Looking at it from the angle of this track record, who can deny that it was a successful auction? "Sotheby's were just waiting for the right time to come in," says Hsu Li-ling, manager in the Kander Group. But, of course, Rome was not built in a day.

Did Sotheby's come at the right time?: Rita I-Wong, the director of Sotheby's in Taiwan, points out that ten years ago the company established a branch organization in Taiwan, which obtained a deep knowledge of the market, made contact with artists and acted as a link between Taiwan's collectors and the outside world. "Over these few years the number of collectors in Taiwan has obviously increased two or three-fold. It was such purchasing power that was the largest factor in attracting us to hold an auction in Taiwan."

With the market already ripe, why did not our own businessmen hold an auction before the "foreign advance?"

In fact, in 1987, 1989 and 1991, the Kander Group held separate auctions of famous historical and contemporary Chinese ink paintings which failed to attract any widespread interest. Hsu Li-ling frankly admits that the Kander Group is certainly not internationally renowned and has not got enough media pulling power. "In addition, we overlooked the growth of Taiwanese consciousness and the search for roots going on here when we promoted auctions of ink paintings. Most of them were old customers and there were not many people who knew about them."

As for the first auction of Chinese oil paintings held by the Chuan Chia Arts company, although it did not fail to attract attention, its rate of success was not ideal with only a 60 per cent turnover rate. In retrospect, "not the right time" and "insufficient experience" were the main reasons.

The insufficient experience of native businessmen: "When we held an auction in 1990, the art galleries thought we were trying to snatch attention away from them," agrees Li Lina of Chuan Chia Arts. The result was that an oil painting of miners by Hung Jui-lin achieved a price of NT$1 million under the hammer. Any Hung Jui-lins on the market immediately became very important. It was only then that the galleries realized auctions could actually benefit them."

Today most galleries already confirm the usefulness of auctions. East Gallery president, Liu Huan-hsien, says that with the establishment of the secondhand market, collectors' items now have a channel to flow through which will facilitate even more activity in the first-hand market. Speaking of investment in art, this is a road that must be gone down. Such talk was not easy to accept before.

The people and the time were just not right. Director of Chuan Chia Arts, Pai Sheng-san, points out that at that time their forecasts of a boom were wrong. The stock market took a dive of 10,000 points so the climate for selling was obviously not favorable. In addition, many of the items up for auction were too big in size, and the prices were correspondingly too high, so they were hard to sell.

"Taiwan's buyers made their judgements on the price of a lot, not on how much a painting was worth," recalls Li Li-na. In those days, when the auctioneer called out a price, everyone pulled out his or her calculators. Many buyers later caused a stir because they had still not calculated the price of all the lots when they had all been sold. Many paintings that had attracted bidding at the auction were then resold privately.

Up to international standards? By comparison, it seems that Sotheby's picked the right time, with their 200-year reputation and having laid down the rules of the game, while Taiwan's native auctioneers are naturally still inexperienced.

Because of this, a lot of people had high expectations of the master from afar. They hoped Sotheby's would put on a pretty performance for the business world, and open up the international road for Taiwan's artistic circles.

It would seem that these expectations were disappointed. Some people were even suspicious when, apart from making a big profit in Taiwan, Sotheby's did not bring its rich experience of auctioneering to Taiwan, and gave the art market a "flawed demonstration."

What caused most grievance was a wave of fake paintings revealed before the auction. Moreover, the auction catalog had not been arranged in the customary way with detailed introductions and listings. All this left the impression of careless organization which was not up to international standards.

Apart from this, the selections of paintings were in the opinions of a number of gallery workers and critics of a not very high value or quality, and failed to represent the real standard of Taiwan's art. Willington Lee, director of Galerie Elegance, points out that the Taiwan galleries all adopted the attitude of being onlookers and did not actively supply works for sale, while some even took paintings they could not move out of storage and put them up for sale. "International auctions are just like art galleries," says Liu Huan-hsien. "It seems that they randomly put paintings on the international stage." Willington Lee thinks that when the catalog is posted all over the world, "Foreigners might think that this is all Taiwan's art amounts to."

The delusion of advancing on the world: What was even more of a disappointment for artistic circles was that although Sotheby's is an international company, this auction was limited to Taiwan. According to Rita I-Wong, the number of paintings that were exported following the auction only amounted to twenty and it cannot be confirmed that the purchasers were even foreigners. It would seem then that the works of Taiwan's artists have still not got onto the international road. Such a situation is a long way from the cries that "Taiwan will take the place of Hong Kong and become the new art center of Asia," that were heard before the auction arrived.

Rita I-Wong says of the number of fakes and the careless cataloging that, "Taiwan's market in oil paintings is still very new and there are no authoritative experts--that includes within Sotheby's." But she believes that Sotheby's will be even more careful in its selection and scrutiny in future.

As for the delusions of leading Taiwan's art scene to "advance on the world" and become the "art center of Asia," she thinks that these arose from a lack of knowledge about auction companies on the part of people in Taiwan. "Most people expect a lot of us. In fact the role of the auction company is just to be an intermediary providing the opportunity for buyers and sellers to come together. It is that simple."

If this is so, then what has the Sotheby's auction left Taiwan? No matter whether you look at the experts or the excited businessmen and crowds, apart from the disappointment, will there continue to be enthusiastic support for international auction houses?

Experience breeds . . . ? Director of the Expressions gallery, Ou San Jeng, thinks that the greatest achievement of this auction was that it got the attention of the public and has attracted more and more people to invest.

Willington Lee also says that the real achievement of the international auction company will not be for the businessmen here. "They have a list of every collector in the world and their catalog will be posted to every art gallery and collector in the world. These channels will make an impression for Taiwan's artists."

Rita I-Wong stresses that a work by Li Shih-chiao sold at the auction appeared in reports in the United States, Britain and other countries. Moreover, Japan's TBS television is considering using a work by Liao Chi-chun, who achieved the highest price at the Sotheby's auction, as the design for dominoes to be used at their forthcoming dominoes contest to be held this May in Taiwan. "The limitation on the internationalization of Taiwan's art market comes in fact from the tax system," says Anthony Lin, manager of Christie's in Taiwan. At present when we trade in art, no matter whether or not it is for foreigners, everyone has to pay taxes. This is not the same as the tax waiver made by other countries for overseas sales. "Before these tax laws are adjusted it will not be easy to attract international buyers."

International companies advancing on Taiwan: There are also people who feel skeptical about the ability of Taiwan oil paintings to attack the international market. One collector points out, "The paintings of the older generation of painters in Japan were by Japanese masters who were indirectly influenced by the French style. Their prices are on the same level as world class masters, but their originality is very weak so they will probably not be able to get into the international market." Businessman Ou San Jeng thinks that if Taiwan's art is to become international then it will have to rely on the new generation.

Pai Hsien-san thinks that there is basically no need to seek "internationalization". "Art has a local character. Apart from innovators, more than 90 per cent of artists are territorial." He thinks that this is created by their cultural background and living environment. There is thus no need to struggle.

What must really be paid attention to is the assessment of Taiwan's art market by Sotheby's that led them to choose it as a place to hold an auction on the same lines developed in Japan. Liu Huan-hsien points out that early on Japan also hoped that international auction companies would take them into the international market, but after a number of events they discovered that the efficacy of this was not very forthcoming. Finally they took a negative view of Sotheby's, Christie's and a number of other international auction companies.

Looking back at Taiwan, could our art market really be a heaven for international auctioneers, or can our own companies lead the way? We might still not know in future, but what is obvious from looking at the achievements of this auction is that international auctioneers are already actively advancing on the Taiwan market.

The two companies, Sotheby's and Christie's, have both expressed that they see the art market here as "very important." Bobbie Hu, the executive director of Christie's, says that "Whether we come sooner or later is at present only a technical problem which can be solved." He then stresses, "This does not stop at oil paintings. We hope that we can auction other objects in Taiwan, too!"

Who will get the cake?: Both companies simultaneously point out that after 1997 the geographical position of Taiwan and the purchasing power of its collectors are ideal conditions for it to take Hong Kong's place as the art center of Asia. Although Singapore has also expressed a strong interest, arising from market considerations they still hope that they can break through a number of tariff and legal obstacles, so as to advance on Taiwan.

As for the suspicions of native businessmen concerning "Why should we let this slice of the cake be eaten by foreigners coming here?" a consensus has also emerged that anyone with vision would do the same thing. In September this year, Chuan Chia Arts has planned to hold another auction of Chinese oil paintings and Galerie Elegance has also expressed great interest in holding a very big auction. They are obviously ready for the fight.

On the surface, Taiwan's art market has had a very lively atmosphere since the auction was held. But plainly speaking, an Asian center for Chinese art is not the same as an Asian market for Chinese art. The intermediary role played by the auction houses and their commercial nature cannot be changed. Only time will tell if the crazy prices of paintings brought about by this auction will finally be beneficial or harmful for Taiwan's artistic environment.

[Picture Caption]

Although it was their "first contact" Taiwan's buyers are not strangers to the art of bidding.

A number of fakes caused a stir after the Sotheby's catalog was published and four paintings finally had to be removed from the sale. (photo courtesy of Sotheby's)

(Left) Keeping a price in mind when examining the catalog can avoid later regrets. This is an auction held by the Chuan Chia Art Center at the end of 1990. (photo courtesy of Chuan Chia Art Center)

(Right) Blood pressures rise in the noise and excitement of the auction hall where a little showing off can lead to months of regret.

(Top,right) Before the auction is held there must be a three-day preview for the general public. This is a great opportunity for collectors to cultivate a good eye.

A number of fakes caused a stir after the Sotheby's catalog was published and four paintings finally had to be removed from the sale. （photo courtesy of Sotheby's）

（Left） Keeping a price in mind when examining the catalog can avoid later regrets. This is an auction held by the Chuan Chia Art Center at the end of 1990. （photo courtesy of Chuan Chia Art Center）

（Right） Blood pressures rise in the noise and excitement of the auction hall where a little showing off can lead to months of regret.

（Top,right） Before the auction is held there must be a three-day preview for the general public. This is a great opportunity for collectors to cultivate a good eye.