In recent years, China's rich have been relatively active in collecting art, and from the perspective of social influence, when it comes to investing in art, like stocks and bonds, art can appreciate in value. It can achieve a cultural identity for high-net-worth individuals faster. From an investment perspective, buying art is a means of asset allocation. The scarcity and non-renewability of artworks make them have a high value preservation and appreciation function. The considerable benefits, elegance and unique charm of collecting art are increasingly favored by the super-rich. Therefore, this kind of group of people invest in art collection, usually not only individual behavior, but also corporate and team behavior.
Part.1
Chinese contemporary artists are in the spotlight
Chinese contemporary artists are increasingly becoming the focus of global attention, which reflects the strong rise of China's contemporary art market. The global art market in 2021 is one of the best years in history. With total art turnover exceeding $17 billion worldwide, up 60% year-over-year, art sales were hit hard by the first wave of the pandemic and the quarantine measures that followed. Auctions were particularly tough: in 2020, auctions fell by 10 percent, total lots fell by about 10 percent, and global turnover fell by 21 percent. However, the crisis has also accelerated the digital transformation of the art market, prompting auction houses to adjust their structure and the quality of their lots. Through these surveys, it was found that the art collected by collectors after bidding has greatly laid another window for these contemporary artists to enter the market in the future, and many works by Chinese contemporary artists have become a new trend of art investment.
Auctions have led to the success of digital transformation
According to the study, the boom in the art market last year was also reflected in the firm price level and the record number of transactions. Enthusiastic bidders took a total of 664,000 lots, almost a third more than last year, and a 161 percent increase from 20 years ago. The digital transformation of auctions has accelerated due to the pandemic and has become a fundamental driving force for transaction growth: auctions have achieved complete globalization by displaying lots online, thus gaining new fans.
Trends in china's total global turnover with the West
The Chinese art market is constantly surprised. Contrary to Western markets, the Chinese market showed a contrarian upward trend (slight increase of 2%) in the previous year, although the number of transactions plummeted by 40% due to the epidemic. Wealthy Chinese buyers, who have been little affected by the epidemic, set several heavyweight classical and modern sales records in the second half of 2020. This year was an easier year of growth, with turnover up 43% to $5.9 billion, successfully surpassing the U.S. ($5.7 billion), albeit with fewer volumes.
Part. 2
Appreciation of artworks in 2021
According to the data, in some of the value-added situation in 2021, Liu Ye is led by contemporary artists, and his works have become the most highly value-added works of art last year. Hong Kong, China, witnessed the brightest appreciation of art of the year. Works from Chinese artists Zhang Daqian and Liu Ye, as well as American artist Basquiat.
Part. 3
Oil paintings are highly collectible
In recent years, with the recovery of China's art market and the deepening of the attention of the oil painting sector, from the perspective of art investment, oil painting is the most accepted creative medium in contemporary art, and it is also a work of art with high investment and collection value. It has become the reason why high-net-worth people have competed with gallery institutions in the auction world in recent years. Contemporary artists create a variety of genres, such as oil paintings, sculptures, prints, watercolors, and mixed materials, but the main contribution to turnover still comes from oil paintings. The proportion of Chinese contemporary artists' TOP10 oil paintings in the total turnover is more than 80%, and oil paintings also have significant advantages in the transaction volume. It can be seen that under the premise of the continuous expansion of the scale of the contemporary art market, oil painting is expected to replace calligraphy and painting as a new vane in the Chinese art market.
Cui Ruzhuo's "Autumn Mountain Smoke" Ink on Paper 368×142, 2017
Chinese painter Cui Ruzhuo once again topped the Hurun Chinese Art List with a total turnover of 780 million yuan, and Cui Ruzhuo has won the top spot for seven consecutive years. His 2017 work "Autumn Mountain Smoke" became the highest-priced work of a living artist last year, and was auctioned by Yongle Auction for 190 million yuan. Cui Ruzhuo's total turnover in 2020 increased significantly compared with the previous year, an increase of 440 million yuan, an increase of 132%, higher than the second place turnover of 510 million yuan. HuRun said: "Cui Ruzhuo's total turnover in the public auction market in the past seven years has reached a total of 5.11 billion yuan, which is four times that of the second place Zeng Fanzhi. ”
Zeng Fanzhi's "Mask Series 1996 NO.6" oil painting is 179.3 cm per piece × 199× overall 199×358 .6cm 1996
As a price myth in the Chinese contemporary art market, Zeng Fanzhi is the first Chinese contemporary artist to break through 100 million. Zeng Fanzhi's turnover reached 270 million yuan, ranking second, up five places from last year, and once again entered the top two of the list after two years. His "Mask Series 1996 NO.6" was the fourth most expensive work of a living artist last year, and was auctioned by Yongle Auction for 160 million yuan. Zeng Fanzhi has been shortlisted for the Hurun Chinese Art List for 14 consecutive years, and in 2014, he was at the top of the list. Hurun said: "In the fourteen years since the establishment of our art list, Zeng Fanzhi is the only artist who has never left the top ten of the list, which also shows the recognition of his value by collectors. ”
Zhou Chunya", oil painting "Spring is Coming", 163×186.5 cm, 1984
Oil painter Zhou Chunya ranked third with a turnover of 260 million yuan, up one place from last year, and returned to the top three of the list after a year, with its total turnover in 2020 increasing by 55% over the previous year. Half of his total turnover came from two of the most expensive works: "Spring is Coming" for 86.25 million yuan by China Guardian and "Mountains and Stones and Smoke Clouds" for 43.7 million yuan. Zhou Chunya has been shortlisted for the Hurun Chinese Art List for 14 consecutive years, and in 2013 it was at the top of the list. The main medium of Zhou Chunya's works is oil painting, and 96% of the turnover and 75% of the turnover are contributed by oil painting. Sculpture still has an indispensable importance in Zhou Chunya's artistic career, although it accounts for a small proportion, accounting for only 3% of the turnover and 13% of the turnover, but it enriches the types of his works in the market. It is also worth noting that the volume of Zhou Chunya's works is the highest among the artists on the list, 2-3 times that of other artists.
Liu Ye, "Let Me Stay in the Dark", acrylic canvas, 219.7 x 299.7 cm, 2008
Oil painter Liu Ye's turnover fell 35% from the previous year to 210 million yuan, ranking two places lower than last year to fourth. Liu Ye has been shortlisted for the Hurun Chinese Art List for 14 consecutive years. His 2008 film "Let Me Stay in the Dark" was auctioned by Sotheby's Hong Kong for $40.99 million last year, and his 2001 work "Mondrian in London" was auctioned by Christie's Hong Kong for $20.72 million last year. Although Liu Ye's turnover has a downward trend, his works still have a high value-added value in the market, behind which is the attention of Western capital in the past two years, which has become the main reason for the soaring price of Liu Ye's works in the market.
Zhang Xiaogang's "Bloodline - Big Family No. 2", oil painting 180 x 230 cm, 1996
Oil painter Zhang Xiaogang's turnover increased by 108% over last year to 190 million yuan, rising three places to fifth. Zhang Xiaogang has been shortlisted for the Hurun Chinese Art List for 14 consecutive years, and in 2009 he was at the top of the list, and this year is the first time Zhang Xiaogang has returned to the top five since 2009. Zhang Xiaogang's 1995 "Bloodlines – Big Family No. 2" was auctioned by Christie's Hong Kong for $83.53 million last year.
Liu Xiaodong's "Battlefield Sketching - New Eighteen Arhats" Oil Painting 200×100cm×18 2004
As the most representative artist of the "new generation", Liu Xiaodong is unique in the field of Chinese oil painting. Liu Xiaodong uses real brushstrokes to expose the common consciousness of small and medium-sized groups of people in the big era, he pays attention to the essence of life with realistic expression methods, reveals the "city culture" of Chinese society with conceptual descriptions, closely connects the truth of individuals with the absurdity of the times, and gives the characters a distinct mark of the times. After the baptism of market depth adjustment since 2008, Liu Xiaodong has become a remnant of the "famous shuffling" effect, and the market performance of his oil paintings has hit high prices in recent years, restoring the momentum of continuous upward movement. In the 2020 Yongle global premiere, his "Battlefield Sketch - New Eighteen Arhats" was collected by an important private art museum for 80.5 million yuan, setting a personal auction record again after 6 years.
In the past two years, the art world is facing unprecedented changes, in the face of a changing era, how collectors can improve their professional knowledge and ability to control the market at any time, is our urgent concern, according to the "2021 Hurun Zhishang Premium - China's Multi-Millionaire Brand Tendency Report", 70% of the surveyed Chinese high-net-worth people have collection habits, and the enthusiasm for collecting has increased by 42% compared with last year. This huge market means that it is believed that in the near future, China will become one of the largest art markets in the world. On the road to collecting art, collectors can aim at their own positioning, understand the goals and strength of their own collection investment, maintain a clear mind, choose carefully, and find the right time, so as to harvest a good collection investment effect. Not only that, if you can support your own optimistic artists and witness the changes in their creative practices, I believe that this collection is not only a physical object, but also a collection of these histories and stories.
Source: Global Art Market Information Network, Art Market Newsletter
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