The retrospective Masriadi’s work at the Singapore Art Museum closed yesterday. But the show coincided with the artist’s work achieving new records in the Hong Kong sale. Here, in a short film created by the museum, the artist talks about his work:

Singapore’s Small Sales Disappoint Amid Financial Panic

Indonesian Art is a Bright Spot

Local auctions held during the ArtSingapore fair were not big money affairs but they were part of a bid to win the Asian art market to Singapore. Altogether, the sales brought in less than $10 million, less than 2/3 of the estimates. John Andreas, founder of one of the houses, Borobodur, gave Bloomberg his observations: Read the rest of this entry »

ArtSingapore Goes On

Lost in the all the hullabaloo of the financial crisis and bailout, ArtSingapore opened on Oct. 10 and closes tomorrow (really almost today Singapore time.) Bloomberg carries this report from the opening with lots of interesting commentary about relative value, Indonesia and the market price for Contemporary Chinese Art. Some random quotes from the Bloomberg story (presented out of order for dramatic effect):

Daniel Komala, president and co-founder of Larasati, said the financial crisis is likely to affect the more expensive works as collectors opt instead for cheaper, emerging artists.“When a big ship like the U.S. is sinking, that would be a big danger to anybody in any business,” he said in an interview at the Oct. 3 preview. “The financial meltdown will affect the top layers. Rather than buy a $1 million painting you would probably buy a few pieces of $100,000 each.” [ . . . ]

“There’s going to be some impact, but in Asia there’s still a lot of disposable income,” said Chen Shen Po, director of ArtSingapore, Southeast Asia’s biggest art fair. “A lot of Southeast Asian artists are still very competitive in pricing and still very affordable.” [ . . .]

“For Chinese art, the price is already too high,” said John Andreas, owner of Borobudur, in an interview. “The top Chinese artists fetch $10 million compared with top Indonesian artists, who fetch only about $1 million. A lot of investors think Indonesian art is still very cheap.”

Singapore Art Sales Aim to Defy Falling Markets, China Slowdown (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg reports another record set for Indonesian artist I Nyoman Masriadi in Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Painting sale in Hong Kong. The canvas from 2000 sold for more than HK$7.8 million ($998,000) which was five times the high estimate for the work (though estimates do not include the buyer’s premium.)

Bloomberg turns Le-Min Lim’s Asia Week preview into a gloomy take on the correlation of the art and financial markets. The big news in the article is Artprice.com’s Pierre Capelle’s claim that the art market correlates to the financial markets but lags “by three to four days.” A misquote? It’s hard to see how such a periodic market as the art market could be in such close correlation to a constant market like the financials. Even a Three-to-four month lag would seem tightly linked and closer than any previous claims.

Art prices won’t escape the effects of the drop in financial markets, said Pierre Capelle, manager of econometrics department at Artprice.com. “The art-market movement is completely co-related to the stock and currency markets,” said Capelle, lagging behind by “three to four days.” The Artprice Global Index, which tracks sales of fine-art works, fell in the January to July period, the first decline in six years, said Capelle. Based on Artprice.com’s online survey of its members, about 49 percent polled say sentiment on the economic climate is “unfavorable.”

How does this impact the Asian art market? Dealers there are mixed in their opinions:

“The outlook is dimming for Chinese contemporary art,” said Tian Kai, a Beijing-based art dealer. Buyers may attend auctions to “find pieces at bargain-basement prices,” he said. [ . . . ]

Still, buyers may be surprised by the resilience of the Asian art market, said Shirley Ben Bashat, who runs Opera Gallery in Hong Kong. She said traffic at her gallery unexpectedly increased after Lehman’s bankruptcy as people moved money from the stock market to art. [ . . . ]

“I wouldn’t rule out a surprise,” said art-dealer Tian, 34. “Asia’s art market might be more resilient than thought.”

`National Treasure’ May Support Sotheby’s Sale as Markets Slump (Bloomberg)

Subodh Gupta led the sale with three works in the top five prices. Each of these works is now among the ten most valuable works by Gupta to be sold at auction. All ten of those prices were achieved in the last six months.

These days you’re not a serious emerging market unless you have a serious emerging art market star. Indonesia nominates I Nyoman Masriadi. Here’s Bloomberg on his prospects in the upcoming Asian contemporary sales in Hong Kong and his first solo show in Singapore:

In the past two years, Masriadi, 35, has become a poster boy for Indonesian contemporary art. Christie’s International sold his painting “Used to Being Stripped,” depicting one of his trademark stocky black figures, for HK$4.2 million ($538,000) in May in Hong Kong, an auction record for Southeast Asian art. In an Indonesian sale in 2006, his “Angels” was offered for 10 million rupiah ($1,088) with no takers.

“Masriadi is one of the vanguards for Southeast Asian Contemporary,” said Mok Kim Chuan, Sotheby’s head of department for Southeast Asian paintings. “His prices have been skyrocketing.”

( . . . )

“Many regard him as Indonesia’s answer to Chinese contemporary art,” said Michael Koh, chief executive officer of Singapore’s National Heritage Board, which hosts the 8Q show. “He’s hot and never had a solo show, so it’s quite groundbreaking for us.”

The rapid rise of Indonesian artists and the slump in global financial markets have prompted some collectors and critics to suggest that art prices may fall.

That will be tested in October, when Masriadi’s new work and his 4.5-meter-wide triptych “The Man From Bantul — The Final Round” from 2000 go under the hammer at Sotheby’s first evening sale of Asian art in Hong Kong. “Bantul” has a top estimate of HK$1.5 million ($192,000).

But Masriadi is not the only Indonesian artist gaining ground. Newsweek offers its own guide to the boom in South East Asian painters:

The pace of Masriadi’s rise has been unusual but not unique in the region. The Indonesians Rudi Mantofani, Agus Suwage and Handiwirman Saputra have also done very well at recent auctions, though the prices paid for the work of Mantofani, the second highest-paid Indonesian, remain well behind Masriadi’s. Artists in Thailand and Malaysia are also enjoying a boom. Their success reflects collectors’ rising appetite for Southeast Asian work, which still tends to go for a fraction of the price of Chinese art. Now the boom is creating new challenges for museums in the region, which can no longer afford many of the suddenly popular artists.

Indonesia Artist Masriadi Slays Ogres, Cuts Batman Down to Size (Bloomberg)

Turning Black to Cash (Newsweek)