Rich people's passion
The global art website Artprice recently announced statistics listing the 100 contemporary artists whose works had commanded the highest prices in the 2006 spring and summer auctions of contemporary art. Twenty-four artists were from the USA, 39 from Europe, and surprisingly, China had the same number as the US. Among these, a work by Zhang Xiaogang is listed at nearly 2 million, putting him at number 11. Sadly, there are no Taiwanese painters on the list. "Because of China's economic development, Chinese artists will be the global stars of contemporary art in 2007," predicts the website.
As the major trend in the global market leans towards Chinese contemporary art, Taiwan has to follow this trend. Amongst the works in Ravenel's autumn auction catalog, for example, Chinese contemporary artists occupy half of the places.
At the Zhong Cheng auction, as the price of the "Stone" series painting from Chinese painter Zhou Chunya rose towards the NT$9 million mark, many were expressing unease. One of the buyers claimed privately: "We are being cheated--he doesn't deserve this price. The painting from the 'plunderer of flowers' [overseas Chinese painter Walasse Ting, who is famed as an excellent portrayer of flowers] is going for around NT$400,000, and it's better than Zhou's!"
Some, however, believe the price to be fair. The artist, Zhou Chunya, a former director of the Chinese Oil Painting Association, has painted only three works in the "red stones" part of series, and the style is said to represent perfectly the character of the painter. The work eventually sold for NT$13 million, not, in many people's opinion, an excessive price.
The market value of China's middle generation of painters is still largely unknown, but many can't grasp the high prices their works often bring. New collectors, when they see prices of works from either famous or unknown artists rising to fantastic levels, often just follow the auction crowds, using only their ears, and not their reason, to judge the potential value of the item on sale.
At Sotheby's Hong Kong autumn auction, Qi Baishi's excellent work Bi Zhuo Stealing Wine was expected to sell for between HK$800,000 and HK$1.2 million. But the works of Zhang Xiaogang, who is less than 50 years old, were predicted to bring from HK$8.8 million to HK$12 million, ten times more than the work of the great master Qi Baishi. Art critics shake their heads in disbelief. "Why can the work of a second-generation artist command higher prices than that of the master?"
On the other hand, a number of painters don't enjoy seeing prices for their works rising astronomically as the result of investment buying. Last year, at the Beijing Poly International Auction of contemporary Chinese art, new-generation painter Liu Xiaodong's huge oil painting New Immigrants of Sanxia sold for the enormous price of RMB22 million.
Liu was not very happy, as he can't believe his art is worth that sort of money. "Two or three years ago, my work was selling for RMB1-200,000. The Chinese art auction world seems to be going crazy."
At present, a discussion is taking place within the Chinese media: "Is contemporary Chinese art booming, or is the bust upon us?" Some predict that in 2008 the Chinese market will reach a peak. Because too many people are focusing on contemporary Chinese art, the boom will probably finish early, so collectors should be exercising caution; nobody wants to be the last buyer to pay a big price.
Major buyers from Taiwan
This warning should apply especially to Taiwan's collectors. One of the reasons for the strong demand for Chinese art has to do with the financial strength of buyers in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The purchasing power of Taiwanese collectors is having a strong influence on the art market in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and has a very important role in the sustainability of that market.
Artist magazine's January issue reports that it has been normal for Taiwanese buyers to occupy 25-33% of sales volume at Beijing and Hong Kong auctions. At Christie's Hong Kong autumn auction, for example, Chen Kang-hsin, president of Taiwanese cosmetics group Kelti, bought works of artists Zhang Yu, Zhu Dequn and Lin Fengmian, spending in total around NT$200 million.
Barry Lam, chairman of Quanta Computer, Inc., is known as a great admirer of artist Chang Ta-chien. People in the art world say Lam deeply identifies with Chang's work, and has become a master of its appreciation. At his corporate headquarters, Kuangya Hsuan, he displays his personal collection of over 1000 works of Chinese calligraphy and painting, among which may be found authentic pieces from Su Shi and Mi Fu, both of the Song Dynasty, and nearly 300 of Chang's works. The depth and range of Lam's collection are truly impressive.
Lu Jung-chih, a Taiwan art critic and exhibition organizer now living in Shanghai, noted in a recent media interview that growing numbers of collectors are paying increased attention to the new generation of contemporary artists, a trend she sees as encouraging. New artists, however, run the risk of their creative spirit being damaged if their work becomes the subject of over-investment too early in their careers. Some have tended to continually recreate a successful style of painting simply to continue their market success. Thus they stunt their own artistic development for financial benefit.
Taiwan under globalization
Taiwan's artistic community may not have the same spectacular good fortune as many of their Chinese counterparts have achieved mainly because of the "economic miracle" under way in China. Nevertheless, artists here in Taiwan have their personal style, and actively attend international exhibitions or visit China in order to extend their careers. For example, photographer Chen Chieh-jen, sculptor Huang Ming-che, who creates public art from huge pieces of steel, portrait artist Chiu Ya-tsai, and Cheng Tsai-tung, who has gone back to traditional ink painting instead of oils, have all sold works at auction for prices between about NT$200,000 and NT$400,000, well above current market prices.
"One of the results of globalization has been the rise of the Chinese market economy. Despite any political concerns, Taiwan should regard China as just another market, and it is normal to buy and sell in a market. At present, the best way to spread Taiwanese art worldwide is through Beijing." Ni Tsai-chin, dean of the College of Arts at Tunghai University, believes that Taiwanese always manage to punch above their weight. In this, he says, they are like the Jewish community in the US, who, although their numbers are not great, control significant portions of the American media, financial, and cultural sectors. With the flexibility and creativity of Taiwan's artists, surely they can become leading lights of their field in China. If a society possesses a love of art, a healthy number of art collectors, and solid business arrangements between artists, collectors and galleries, that is a sign of a rich society. The Chinese art market has been bubbling away merrily for a number of years now. The dawn of the good times may have finished, but we are now enjoying the full midday sunshine of the good times. We hope that this continuing boom can enrich the hearts of artists, and lead them to create even more wonderful works in the future.