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HONG KONG: A pioneering art fair in Hong Kong is expected to attract
15,000 potential buyers, reflecting how modern art has become as
desirable for many Asian consumers as the latest luxury-brand watch.
The fair, which opens May 14, will assemble 100
international galleries under one roof selling works ranging from
Picasso masterpieces to prints by emerging local artists.
With the Asian art market booming, organizers
hope the inaugural event will prove that owning art is not just for
expert connoisseurs but can be hugely satisfying, and even
profitable, for first-time buyers too.
Such an attempt to increase the number of
collectors in Asia comes as the region’s auction rooms enjoy
unprecedented interest in contemporary art produced in Asia and
elsewhere.
At the Sotheby’s Contemporary Chinese Art sale
in Hong Kong in early April, an oil painting by Zhang Xiaogang was
sold to a private Asian collector for more than six million US
dollars, twice its estimate.
It was one of several records set during the
sale, and was the highest auction price paid for Zhang, a successful
artist from China who has exhibited around the world for 20 years.
“Contemporary art is developing into the
ultimate luxury brand,” said Magnus Renfrew, director of the fair,
which will be held in the dramatic Harbourside Exhibition Center.
“A fair like this can be a fixture for the
international jet set: somewhere people come to see and be seen.
“Many of the ‘new rich’ in China and
elsewhere in Asia are now looking to contemporary art because they
have their cars, their beautiful houses and yachts. So what’s next
to buy? What way can you next express your wealth with?
“We’re not seeing any weakness in the art
market despite problems in the global economy, and the timing could
not be better. We are expecting visitors from Taiwan, Korea,
mainland China and Japan, as well as from outside Asia.”
While a Picasso might still be beyond the means
of most of Asia’s newly wealthy, the Hong Kong International Art
Fair has been carefully tailored to match their various wallet sizes
and tastes.
The fair aims to cater to all budgets, with
minimum prices of around 2,000 US dollars, while at the upper end of
the scale one or two museum-quality pieces will add a touch of
essential glamour and extravagance to the event.
The Picasso, a 1955 nude portrait, is likely to
sell for several million dollars, while a Francis Bacon work from
London’s Marlborough gallery tops the price list at 35 million
dollars.
A Damien Hirst “spot” painting and a 1962
Andy Warhol silkscreen could also fetch millions, organizers say.
“With so many top caliber galleries
exhibiting, a huge range of 20th and 21st century art pieces at the
fair should not be beyond them.”
“People collect for a variety of reasons: to
express their cultured nature, for passion, and for investment,”
he said.
“Buy for yourself—and it should hurt
financially.”
But David Tang, Hong Kong’s most colorful
businessman and a major collector of modern Asian art, issued some
frank advice to profit-seekers as he welcomed the fair’s launch.
“The art market is very economically
sensitive,” he said at his China Club in central Hong Kong.
“People should only buy if they love a piece
so much that they feel they just can’t live without it hanging
over their bed.
“It is a wonderful feeling to own art you
love. And it should hurt a bit financially— that means you really
want it.
“I can’t stand people who go into art just
for investment,” said Tang, founder of the Shanghai Tang fashion
brand. “That is no longer art, it is just commodities and you may
as well trade pork bellies or tin.
“Buy for yourself. The last thing you want to
worry about with art is the price always going up and down.”
Katie de Tilly’s Hong Kong gallery 10 Chancery
Lane will sell pieces for between 5,000 and 250,000 US dollars at
the five-day fair.
She said the modern art market in Asia is in
unchartered territory.
“So much has happened in the past seven
years,” she told AFP. “And the change seems to be getting faster
and faster.
“There is a new generation of collectors
looking to China, but also at contemporary art from Indonesia, Japan
and Korea. Now Thailand seems to be the next exciting place.”
“There are a lot of speculators out there, but
at the same time there are many collectors. In such an evolving
market we advise buyers to ask endless questions about the gallery,
the market, the style and of course about the artist.
“Above all, spend a lot of time just looking
at art. This fair will be a great opportunity to see what’s out
there, to research, and for people to find out what they like.”
-- AFP
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