The gallery is the foundation of the sustainable and healthy development of the art market, it is not only a place for art trading, but also undertakes the function of discovering, cultivating and promoting the market for young artists, and promotes the public aesthetic education with rich artistic activities. Beijing has always been a bellwether for China's gallery industry, with the largest number, highest quality and most actively traded contemporary art galleries in the mainland. Not only have they participated in building Beijing's thriving art market, but they have also led and promoted contemporary art creation, innovation and collection across the country.
From a courtyard of tens of square meters, to an international gallery of nearly 1,000 square meters; from excellent paintings that no one cares about, to opening up domestic and international markets... In the baptism of wind and rain in the past thirty years, a group of pioneers have personally experienced and witnessed the development of Chinese contemporary art. Recently, the reporter interviewed a number of senior practitioners of the gallery, and their stories are also the epitome of countless strivers under the magnificent era.
The number of on-site visitors to Beijing 2021 Week reached an all-time high
It starts between "grass recklessness"
The hotel lobby and courtyard were born
Because Li Jianguang helped sell a lot of works, the artists encouraged him to hold an exhibition, so he tried to do an exhibition in the first phase of the International Trade Center where foreigners gathered. "After doing two or three exhibitions, I think if there is a fixed business place, it will be more convenient for people to come to see my paintings." In 1991, he established the "Century Art Garden" on the first floor of the Jinglun Hotel next to guomao, which is also one of the earliest professional galleries in China to operate and promote Chinese contemporary oil painting art.
After running a gallery at the Jinglun Hotel for a year, Li Jianguang felt dissatisfied and began to look for a more ideal space. "After all, it is in the hotel, the space is limited, and it does not have good conditions for holding exhibitions." Moreover, his favorite oil paintings are incompatible with the hotel environment full of gift paintings. Soon he found the best gallery habitat in Ritan Park, the quaint costume hall complemented the artworks in it, and the "Century Art Garden" became an important contemporary art gathering place in China.
In 2001, the interior view of the courtyard at No. 35 Dongtangzi Hutong in Dongcheng District, which was the predecessor of Cheng Xindong International Contemporary Art Space. (Courtesy of Cheng Xindong)
Also in the early 1990s, Cheng Xindong, a young man who studied in France, accidentally entered the French gallery and began to enter the mainstream circle of international contemporary art and understand the model of international galleries. "The French contemporary art market has a mature industry, compared to China's sporadic exploration." He did not immediately set up his own gallery, but through a large number of international curatorial activities, on the one hand, he brought works of international masters to China, and on the other hand, pushed Chinese artists to a larger international stage.
After about ten years of accumulation and precipitation in the international gallery, Cheng Xindong set up a studio in the courtyard of No. 35 Dongtangzi Hutong in Dongcheng District, which is also the predecessor of Cheng Xindong International Contemporary Art Space. This studio was in Cheng Xindong's home at that time, only more than 60 square meters. "At that time, galleries in Beijing were in the early stages, there was no professional art space, and the venues for exhibitions were often in hotel lobbies, concert hall lobbies and even basements." In one "grassy land", the prototype of the gallery is gradually being nurtured.
Feel the stones to cross the river
"We didn't sell a single painting at the time"
The operation of a gallery, only the ideal support is far from enough, Lin Song has a deep understanding of this. In 1993, Lin Song graduated from the Art History Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and found a job at the Beijing Art Museum. This job is more about traditional art and cultural relics, but Lin Song prefers contemporary art, "During that time, I have not left the contemporary art circle and participated in many exhibition activities. Soon, he decided to quit this "iron rice bowl" and pursue his contemporary art dream.
Lin Song's first entrepreneurial attempt was the Beijing Hanmo Art Center, an old-fashioned building in Wangfujing, just a street away from the then Central Academy of Fine Arts. This is also the prototype of Lin Song's later establishment of century Hanmo Gallery. Looking back on the original process, Lin Song said that the Hanmo Art Center is an ideal utopia, an experimental castle in the air. "It didn't have any commercial color, we didn't sell a single painting at the time, and we didn't know who we sold it to." Once, a foreign museum director came to visit and said that he wanted to collect a painting by artist Chen Wenji, "We have no concept of market price, and finally blindly quoted the price of seven or eight thousand US dollars, which scared people away." ”
Because there is not enough economic support and a sound business model, Hanmo Art Center has only existed for more than a year. However, at this stage, Hanmo Art Center held many influential artistic activities, such as the exhibition of Xu Bing and Zhao Bandi. "The Hanmo Art Center represents our ideal, where a large number of artists have come together and we have forged deep friendships. Its fate made me realize that the development of an art institution is inseparable from the material foundation, and only by forming a virtuous business cycle can it develop and grow, and can it better promote the development of Chinese contemporary art. ”
In 1992, the "Century Art Garden" Gallery, the predecessor of Can Art Center, was built in Ritan Park with the interior of the Costume Hall. It was an important gathering place for contemporary art in China at that time. (Courtesy of Can Art Center)
In 1997, Lin Song officially founded century Hanmo Gallery, one of the earliest galleries in China. The gallery adheres to the academic, contemporary and professional nature, and is the first gallery in mainland China to implement the contract agency system in accordance with international practices. "This was groundbreaking in the gallery world, and many of the gallery agency contracts that have since taken into account our experience. Galleries are no longer just shops that display and sell works, but have long-term cooperation and growth with artists. ”
Originally, Lin Song only wanted to cover the cost of each month, and could insist on opening, but he did not think that the business of the gallery was getting better and better, and every month was profitable. "The gallery started at 150 square meters and later became more than 200 square meters. By the late 1990s, my monthly sales reached 10,000 or 20,000 yuan, about the same as foreign executives. The gallery successfully launched famous young oil painters such as Xia Junna, Ji Dachun, Yan Bo, Zhang Jian, etc., and was praised by the industry as "the dream factory of young artists". In Lin Song's view, the Chinese gallery industry at that time was slowly growing and preparing for development.
Perseverance in the cold night
The hardest period is to "feed" the gallery with a side hustle
Throughout the 1990s, Li Jianguang's Century Art Garden was one of the most influential galleries in Beijing. Li Jianguang has collaborated with top academy artists such as Jin Shangyi, Yang Feiyun, and Liu Xiaodong to curate and hold many exhibitions that have been widely praised academically. However, the domestic art market at that time was too small after all, good works were often unpopular, Li Jianguang was unwilling to sell his favorite works at low prices, and he was also forced by reality to be helpless. "At that time, it was not unusual not to open for three months, I saw some particularly excellent works, and I had the desire to collect, sometimes even maintaining business is a very difficult thing, what about collecting?" 」
At that time, many gallerists gradually withdrew, but Li Jianguang insisted. At the end of the 1990s, Li Jianguang opened up a way of life for ancient furniture business, and originally wanted to supplement the gallery, but fortunately caught up with the golden age of the ancient furniture market and survived the trough of the Chinese contemporary art market through "walking on two legs". Until 2006, with Zhang Xiaogang's "Blood Series" sold at Sotheby's in New York for nearly one million US dollars, the Chinese contemporary art market ushered in an unprecedented outbreak, and Li Jianguang stopped operating ancient furniture and continued to focus on the development of galleries.
The Hive Center for Contemporary Art, located in the 798 Art District, maintains an active art exhibition today. (Courtesy of The Hive Center for Contemporary Art)
In 2007, Li Jianguang's gallery moved into the 798 Art District and renamed it "Can Art". Can means "I can" in English, and Chinese transliterated as "can", meaning brilliant. The "can art", which originally favored the academic school of figurative oil painting, embraced the pluralistic works of art with a more open attitude, but still emphasized that the works must be ideological and ornamental. The following year, the financial crisis ruthlessly shattered the market bubble, and collectors refocused on realistic paintings that had been snubbed. With his deep accumulation in the field of realistic works, Li Jianguang's gallery has gone up against the current. "The ups and downs of the market, the gallery must not ignore the academic, blindly cater to the market, this is my attitude has always been, but also must adhere to the bottom line."
In the first decade of the 21st century, the Chinese gallery industry reached its peak with the popularity of the Chinese art market, and at the same time, international galleries also entered China, causing a huge impact on local galleries. In 2008, Pace Gallery, an international veteran gallery, opened in Beijing's 798 Art District, which caused a sensation in the entire art circle. Lin Song once felt confused, "Whether it is from the brand, capital, or the promotion and operation of artists, it is difficult for you to compete with the old foreign galleries." Chinese galleries must find a path that suits their own survival and development. Century Hanmo Gallery closed the physical space, but the collaborative project continued.
Around 2012, the art market entered a correction cycle, and in the market change, some people chose to quit, but the summer wind officially transformed the non-profit Iberian Center for Contemporary Art into a commercial gallery. The institution was renamed the Hive Center for Contemporary Art and became one of the largest galleries in the 798 campus. "At that time, the art market as a whole was in a downturn, but I believed that China's economic prospects were good, and the art market was huge, and the difficulties were temporary." With "Oriental Aesthetics" as the core, the Hive Center for Contemporary Art continues to discover new stars of artists, and holds dozens of academic exhibitions every year, which has achieved steady development.
Interior view of Cheng Xindong International Contemporary Art Space in 2010 (Courtesy of Cheng Xindong)
Walk through the ups and downs of the market
Beijing's gallery industry leads the country
In 2011, with the review and approval of the former Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture, the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau officially approved the registration, and the Beijing Gallery Association was formally established, which is also the largest and most influential gallery industry association in China. The association has built a bridge between industry and government, industry and the world, creating a platform for condensing the power of galleries, enhancing the image of galleries, and establishing norms for galleries. The following year, the first Beijing Gallery Week, sponsored by the Beijing Gallery Association, opened, and dozens of art exhibitions spread across the city's art centers in just a few days, injecting a strong artistic atmosphere into the city of Beijing.
Cheng Xindong served as the founding president of the Beijing Gallery Association. Over the past three decades, as China's first-generation art dealer, first-generation gallerist, and international curator, he has witnessed the flourishing development of Chinese contemporary art. "Internationally, Chinese contemporary art has become an important force in the field of world art. Chinese galleries have made a leap from scratch, from reckless and non-professional to international standards. Beijing galleries are second to none in the country in terms of industry scale, vitality and influence. ”
Cheng Xindong International Contemporary Art Space, which started from the courtyard, has opened three spaces in Beijing and later merged into a super space of more than 800 square meters in the 798 Art District. It leads the international public to discover and appreciate new contemporary art from China, and also expands the public's appreciation of international art in China. The Honeycomb Contemporary Art Center, which is headed by the summer wind, is exploring the expansion into an international gallery, "We plan to set up branches in important cities in China after the epidemic is effectively controlled globally, and may also expand the pace of development abroad." ”
In the past two years, the sudden new crown epidemic has not interrupted the pace of the gallery industry, according to the "2020 Beijing Gallery Report" released by ArtPro and the Beijing Gallery Association, due to cost and epidemic reasons, the scale and number of exhibitions held by galleries in the past two years have declined sharply, but due to the results of controlling the epidemic in Beijing, the number and scale of gallery exhibitions are relatively stable and growing, and 60% of galleries have achieved profitability that year.
"In the past two or three years, the development of China's gallery industry has been positive, the local market has grown rapidly, and the largest collection and consumer markets are currently from China," Lin Song said. Li Jianguang also believes that with the development of the economy, the improvement of people's quality of life and the improvement of aesthetic taste, art has become an indispensable part of people's lives, and he is confident that Can Art can be opened for at least another thirty years, "In the future, Chinese contemporary art will definitely get better and better."