Art mart

A young woman walks past an example of modern Chinese art inspired by Andy Warhol's famous prints of actress Marilyn Monroe at last month's Shanghai Art Fair. Photo by Gao Erqiang

Traditional Chinese art is replacing contemporary art as the new investment of choice among financially astute collectors, according to local art fair organizers and gallery owners.

With pundits predicting the Chinese market is about to bounce back from its recession-inspired dip, savvy Chinese buyers are rushing to snap up antiques that could soon be worth a fortune - if they are not already.

Earlier this week an antique chair broke the world auction record for a piece of Chinese furniture by selling for HK$85 million (US$11 million) at Sotheby's in Hong Kong.

Liu Yiqian, a 46-year-old investor from Shanghai, purchased the carved zitan dragon throne that dates back to the Qianlong Period (1736-1795), and in doing so highlighted the changing face of the local buyers' market.

"About 10 years ago, when China's art market began, most of the buyers were Westerners, but in the past few years Chinese collectors have started making their presence felt," said Wang Anwei, a spokesman for the 11-year-old Shanghai Art Fair.

Sotheby's Hong Kong has this season seen sales shoot up 88 percent from six months ago, with two auctions featuring Chinese art accounting for over half of this new growth spurt.

Meanwhile, last month's Shanghai Art Fair saw a total sales volume of 50 million yuan ($7.32 million), up almost 20 percent year-on-year.

"This year more than 80 percent of the galleries participating in the fair were from China," said Wang. Many of their foreign contemporaries bowed out due to dwindling profits as a byproduct of economic downturn, he added.

Foreign guests, too, were impressed by what domestic vendors had to show.

"(The fair) was much better than we expected," said Guillaume Arnoud, owner of the Uwantart Gallery, which sells licensed copies of sculptures by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali.

Encouraged by the popularity of Dali's art, Alex Doppia, president of Espace Dali, plans to open a Dali museum in Shanghai soon.

"We want to find a good location for it. Many estate developers seem to be welcoming the idea as good art helps raise the profile, prestige (and therefore real-estate value) of an area," he said.

Organizers of the SH Contemporary were also pleased with the sales volume recorded during the fair's third edition this year, while the Shanghai Fine Jewelry and Art Fair (SFJAF) aims to coincide its second edition with next year's Shanghai World Expo to capitalize on the influx of expo tourists. It canceled last year's show due to the financial crisis.

"We believe the market is bouncing back and next year we will see it at its best, especially with the opening of the expo," said SFJAF President Nicolo Mori.

Zhou Guohui, who is showing more than 30 of his Chinese paintings by modern masters at the newly opened Phoenix Club today, said he will be keeping a close eye on the market.

"I am ready to sell a few pieces if the price is good," he said. "Last year nobody wanted to bring out any art as only two or three pieces were selling at any one auction, but this year things are looking better. The price is ... growing higher than before."

More Chinese are buying art as China's nouvelle riche cotton on to its investment opportunities, bringing sweeping changes to the market.

"Previous generations of art collectors in China used to hide their precious pieces from the public. Personally, I don't identify with this way of doing things, because, if you don't dare bring it into the (public domain), how can you possible confirm its value?" asked Guo Qingxiang, director of Yuebaozhai, a private art collection institute.

"Some Chinese tend to be quite timid when they start buying art, which is unnecessary. If they pay decent money for it, they put themselves on an equal footing with the artists," he added.

He went on to suggest that art buyers can control the public's perception as well as determining the true value of these traded commodities.

"Contemporary Chinese art has in the past been manipulated by other countries. Art that poked fun at the Chinese nationality was especially popular among Western collectors.

"Some Chinese speculators bought these works up in the past few years, but as soon as the financial crisis took root they depreciated the fastest, which I think shows that price alone does not necessarily dictate the true value of art."

He said there is nothing wrong with buying paintings as an investment, but it pays to be patient.

"You can't buy art the way you buy shares in the stock market. First buy what you like. You may make a few mistakes but gradually your sense of judgment will mature and you will grow more of a 'business head'," he said.

The true value of art lies in its unique characteristics, according to Guo, who owns the largest collection of paintings by modern Chinese master Wu Guanzhong.

"While the price of paintings by some contemporary artists has dropped dramatically, genuine masters have seen their works double or triple in value over the last one or two years."

In order to help Chinese art lovers make the right buying choices, SH Contemporary has launched its long-term Asia Pacific Collector Development Program.

"We will take potential collectors to international fairs, organize lectures and provide information about art history and criticism," said Director Colin Chinnery. "We don't persuade them to buy anything, so there is no risk when working with us."

Chinnery, who is partly Chinese, disagreed with Guo and some other Chinese collectors who believe that Western collectors and critics have been manipulating the contemporary Chinese scene.

"Good art always relates to contemporary social life and modern ideologies. You'll find that good social criticism involves problems common to the entire human race, rather than just pertaining to the Chinese," he said.

Artists today should keep a clear mind so they don't simply fall victim to market demands, said Wu Shanzhuan, a contemporary conceptual artist. Wu's installation exhibition "Things Rights 09 and The More" is being shown at the Shanghai Gallery of Art until Nov 15.

"What part of our art and culture qualifies to be reserved for later generations?" he asked. "This is not something that can be decided by a few mining tycoons just because they have earned themselves a bit of money."