Hong Kong Collectors Timid, Not Ready to Support Gallery System

Michael Frahm had a frank conversation with Reuters last week about the Hong Kong market:

“They have to rely on the Asian market to be the ones who are buying here, and I am not sure that the Asian market is quite yet there to absorb this kind of material,” said Michael Frahm, director of Frahm Ltd and an art adviser based in London.

While Chinese buyers make up over 40 percent of the global auction market they have not been buying from individual galleries, said Frahm, adding that it will take a lot of hard work to get to know the collector base and know the scene. […]

“There are a lot of people interested, but it’s very early stages in that people are still very insecure in terms of what they are buying,” Frahm said.

Hong Kong Art Bonanza—But Will It Last? (Reuters)