HK collector displays Italian art in Beijing

Art collector George Wong and Italian ambassador to China Ettore Francesco Sequi.

The show is being held at Wong's mall in Beijing.

In 2014, Wong held a similar show dedicated to Italian art at the same venue.

But the current show, which is larger than the previous one, has many Arte Povera works by emerging artists done in the 1990s and the 2000s. Many of these works were bought by Wong earlier this year.

Arte Povera is an Italian art movement from the late 1960s and 1970s led by artists like Giuseppe Penone, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Mario Merz.

The artists used a wide range of materials to challenge the commercialized art system.

Penone's The Green of the Forest combines a tree trunk with a painting painted by plant pigments. Clothes by Pistoletto uses discarded clothes and mirrors.

Wong, who says he was amazed by Italian art when he started collecting it a few years ago, began with Chinese contemporary art 20 years ago.

But unlike many Chinese billionaires who love to offer big prices for well-known names in art, Wong says he bought only things that he liked.