Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Collectors Seek Works by Older Chinese Artists

Wall Street Journal
March 10, 2010

HONG KONG—In the Chinese art market, it pays to be old.

This is the lesson from the 2010 list of the top living artists from China ranked by the value of their works sold at auction over the last year. The list, compiled by Hurun Report in partnership with the Shanghai Art Museum, shows a shift in collectors' tastes toward classical art, reversing a recent trend that had favored contemporary Chinese painters. The painters whose work is benefiting the most are the ones who have been around longer.

In the top spot is 89-year-old Zhao Wuji, with total sales at public auction of US$35.1 million. That is up 32% from the previous year. He is followed by 91-year-old Wu Guanzhong with $31.7 million, up 18%. Fan Zeng, 72, came in at No. 3 with $21.7 million in sales, almost double the level from the previous year.

The average age of the top 10 artists is 77, compared to 58 last year. (A similar ranking at Artfacts.net shows that the current top 10 living artists globally have an average age of 72.)

"This year, the preference amongst collectors for classical art is the most striking development," said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of Hurun Report, which tracks information about wealthy individuals in China. In last year's list, classical and contemporary art sales were more or less evenly matched.

Overall, last year wasn't a great one for the Chinese art market. Works by the top 50 artists on the 2010 Hurun list sold a combined $258 million at auction last year, a 37% drop from the previous year.

Zhao Wuji, also spelled as Zao Wou-Ki, is seen in his Paris studio in 2005. The 89-year-old artist had sales worth $35.1 million in public auctions last year.

The number of painters on the list using the traditional Chinese ink style leapt to 19 from eight last year, while the number of contemporary artists on the list declined to 25 from 35.

None of last year's top three—oil painters Zhang Xiaogang, Yue Minjun and Zeng Fanzhi—ranked among the top five spots this year.

However, the most expensive artwork by a living Chinese artist sold at auction in 2009 was still a contemporary piece done in oil on canvas.

Christie's Hong Kong sold "Snow Started Falling" by 90-year-old Zhu Dequn for $5.9 million. Wu Guanzhong's 1995 work "Liu Yin Mu Niu Tu Jingxin" (roughly translated as "Herding cows beneath the willow shade") ranked as the most expensive traditional Chinese ink painting sold over the past year, fetching $2.1 million.



Sunday, March 7, 2010

Art as an Escape

Even though the world of finance and investment banking swallows me up from time to time, I have realized that art will always have the effect of an irresistible drug on me. It never ceases to pull me into a dream world that escapes reality. A world which surpasses materialism, judgement and homegeneity. I hope that one day I will be able to create an art enterprise of my own that serves as an Art Escape. 

Urban Manners

The Urban Manners photo gallery has an interesting image showcasing artists such as Jitish Kallat, Nalini Malani, Subodh Gupta and Bharti Kher

In Focus : Nalini Malani

Born in 1946 in Karachi, Nalini Malani received her education from the J.J School of Arts in Mumbai. Much of her work is influenced by her experiences as refugee that took place during the partition. Her work is particularly interesting because she has emerged as a pioneer and a senior multimedia artist that achieved international prominence in the 1980s. Race, class and gender are recurring themes in her work. Since 1993 she also begun working on installations. Malani lives and works in Mumbai.

 


  
'Cassandra'
30 panel polytych, acrylic, ink and enamel reverse painting on acrylic sheet, 227.5 x 396 cm, 2009


 
Listening to the Shades 7
Acrylic, ink and enamel reverse painting on acrylic sheet, 2008

Indian art: What next?

NDTV
March 5, 2010

The economic downturn did cast its shadow on the Indian art market. But have we hit a bottom? Have prices stabilised? Is there growth on the cards for the Indian art market?

The impact of the global economic slowdown hit the art market in 2009.Buyers tightened their purse strings and volumes of sales declined.
For Indian art in particular, the year was rough, sales volumes contracted by over 50 per cent.
Christie’s sales for Indian art dropped from a $40 million high in 2006 to $15 million by 2009.
Yamini Mehta, a specialist of south Asian contemporary art at Christie's, said, "2009 has been a very challenging year. That is when we did see the volumes of the sales drop from a $40 million high to maybe a $15 million, but I do think that we are in a position right now where again quality is selling, we are getting many more inquiries from a wider variety of clientele."
Experts suggest that prices for Indian art have begun to stabilise and an expanding buyer base is increasing the momentum for Indian art sales not only in the West but also in Asia.
Amin Jaffer, International Director-Asian Art, Christie's, said, "What we have been seeing in the last few sales is that prices have been rising sale-to-sale in a really healthy way and I think we will continue to see this, particularly for the great rare things where the supply is finite.
It could be an early Subodh that was exhibited in an early Bienalle, it could be an early Husain of a quality and type that is very rarely seen, it could be any of these things. For those things we have international demand. The bidding in Hong Kong represents all of Asia and it’s a fascinating moment that somebody from Taiwan, from Korea or from Jakarta believes that they should have Indian art in their house and in their collections."
Compared to the Chinese art market, India still has a long way to go. Prices for Chinese art can go up to as high as $20 million whereas top prices for Indian art still stand at $2.5 million pointing to the fact that there is ample potential for an upside in prices.
Hugo Weihe, senior vice president at Christie's, said, "Prices have reached within China over 10-20 million dollars already, while in western art we have achieved a 100 million dollars plus but it is going to go up there. There is no doubt because of this enormous economic power to buy back. In India its surprising that the focus on heritage has not yet happened but I believe it will happen in a much stronger way."
With room for higher prices and a critical emphasis on quality post the slowdown, experts suggest that the next upturn for Indian art will prove to be deeper and more stable.