Q: People in the local art gallery world have long toyed with the idea of setting up a center for exchanging and auctioning art works, but no one expected you to be the first to translate the idea into reality. What gave you the idea?
A: A lot of people have been wanting to set up an art auction house in Taiwan, but no one actually dared to do it. So oddly enough it was left to a relative outsider like me to take the first step. Of course I thought it over carefully beforehand. I have always loved art. In my student days at Chung-Yuan Christian University I studied architecture, which belonged to the college of art. I was taught sketching and watercolor painting by Liu Kuo-sung, and studied sculpture under Li Yuan-heng. So it was natural for me to be an art lover. My experience of looking at paintings and buying them over the past ten years or so made me want to do something for art promotion. In particular I wanted to do something worthwhile which no one else was doing, so I decided to establish Heirloom Art.
At present Heirloom Art has two main functions: it normally functions as an exchange center where collectors can deposit their art works for resale, but also twice a year we hold a formal art auction. Whether as an exchange center or an auction house, the aim is to promote better circulation of art works and eliminate a number of unreasonable features of the local art market.
Q: What unreasonable features are those?
A: Firstly, I don't believe every collector wants to build up his collection with the aim of opening an art museum or wants to add to his collection indefinitely. So he certainly needs an opportunity to let his art works circulate in the market. At present there is no way to do this openly, so everyone relies on personal connectons and buys at private galleries. If the buyer insists on a reduced price, of course the collector will be unhappy and unwilling to sell, which is why so few good pieces come on to the market. The price of a painting is fixed privately between the painter and the gallery, so the collector has no idea what the painting is really worth. This is unreasonable.
Secondly, most collectors just starting out, myself included, buy by ear. A given painter's work sells for a certain price, and these fixed prices apply equally to his finest works and to those he has just dashed off. Some artists complete a painting in five or six days just to make money. If investors don't discriminate, who can blame the artists for being lazy? This kind of situation can be improved by art auctions.
Heirloom Art will follow the same sort of procedure as Sotheby's and Christie's, with panels of experts to assess the price of a painting with reference to its artistic merit, characteristic features and historical value. A detailed catalogue is published one month before the auction to allow potential buyers plenty of time to consider and consult experts, and before the auction a three-day display is put on at a large hotel for everyone to have a good look at the works on sale. If they still can't decide, they can see how other bidders behave at the auction itself. This can help minimize the risk for an inexperienced person of making a big mistake.
Q: The international market is overflowing with fake Chinese traditional paintings, which is a great headache. It seems that there are also quite a few fake oil paintings around too. What can be done to prevent this?
A: I daren't touch Chinese traditional paintings yet. Items that have been handed on down the centuries may well be fakes and it is very hard to distinguish them. Even if they are genuine, there are always those who are ready to throw doubt on it. Of course there are many forgeries among early Taiwanese western paintings too, but I'm less worried about that. Ten years ago Kuo Po-ch'uan's paintings weren't worth anything, and who would have dared to buy them then? If you come to me you will have to explain where the painting came from, and I plan to set up a screening committee of experts to authenticate paintings.
My system of authentication is very simple. If the artist is still living I ask him, and if he says he cannot remember the painting I definitely don't buy it. Even an old artist in his 70s or 80s will retain some memory of a work he has painted brushstroke by brushstroke.
If the artist has passed away I approach his family. For instance, a painting of roses falsely attributed to Li Mei-shu was exposed as a forgery by the artist's son, Li Ching-yang. He knew his father had always been a most particular man and would invariably paint a fine piece of porcelain as the backdrop for a floral scene. How could he have painted roses just stuck into a simple glass?
Q: These days a lot of people buy art works as an investment. Do you have any advice for this kind of investor?
A: Speaking seriously, I would say that if people buy paintings to make money they will regret it 100 per cent. When you hear of a painting being worth NT$10,000 per hao (one hao is about the size of a postcard) ten years ago and selling for NT$36,000 today, don't forget that if you had spent the equivalent sum on land or real estate you would be a multi-millionaire today! Art works have their value, but they don't represent a high return on your investment. They appreciate in value very slowly and that's very time-consuming. Sometimes you have to wait ten or twenty years to see a painting reach its true value. If some natural disaster occurs or an economic downturn comes along, all your efforts can come to nothing.
Art works are less volatile than the stock market, but they have a different kind of risk attached to them. However careful you are, any collector just starting out is bound to make a mistake. Never believe collectors who say they grow to love their paintings more and more, and cannot bear to part with them. For reasons of face no one is willing to admit he has made a mistake in a purchase. That's how people get cheated themselves and then they make the next man pay through the nose for the privilege of learning the same lesson. So I think a fair, open and honest auction system is the best way to help newcomers gain experience without risking expensive financial losses in the process.
[Picture Caption]
Ch'en Ch'eng-po was the first painter from Taiwan to have a work chosen for entry in the Japanese Imperial Exhibition, and Pai Hsing-san considers it a source of great pride that he was able to obtain this Imperial Exhibition work of his on loan. The paintings of roses on either side are by Yen Shui-lung (left) and Ku o Po-ch'uan.
"Circulation means life" is the guiding principle under which Pai Hsing-san set up a center for auctions and exchanges at the Heirloom Art Center.
Roses are a favorite subject with many artists. This painting by Li Tze-fan has a charm of its own.
After this nude by Hung Jui-lin was sold for a high price, many other people offered the buyer even higher prices for him to part with it.
"Circulation means life" is the guiding principle under which Pai Hsing-san set up a center for auctions and exchanges at the Heirloom Art Center.
Roses are a favorite subject with many artists. This painting by Li Tze-fan has a charm of its own.
After this nude by Hung Jui-lin was sold for a high price, many other people offered the buyer even higher prices for him to part with it.
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