London’s in the midst of a big Asia Week but one of its legendary dealers doesn’t have such admiring words for the new Chinese buyers in the market. Here’s what he told Bloomberg’s Scott Reyburn:

“Western collectors are getting priced out of the market,” Giuseppe Eskenazi, 71, the gallery’s director, said in an interview. “I’ve got five people interested in the vase and in negotiations. They’re all Asian.” […] “Fifty years ago it was passion that drove collectors,” Eskenazi said. “Now there is more financial reasoning. The explanation that the Chinese are buying so much because they want to repatriate their art is questionable. They are conscious of the investment side.”

Asian Buyers Battle for $25 Million Qing Vase as Chinese Art Prices Surge (Bloomberg)