In 2022, the world has entered the third year after being affected by the epidemic, and many people have expressed relatively conservative and even pessimistic sentiments about the economies and markets of countries around the world in this year.
However, in terms of the art market, the past 2021 has been a "miracle year" – more than 100,000 works created by more than 30,000 artists have sold, of which contemporary art works have won a total of US$2.7 billion (about 17.1 billion yuan), more than doubling the growth compared with 2020, reaching an unprecedented volume.
Behind this staggering figure, the performance of the Chinese (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, the same below) art market is even more prominent: both Western art works in the Chinese auction market and Chinese artists' works have achieved amazing performances in setting auction records.
This year, the Asian market is becoming the first distributor of contemporary art, and the Chinese market is particularly outstanding, with contemporary works sold in 12 months accounting for 40% of the global volume. What kind of undercurrent is behind this "upward trend" situation? In the eyes of those who are familiar with the art world, what kind of logic does it have?
China Guardian's 2021 "Impressionist and Contemporary Art Night Show" auction site
Important Western works shine in the Chinese auction market
Graffiti artist Basquiat's work is the most eye-catching
In 2020, only 3 Western art works in the Chinese auction market cost more than 100 million yuan, and in 2021, just one year later, a total of 11 Western art works in the Chinese art auction market exceeded 100 million yuan.
In 2013, Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin photographed Picasso's painting "Two Children" for 172 million yuan in New York, and in 2014, Wang Zhongjun, the head of Huayi Brothers, photographed Van Gogh's painting Daisies and Poppies for 377 million yuan, which became two iconic moments for Chinese collectors to buy Western art.
In less than 10 years, Western artworks in the Chinese market have not only been fully rolled out, but also the list of artists has become more diversified, and the results of "breaking 100 million" have been achieved more quickly.
On the evening of May 20, 2021, the German pop art master Gerhard Richter's 1968 work "Column Column" (Seven Links) sold for 80.5 million yuan in China Guardian, writing a prelude to the Chinese autumn auction of Western art.
On the evening of November 28, 2021, China Guardian launched the "Impressionist and Modern Art Night Show" for the first time, and the French Impressionist master Monet's "Water Lily Pond and Rose" (see picture below) created in 1913 sold for 154.1 million yuan, becoming the first 100 million yuan work of Western art auctioned in China.
Just 5 days later, Western artworks in China once again set a record of more than 100 million yuan - on the evening of December 3, the last complete oil painting of the French figurative oil painting master Baltis, "Cat in the Mirror III.", was competed for by 15 buyers from all over the world for more than half an hour at the Yongle 2021 Autumn Auction "International Vision - Global Modern and Contemporary Art Night Show", and finally sold for nearly 167 million yuan, which not only set a new record for the artist's public auction, but also created the highest price of Western art in China.
Baltis, Cat in the Mirror III
In 2021, there was also a Western artist whose work was extremely eye-catching in the Chinese auction market – the black graffiti artist Jean Michel Basquiat, who died young. His 1982 work The Warrior sold for HK$323.6 million, setting a new record for auction prices for Western artworks throughout Asia.
Keen international auction houses quickly followed to bring more Basquiat's works to the Chinese auction market – at the end of May 2021, Sotheby's announced that it would cooperate with Jay Chou to curate across the border, and all the works in the preview were 100% sold at the evening auction the following month, of which the leading blockbuster work was Basquiat's "Untitled", which sold for HK$289 million.
Basquiat's Untitled in 1985
According to statistics, in 2021, there were 5 works of Basquiat with more than 100 million yuan in the Chinese auction market, and the total transaction amount was about 1 billion yuan.
Not to be outdone, Christie's, launched the Basquiat exhibition with the theme of "Radiance" in November 2021, which was the pinnacle of 11 artists' creations in the 1980s, making it the largest exhibition of Basquiat works in China to date. In March, Christie's will also auction a major work by Basquiat, The Leader, in Shanghai.
The nationality of artists shows the dynamism of countries in the auction market
Chinese and American artists account for most of the global art auction market
While Western art masters have performed prominently in the Chinese auction market, in 2021, Asian artists, including Chinese artists, have also submitted a dazzling report card in the global auction market - in the list of the top 500 contemporary artists in the world in 2021 released by artprice platform, 19 of the top 50 are from Asia, and there are many young artists in the post-70s and post-80s, showing a strong situation of "green and yellow".
At the top of the list is artist Chen Danqing's early masterpiece "Tibetan Group Paintings and Shepherds", which sold for 161 million yuan in June 2021, alongside Zeng Fanzhi's large oil painting "Mask Series 1996NO.6", which sold at the same price in 2020, becoming one of the highest prices auctioned for chinese contemporary art.
Chen Danqing, "Tibetan Group Paintings: Shepherds"
The painting put Chen Danqing in the top 3 global auction records for contemporary artists in 2021, behind the above-mentioned Basquiat and the digital artist Beeple, known for his NFT works.
Chen Danqing was followed by the famous contemporary artist Zhang Xiaogang's museum-level work "Bloodline: Big Family No. 12", which sold for 81.19 million yuan at the Yongle Spring Auction in 2021, setting his second highest price. The work was sold for 38.18 million yuan at the Auction of Kuangshi in Beijing in 2016, and after a gap of five years, the collector sold it again, and the price more than doubled.
It is worth noting that the nationality of artists can also show the vitality of countries in the auction market from one point of view. In 2021, artists in the United States and China will account for most of the total annual turnover.
Among the top 15 contemporary artists in the asian region with the total auction turnover, Chinese artists overwhelmingly occupy most of the seats (12), while the remaining three artists are from Japan, namely the long-established Nara Yoshitomo and Takashi Murakami, and the post-80s female artist Hexagonal Caizi, who has attracted much attention in recent years, and is widely regarded by the art world as the next Nara Yoshitomo.
Currently in the spotlight in China's contemporary art scene is the post-70s artist Huang Yuxing, whose "Seven Treasures Songtu" sold for 53.225 million yuan at Christie's Hong Kong autumn auction last year, a high price that has boosted his personal auction record by nearly six times overnight.
Huang Yuxing's Seven-League Painting "QibaoSongTu"
It is reported that since Huang Yuxing's works began to enter the auction market in 2006, the price in previous years only hovered around 100,000 yuan, until after setting the first million record in 2016, it began to rise sharply from 2018, and only two years later broke through the threshold of tens of millions. However, the rising stars are certainly eye-catching, but from the perspective of turnover, the post-50s and post-60s artists in the market still firmly occupy an absolute advantage.
A younger generation of collectors is on the rise
The Asia-Pacific region accounts for about 40% of the world's total
Behind these dazzling figures and staggering prices, what new trends in the current world art auction market are reflected?
The rise of the younger generation of collectors has become a group that cannot be ignored. In addition to the strategic advancement of auction houses, the iteration of the collector group is also a reason why the works of Western masters such as Monet and Baltis have been highly sought after when they first appeared in Chinese auctions.
According to industry insiders, the Asian collector group is roughly divided into two categories, one is the first generation of rich people, and the other is the young group. Most of these young collectors have well-off families, most of them have overseas study backgrounds, their knowledge structure and vision are more international, and their choice of artworks is more accurate. This is something that most of the older generation of collectors whose careers are creating wealth does not have.
At the same time, with the rapid growth of the younger generation, these two types of collectors are merging, such as parents collecting Impressionism, children collecting trend art, and the two tastes coexisting in one family.
According to data previously released by Christie's, 39% of the buyers in the auction in the first half of 2021 were from the Asia-Pacific region. When Christie's announced its global 2021 results not long ago, Yang Yuancao, chairman of Christie's China, also specifically mentioned collectors from Chinese mainland: "In the second half of the year, the total purchase volume of Chinese mainland customers surpassed that of Hong Kong, becoming the largest collector in the Asia-Pacific region. ”
German artist Gerhard Richter's Column of Columns (Seven Leagues)
Under the epidemic, some of the funds are confused
You can never go wrong buying a work written into art history
Li Yanfeng, general manager of China Guardian's 20th Century and Contemporary Art Department, told Red Star News that a major feature of the art auction market in 2021 is that "the explosive power of fine products is very strong" is very strong. The fine works he refers to are important works that have been clearly positioned and repeatedly demonstrated by art history, "The scarcity and importance of these lots are the most fundamental reasons for their high prices." These products are rare, and once released, market feedback has always been very positive. ”
In addition, Li Yanfeng also mentioned that in the global market affected by the epidemic environment, the direction of some funds will be more confused, so collecting good works of art is obviously a good choice. "In addition to the collection value, the really good works of art also have a certain asset allocation function, because its value is always stable."
However, he also pointed out that the investment in the collection of works of art is always a relatively niche behavior, so it is less affected by the economic background of the general environment, and the correlation with the epidemic is actually very weak. "The change of generations, the change of collectors, the increasing internationalization of the knowledge structure of the collection group, and so on, are destined to accumulate one day and usher in the current prosperity, which can be said to be the inevitable result of the water."
As a senior expert in the art auction industry, Li Yanfeng is also full of confidence in the positive impact of young collectors on the ecology of the art market, "From the perspective of collection orientation, it is very conducive to the expansion of the scale of modern and contemporary art plates." ”
Japanese contemporary art upstart Hexagonal Saeko's work "Sister"
Lu Peng, director of the Academic Committee of the 2021 Chengdu Biennale and a well-known art curator, believes that the birth of the 2021 "Year of Miracles" is mostly accidental. "It is the result of all kinds of desires and impulses, because there is nothing else to play (investment projects)". However, this statement also confirms the current situation of "the direction of funds is confused" mentioned by Li Yanfeng.
"Of course, this impulse and desire is worth affirming." Lü Peng added, "It is a good desire, a good impulse, which has more humanistic value than an investment activity that is simply to preserve and increase value, and is also an important support for good art and artists." ”
At the same time, as a well-known art historian, Lü Peng also fully agrees with the statement that "it is never wrong to buy works written into art history". "Art history is always the most important reference. The fact that the price of a work can be hyped up is never inextricably linked to art history. So far, as long as it is an important work written into the history of art, from the time it was created to this day, it has appeared on the auction floor at any time, and its value is stable. ”
Red Star News reporter | Qiao Xueyang
Edited | Duan Xueying
(Download Red Star News, there are prizes for the newspaper!) ）