Reuters carries the results from Christie’s sales of Contemporary Chinese art and 20th Century Chinese art. The two sales brought in US$18.1 million with approximately half of the lots sold:

“The people who were willing to spend HK$5 million was fairly limited tonight,” said Roger McIlroy, an art dealer and former deputy Chairman of Christie’s in Asia.

“The prices they (the sellers) were seeking were probably more than they’d paid four years ago, with the market at the moment indicating a retraction back a few years in price levels.”

One bright spot was Zao Wou-Ki’s “Hommage a Tou-Fou,” a large abstract work of swirling greys and reds which fetched HK$45.5 million ($5.86 million) — an auction record for the artist.

The top lot in the Asian contemporary sale was Zhang Xiaogang’s “Bloodline: Big Family No. 2″ — a large family portrait from the collection of Hollywood director Oliver Stone which sold for HK$26.4 million ($3.4 million) — though well below its pre-sale estimate of around HK$40 million.

Curiously, the lead lot in the Southeast Asian sale that took place in the afternoon seems to have been withdrawn. But the sale, which was not covered by Reuters, pulled in almost $4 million with two-thirds of the lots sold. This picture, above, by Yasmin Sison, Bound, went for more than twice the high estimate at just under $18,000.

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 Profiles Indonesia’s Prime Collector

All art markets have a prime collector who gives the field an initial shape and benchmark. Bloomberg profiles tobacco heir, Oei Hong Djien, who has three museums and 1500 works. Adam Medjendie writes:

Oei’s friendship with expressionist painter Affandi in the 1980s developed into the most comprehensive private collection of modern and contemporary Indonesian work. The two museums in the grounds of his house, one for 20th-century works and the other for contemporary ones, contain paintings by Affandi, Hendra Gunawan, Sudjojono, Yunizar, Nyomen Masriadi and more than 100 others, as well as sculptures and installations. [ . . . ]

The market shifted after overseas collectors began to buy works of artists such as Putu Sutawijaya and Masriadi at Christies International and Sotheby’s auctions in Hong Kong and Singapore. Prices jumped 10-fold. Sutawijaya’s “Looking for Wings” sold in Singapore for S$114,000 ($80,000) with fees against a presale top estimate of S$9,000.

“Then the eyes of the Indonesian collectors opened,” Oei said. “They started also to buy.” Oei said the cause of the sudden change was China, where prices had risen rapidly since 2000. Some collectors were looking for a cheaper alternative.

The China effect boosted markets across Asia, including India and Indonesia, traditionally the biggest art producers in south and southeast Asia. Prices were also rising as economic growth in the region created new collectors.

Indonesian Collector Oei Turns Tobacco Into Art, Sees Slowdown (Bloomberg)