Source:
https://scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3003367/chinese-art-collectors-rein-their-spending-beijings-capital
Lifestyle/ Arts & Culture

Chinese art collectors rein in their spending as Beijing’s capital controls begin to bite

  • Curbs on taking money out of China, the threat of US tariffs on exports and the slowing economy have blunted Chinese buyers’ appetite for contemporary art
  • However, high-quality works, and art new to Asia such as that at Art Basel, will still find buyers, one Chinese art market player says

Art Basel Hong Kong, like its sister fairs in Switzerland and the United States, is the ultimate in luxury markets. Like other Veblen goods, it becomes more desirable the more expensive it is, and the elite who can pay the equivalent of the price of a substantial Hong Kong flat for a painting have often shown themselves to be above the ebbs and flows of macroeconomics.

Take the 2016 edition of the fair, for example. The Chinese stock market bubble had just burst, and the Chinese government was getting serious about stopping capital leaking out of the country, which meant less money could flow into Hong Kong. The 2015 art auctions in China yielded 25 per cent less than the year before because of fears of a serious downturn. Still, galleries at Art Basel Hong Kong reported brisk sales, especially for works by big-name Western artists.