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C.C. Wang's Poisoned Legacy

June 7, 2010 by Marion Maneker

The New York Times tells a sad story about one of the great collector/dealers in Chinese classical works, C.C. Wang, who sowed suspicion and rivalry among his children who now maneuver endlessly to gain control of the remaining treasures from his estate:

C. C. Wang died in 2003 at 96, still owning about 240 works yet to be sold or donated, the remainder of what experts had called the greatest collection of Chinese masters outside China.

Since then, his son and one of his younger daughters have been locked in a $50 million will battle that reads like a movie script, Continue Reading

Out with Old, In With New

March 21, 2010 by Katherine Jentleson

[private_subscriber][private_bundle]In the past, traditional paintings and works of art have been the backbone of the Asian art market. Traditional works ruled in terms of volume, accounting for 70% of the Asian lots sold over the past five years (Fig 3). A look at the highest prices achieved by Asian art since 2005 reveals that traditional works also typically represented the category’s top price points, including the most expensive Asian artwork ever sold: a Yuan Dynasty jar that Eskenazi Ltd. bought for $27.7 million in 2005 (Fig. 5). As demand increases for modern and contemporary works, however, the value distribution of the category is changing. For instance, since 2007, when Zeng Fanzhi’s Mask Series 1996 No. 6 earned the top price of the year at $9.7 million, the gap between maximum prices for traditional and modern and contemporary art has diminished. Moreover, traditional art has fallen far behind modern and contemporary art in terms of average prices (Fig. 4). Although the two subcategories posted similar averages in 2005, the modern and contemporary average price outstripped the traditional average price by a whopping 62% in 2009. The buyers responsible for driving the unrivaled value increase in modern and contemporary art are predominantly Asian—especially when it comes to the most highly valued works (Fig. 6). Of the top 100 modern and contemporary works sold annually since 2005, Asian buyers bought 74% overall, spending an average of $662,502 per work; their consumption of the priciest modern and contemporary art peaked last year, when they bought 91 of the top 100 lots.
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Chinese Classical Painting to Dominate

March 16, 2010 by Marion Maneker

The upcoming sales in Hong Kong presented by Sotheby’s are another occasion to assess the market for Chinese art and works of art. Reuters makes the prediction that classical painting will remain at the center of the Chinese art market for some time:

Collectors looking for signs of further momentum in the Chinese art market during Sotheby’s spring sales series, however, may instead see caution weigh. “I think the market needs some time to digest the results,” said C.K. Cheung, Sotheby’s head of Chinese paintings. “Prices will be quite stable because of the rapid changes over the past year. It’s quite high,” he told Reuters, referring largely to the fine Chinese painting market, which has seen prices for modern masters like Qi Baishi, Fu Baoshi and Zhang Daqian surge almost 50 percent over the past year. “But for the future, it’s still very positive.”

Masterpieces, Jewels Sparkle in Sotheby’s HK Sales (Reuters)

Ordinary Chinese Buy Art Now

December 15, 2009 by Marion Maneker

China Daily puts a few facts behind the growth in the Chinese traditional art market in the 21st Century:

Setting aside the high-end art market, there has been a remarkable surge in the public’s interest in traditional art, ranging from porcelain, jewelry, to bronze wares and ancient wooden furnishings.

In response, auction houses such as China Guardian Auctions are arranging quarterly sales that are a platform for intermediate and lower-end art works and collectibles. Antique markets are booming too.

Game shows airing on China Central Television and provincial TV stations, featuring established collectors and celebrities building collections of traditional art have further encouraged interest in traditional art works. Continue Reading

Big Spenders in Beijing

November 25, 2009 by Marion Maneker

Poly International sale roomPoly International had a very strong sale of Chinese classical art, including the top price paid for a classical work of nearly $25m above an estimate of $3m. The entire auction cycle just competed in Beijing brought in about $232m in sales. The lead lot and another calligraphy work were consigned by Guy and Myriam Ullens, important European collectors of Chinese art. But the auction house couldn’t resist a little jingoism in  the general manager of Poly International Li Da’s  comments to Reuters:

“Only the Chinese can truly appreciate the spirit, the philosophy and historical importance of such classical Chinese paintings,” said Li.

“I feel classic Chinese art is still undervalued compared with the prices paid for Western Impressionist and contemporary paintings by artists like Picasso or Renoir,” she added. […] “The (classical) Chinese art market has now reached the 100 million yuan level, and given China’s economic strength I find this to be a natural development.”Continue Reading

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