Mainland Chinese buyers prefer to get their works from a vendor with high visibility and a strong reputation, the South China Morning Post reports in the wake of several sales in Hong Kong this weekend:
“Chinese buyers usually either buy at auctions or from the most reputable and best known dealers,” said Sotheby’s Asia CEO Kevin Ching. […]
Auctions account for nearly 70 per cent of art sales across China, according to a recent survey by research firm Arts Economics.
“It’s not that there has been a sharp decrease in Western bidders…it’s that because of the buying power of the Chinese they are the ones who win the objects in the end,” said Ching.
Chinese art buyers shun smaller shops for major auction houses (South China Morning Post)