Hong Kong
The Chinese contemporary art bubble may have burst, but interest in Chinese paintings and works of art remains steady, mostly fuelled by mainland buyers.
At Sotheby's recent spring sales, works by top-selling mainland artists such as Yue Minjun and Zeng Fanzhi sold for only a fraction of last year's prices. But fine Chinese paintings sold 250 lots on April 5, fetching a total of almost HK$130 million and surpassing the pre-sale estimate of HK$67 million to HK$98 million. Nearly 75 per cent of the works were sold for more than their estimates.
On April 8, the surprise seller at the fine Chinese ceramics and works of art auction was a Qing dynasty celadon vase, which went for HK$47.7 million, double its pre-sale estimate, setting a world record for Qing monochrome porcelain.
'Mainland buyers are propping up everything,' says Tiffany Beres, international affairs officer for China Guardian Auctions, a major auction house based in Beijing. The full effects of the economic crash have yet to play out on the mainland and many see art as a hard asset, something more stable than other investments in a volatile economy, she says.
This combination may explain why mainland buyers continue to have such a strong presence in auctions, Beres says.
Although many who have bought contemporary art are looking to re-sell for a profit, contributing to the rapid rise in prices, patrons of traditional arts are often experienced buyers, says Ben Kong, head of the Chinese paintings department at Christie's Hong Kong.
'They know the value of the works in spite of external influences,' he says.
Rising prices for traditional Chinese art have mirrored the growth of the mainland economy. In 2001, when the mainland's economy was just warming up, sales of Chinese works of art at Christie's Hong Kong spring auction totalled HK$190 million, with Chinese paintings bringing in just under HK$100 million. Last year, Chinese art sales reached HK$1.04 billion, with Chinese paintings jumping to HK$430.15 million.
Money is not the only consideration, Beres says.
'On many levels you see people trying to get back to their roots, whether it's a taxi driver who hunts for genuine antiques in Panjiayuan [Beijing's antique market] or foreigners collecting Chinese pieces as a way to connect withthe country.'
With mainland buyers affluent enough to buy art, their interest has turned to pieces from their own culture, says Pola Antebi, department head of Chinese ceramics and works of art at Christie's.
The Christie's auctions in early May are likely to mirror the recent Sotheby's sale, says Beres, with fewer items on the block and more reasonable estimates than in recent years. According to Antebi, a number of classical pieces culled from private collections will be on the block. One of the highlights will be a pair of clocks from Tokyo's Nezu Museum, which previously set a world record at auction in 2008, selling for HK$39.52 million.
Also coming under the hammer will be a pair of Kangxi imperial gilt-bronze ritual bells, a selection of palace furnishings, including a pair of 18th-century carved cinnabar lacquer 'dragon' chairs, a blue and white dragon vase from the Yongzheng period, and an extremely rare faux bois porcelain pail.
If other sales held this year are any indication as to the state of the market for classical Chinese works of art and fine paintings, the outlook remains strong, Kong says. 'We look forward to a good sale,' he says.
