"Swim against the current"! Why does the international auction market fall in love with China?

The Global Times reported that "an ancient Chinese incense burner sold at 50 times the estimated price!" Germany's "Business Daily" said on the 26th that although the global art industry has been hit by the new crown epidemic, the demand for Chinese art in the international auction market has "gone up against the current": collectors from the United States, Europe and other places are competing for Chinese art.

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In the past year, Nago Auction House in Stuttgart, Germany, has held a number of auctions on the theme of Chinese art, with a turnover rate of more than 80%, and the transaction price is often dozens of times the starting price. For example, a pair of rosewood chairs sold for 305,000 euros, and a bronze statue of a buffalo head sold for as much as 14 million euros... A similar phenomenon occurs at kohler's auction house in Zurich, Switzerland. In addition, a Christie's auction in Paris sold a 16th-century Chinese carpet for 6.9 million euros, and a Chinese Ming Dynasty bowl bought by a buyer from an American courtyard store for $35 sold at Sotheby's for $720,000.

"This is the embodiment of the charm of Chinese art." Petrandall, a cultural scholar in Berlin, Germany, told the Global Times that the international community is increasingly eager to understand Chinese culture, and this boom has recently been concentrated in the auction industry. Many middle- and high-class families in the West and emerging countries prefer to decorate their homes with Chinese artwork as a long-term investment.

In fact, to trace the Europeans' love of Chinese art, we have to start from hundreds of years ago. At that time, some European merchants or missionaries transported Chinese art to Europe, mainly for traditional works of art such as porcelain, bronze statues, jade, ivory carving, lacquerware and so on. In the 1990s, Chinese art began to appear frequently in various Western exhibitions, such as the 1997 Spain "Chinese Five Thousand Years of Civilization Art Exhibition" attracted nearly one million viewers. Major museums also began to collect Chinese art. Nowadays, the variety of Chinese art works in international auctions is becoming more and more abundant, and in addition to traditional works of art, various calligraphy and paintings and contemporary art works are also favored. Most of these works of art come from European and American collectors, and the price is becoming more and more affordable. Many collectors from Africa, South America and other places are also optimistic about Chinese art.

At The Nagao Auction House, a collector from Monaco won for 69,000 euros for 18th-century Chinese printed wallpaper. A number of European collectors told the Global Times that many ancient Chinese artworks not only have a deep historical and cultural heritage, but also have realistic colors in their design and function, such as some ancient Chinese furniture, which is the currently popular minimalist home style. It is worth mentioning that the Chinese fever in the international auction market has also led to the art of other Asian countries, such as Japanese and Korean art, which have also begun to become popular in the international market.

(Original title: "Against the Current"!) Why does the international auction market fall in love with China? Source: Global Times)