A major player in next month’s Fine Art Asia fair in Hong Kong is scaling back its participation because of the continuing public unrest in the city. Masterpiece London, a well-established art fair that announced its much awaited Asian debut at Fine Art Asia earlier this year, cited “operational challenges” encountered by participating galleries for its reduced presence at the art and antiquities event. “Masterpiece is a new event in Hong Kong, and our participants are predominantly from Europe and the US, so there are such factors that need to be considered as shipping, distance, and for some, their first entry into this market,” Lucie Kitchener, managing director of Masterpiece London, and Phillip Hewat-Jaboor, chairman of Masterpiece London, said of the decision in a statement. Masterpiece specialises in the sale of fine art, design, furniture, jewellery, and antiques, making Fine Art Asia an apt partner to make its first entry into the Asian market. Masterpiece is excited to collaborate with Fine Art Asia, with which it shares the same cross-collecting philosophy, the statement quotes Kitchener and Hewat-Jaboor as saying. But it adds: “In consultation with them and our exhibitors, we have decided to refocus the content of the [Masterpiece] pavilion into a tightly curated showcase of exceptional objects from participating galleries rather than individual booths.” Originally conceived as a presentation of 24 individual gallery booths, the Masterpiece pavilion will now be a single 160 square metre space featuring 35 artworks from 15 galleries, curated by the Masterpiece team. The selection will serve as a teaser for the London fair, and potentially for a fully fledged exhibition in Hong Kong in 2020. Highlights from the Masterpiece pavilion include Paul Cézanne’s painting La Vie des Champs from Agnews Gallery, Bust of a Roman Aristocrat from Alessandra Di Castro + Valerio Turchi, François-Xavier Lalanne’s bronze sculpture Singe Avisé (Grand) from Ben Brown Fine Arts, and Canaletto’s Torre di Malghera from Robilant + Voena. Fine Art Asia, now in its 14th year, and Ink Asia (featuring works on paper) will push ahead as scheduled over four days at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai from October 4. Comprising 100 exhibitors, the fair features a wide offering of art and antiques by galleries from across Asia, Europe and the United States. The fair will kick-start Hong Kong’s autumn commercial art season, which includes auctions by Sotheby’s, Bonhams, Christie’s and Phillips. The art world is waiting to see what impact the Hong Kong protests and the ongoing US-China trade war will have on the city’s status as Asia’s art market hub. US tariffs on art imported from China are due to rise from 10 to 15 per cent. Seemingly optimistic, the Masterpiece leadership team say they remain “positive about the future of Hong Kong, despite a challenging few months”. “It will continue to be an important centre for us and we are fully committed to engaging the collectors, art enthusiasts and audiences here, and believe through a physical presence that connection will grow stronger,” the statement quotes them as saying.