwork is expected to attract interests from outside China.

"It's an international masterpiece instead of just a Chinese masterpiece," he added.

In 2010, "Dizhuming", a Chinese calligraphy scroll by Huang Tingjian -- Su Shi's student -- sold for $64 million at Poly Auction in Beijing.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2018/08/31/ancient-chinese-painting-expected-to-fetch-$51-million/



I must admit the eye-popping figure Christie's is expecting to fetch for Su Shi's Wood and Rock painting is hard to ignore. However, I find it extremely hard to ignore the fact that Su Shi's student's work managed to sell for a whooping $13million more than the estimated amount of Su Shi's painting! And mind you, that was 8 years ago. Maybe collecting an apprentice's work of art is not such a bad idea after all.