Time Magazine takes a bit of a glass half-full/half-empty approach to recent sales in Southeast Asia keyed to Art Stage Singapore and its attendant auctions
“The market is not as strong as it was a year ago,” says Jasdeep Sandhu, owner of Gajah Gallery in Singapore, which represents auction market darlings like Indonesian artist I. Nyoman Masriadi. […]
“The bidding isn’t as crazy as it used to be,” says Dexter How, a Southeast Asian specialist with Singapore-based auctioneer 33Auction. The relatively tepid autumn sales of Sotheby’s and Christie’s in Hong Kong last year prove his point. For both auction houses, the 2011 autumn sales generated roughly 10 to 25 per cent less than their preceding spring sales. And though the Borobudur/Larasati sale was considered a surprise success, some experts point out that the idea of pooling buyers together and shaving marketing costs by holding a joint sale is itself a sign of lowered expectations. Plus, says How, “some of the works were priced reasonably.”
