The Hong Kong International Art and Antiques Fair returns, with yet another new name: Fine Art Asia 2010. Set up as the Art and Antique International Fair in 2006, it has also been called the International Asian Antique and Art Fair, and the Hong Kong International Contemporary Art Fair.
Founder and director Andy Hei says the latest title suggests this year's fair, which runs until Wednesday, is broader in scope, covering also Western old masters and modern art. On sale alongside Chinese works of art, bronze Buddhas and Chinese contemporary art will be paintings by Jan Brueghel the Elder, Marc Chagall and Joan Miro.
'This year we have more exhibitors from Europe and the US who have come here to test the water,' Hei says. 'They are hoping to tap into a new market, though whether they will be successful or not is still to be seen.'
There are about 60 exhibitors, the same figure as in previous years. Hei says while there is a drop in Japanese and South Korean galleries which sell mostly contemporary art - a genre that has yet to recover from the global economic downturn - newcomers include Nicholas Grindley Works of Art from Britain (antiques), Adam Williams Fine Art (old masters) from the US and Edouard Malingue Gallery (impressionist), which opened shop in Central last week. They will be showcasing quality art that is rarely seen in Hong Kong.
Highlights include Emile-Antoine Bourdelle's bronze sculpture Herakles the Archer, Chagall's Le Peintre en Costume Marron, and a 56.5-centimetre-tall Guanyin made of wood from the Song/Yuan dynasty (13th-14th century).
'Certain pieces, for instance Herakles the Archer, are rare and outstanding museum-quality works of art which have never been exhibited in Hong Kong before,' says Hilary Binks, the fair's consultant. 'This truly is a turning point for Hong Kong, as Asian collectors become more interested in masterpieces of Western art as well as Chinese art. Edouard Malingue Gallery is exhibiting the Bourdelle sculpture and also [launched] a Picasso exhibition. Who would have believed that possible five years ago?'