"I think that piece had some condition issues," Chang said. "The market is more mature now and collectors will select the good quality pieces in best condition."
Interest was not confined to Chinese contemporary art. The weekend auction set records for 29 Japanese artists, 10 Indian artists and 10 Korean ones.
"Interest in Japanese contemporary art was very strong," Chang said. "In general, pieces sold for between three to 10 times their estimates."
The market for Japanese contemporary art, which has embraced subcultures like manga, anime, fantasy and technology, has seen an incredible explosion in interest in recent months, helping to feed an increase of nearly threefold in total sales receipts at Christie’s Hong Kong auctions to 36.1 million dollars this past autumn from 12.5 million dollars in the spring of 2007.
"Japanese prices have been driven up by interest from Asian buyers," said Zhang Xiaoming, head of Chinese contemporary art at Sotheby’s in New York. "In fact, they are outperforming Chinese artists, but because they’re starting from a lower base, prices are still lagging behind those of Chinese."
Korean contemporary artists have also started to make some waves, although they still have to develop the salesroom buzz that surrounds the Japanese.
In contrast to all the exuberance in the contemporary market, however, interest in Chinese 20th century art is showing signs of fatigue.
In the second evening sale Saturday, featuring Chinese 20th century work, only 73 percent of the 26 lots were sold, raising 151.4 million dollars —within the estimate of 130.7 million to 168.3 million dollars but lacking in excitement. The next day went a little better, when 83 percent of the lots were sold, raising another 91.1 million dollars.
"Some pieces went very high, but maybe the estimates were on the high side,"Chang acknowledged.
Of six lots by the Taiwanese artist Kuo Po Chuan, only one was sold. "Sunset at Danshui" went for 2.64 million dollars, at the lower end of its estimate of 2.5 million to 3 million dollars. His star lot, "The Forbidden City", estimated at 5 million to 7 million dollars, failed to find a buyer. A piece from the same series was sold for a less-than-expect-ed 27.2 million dollars at a Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction last month.
"Chinese collectors might have been turned off by the latest developments on the local stock market, as well as the Sichuan earthquake," he said. "But I think the market prices will come back up."
1. Zhang Xiaoming has settled in China and she found that the Chinese contemporary art really touches her.
2. According to Zhang, many artists are repeating themselves.
3. Zhang thinks tradition, history and culture are the sources of the artists’inspiration.
4. Zhang is the senior global specialist and vice president for Chinese contemporary art at Sotheby’s in New York.
5. Some market professionals including Zhang pointed out that some Chinese contemporary artworks are overpriced and most collectors have began to realize it.
6. Chinese contemporary artworks are the most popular among the collectors.
7. Japanese contemporary artworks sold badly in the auction.
8. Eric Chang, head of Asian contemporary art and Chinese 20th century art at Christie’s thinks that the market is very mature now and the buyers will _______________. |
