Repeat sales in Contemporary Chinese art…

Nearly two months after Sotheby’s, it was Christie’s turn to organise a major sale of Contemporary Asian art in Hong Kong.

The highs and lows of contemporary artists

As expected, auction revenue figures for contemporary artists in 2009 contracted quite substantially (divided by 14 in the case of Damien Hirst, and by 3 in the case of Jeff Koons). However, for all that, the market is not in bad condition. The loss of the speculative element has essentially allowed prices to settle back to 2004 levels.

Chinese Contemporary Art today

Over the last five years, Asian and particularly Chinese art has been one of the most dynamic segments on the secondary art market. Alongside the discovery and value appreciation of artists now recognised as the leading lights of Asian art, the phenomenal success of Chinese art at auctions as of 2004 generated wild expectations amongst artists from the region and prompted speculators and investment funds to snap up works by unknown signatures in the hope of riding the next auction rocket.

Hong Kong stirs from slumber

Sotheby’s kicks off its Modern and Contemporary Asian Art sales in Hong Kong on 6 October 2009. The day will be divided into three sessions: 20th Century Chinese Art, Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings and Contemporary Asian Art. The catalogues are ambitious with more than 380 works by Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Indonesian and Korean artists, and a total revenue estimate of close to $25m.

Contemporary Art in convalescence

While London’s auctioneers congratulate themselves on the healthy sold rates at their June Contemporary Art sales (92.5% at Sotheby’s, 88% at Christie’s and 75% at Phillips de Pury & Company), bidders are continuing on a path of caution and sobriety.

Mixed results in New York

At the end of the first quarter of 2009, the global art market price index showed a 10% contraction. But in New York City, host to some of the world’s most prestigious art sales, the crisis is being felt particularly hard: the same index shows a 35% local contraction since January 2008.

New markets and the crisis

The most speculative and volatile markets over the last four years, emerging art markets have propelled a number of Chinese, Indian, Russian and Middle-Eastern contemporary artists into the global limelight with extraordinary speed. But with so many young artists fetching such big figures at auctions, some kind of meltdown was inevitable.

Contemporary Korean Art

On the one hand, Korean art is being driven by changes within the country that started 20 years ago with the Olympic Games in Seoul and the first fully democratic elections, and on the other hand, by the remarkable success of contemporary Chinese and Indian artists.
While Asian auction houses, such as Borobudur Singapore and Seoul Auction Center, are driving the market there, the global majors, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, recently integrated Korean art into their Contemporary Asian Art sales. Korea also has its own art fair, the KIAF, whose seventh edition ended in September.

Shcontemporary : a new art fair is born in Shanghai

Shanghai and Beijing are the new centres of attraction: galeries are proliferating there and collectors from the world over are invited to discover in situ the dynamism of the Asian scene, encouraged by the effervescence of Chinese art, whose sale proceeds were multiplied by ten in 2006.

‘Contemporary Art – evenings sales’ in London: £140 million

Having achieved a historic result in this sector on 16 May last in New York ($384,654,400), Christie’s opened the ball of the London contemporary art sales on 20 June with sale proceeds of £67,470,800 in 83 lots. The following day, Sotheby’s outstripped its competitor, selling 66 lots for a total of £72,427,600. In 2006, the total London proceeds of the two auction houses’ contemporary art evening sales amounted to close to £56 million.

Chinese Contemporary Art Market - Cultural revelation

Speculation is showing no signs of slowing and auction sales are ever stronger, and prices ever higher. The price appreciation has been staggering for the generation of young Chinese artists and the number of investors continues to grow. It often takes only a few years for a Chinese artist to see a tenfold price increase, as with ZHANG Xiaogang or CAI Guoqiang to cite just a couple of examples. Symbolic of the price increases: the ten most successful auctions of contemporary Chinese art have been recorded over the past twelve months. In the end, in 2006, 31.3% of the Chinese contemporary artworks sold at auction achieved more than $100,000. Given such price levels, the proceeds on Chinese contemporary art sales increased by a factor of ten in 2006.

Contemporary art market: results from the spring/summer season of 2006

This month the European art market will gyrate to the rhythm of the contemporary art fairs, with the Frieze Art Fair starting 12 October in London and then the Paris FIAC on 26 October and Art Cologne on 1 November. At the same time, the auction houses will capitalise on these events by organising major concurrent sales of contemporary art.
Before the fall season begins, Artprice here provides a brief overview of the ebullient contemporary art market so far this year.