"There is only one handle in Causeway Bay, and that is me Chen Haonan." This line of "Ancient Puzzle Boy", which symbolizes the highlight moment of Hong Kong films, is the youth memory of the 80s and 90s generation. In reality, Causeway Bay is a prime location in Hong Kong, where there is no shortage of stories day and night to witness the rolling wealth and human ambitions, from the Lee Hysan family who bought Causeway Bay and turned it into a commercial district, to the "King of Causeway Bay" Wu Guangzheng and so on, and so on, and there is a most storied "Causeway Bay Shop King" Liu Luanxiong.
Liu Luanxiong
Liu Luanxiong, the "big Liu" of jianghu, is famous for his huge retail portfolio with prime locations, he is the "stock market sniper" on the commercial battlefield, the "Hong Kong female star harvester" who is in love with the water, and of course, he is also the top big horn in the auction field.
No, the recent sotheby's spring auction will be presented on the "Imperial Garden Treasures - Liu Luanxiong Collection of Imperial Porcelain Treasures" special session, which has aroused great concern in the collection circle. The number of this special session is not much, only eight pieces, but the valuation is more than HK$150 million, and one of the Yongle Blue and White Dragon Pattern Jars is estimated at HK$45 million to HK$65 million. And these are just the tip of the iceberg of all of Da Liu's collections...
Ming Yongle Blue and White Dragon Pattern Jar Height 24.4cm, width 29.8cm Estimate: HK$45 million - HK$65 million
At the age of 28, Liu Luanxiong, who had accumulated a lot of wealth, began to play collecting under the recommendation of the hair stylist, according to Liu Luanxiong: "One week, when I bought 5 Ferraris, my hair stylist said to me: 'Mr. Liu, you have to buy insurance to buy a car, but also depreciation, maintenance, and constantly want to post money, I teach you to buy something, not only good looking, but also maintain value appreciation. "As a result, Liu Luanxiong began to buy Chinese porcelain, then Chinese paintings, and then invested heavily in Western paintings." The stylist slowly told me how to look at the paintings and how to buy them. A painting of the Ming Dynasty, he will tell me a lot of history, at first it was not interested, but slowly there was a lot of interest. ”
Liu Luanxiong, who has gained interest from the collection, is involved in a very wide range of collections, including porcelain, famous paintings, famous wine, furniture, sculptures, jewelry... For him, "as long as there are works that flow out of the market that are good enough and beautiful enough, I want them, so I buy more, collect miscellaneous, and am the most mixed taste among collectors in the world who can buy hundreds of millions of dollars." ”
Andy Warhol "Mao" Liu Luanxiong was auctioned for HK$130 million in 2006
So how much is the value of the collection under its name after decades of accumulation? It is said that some media have asked him directly, "Do you have a collection of 20 billion in your name now?" Liu Luanxiong replied: "Then it depends on whether you are talking about Hong Kong dollars or US dollars here?" If it is a Hong Kong dollar, it must be more than that number. "This is crushed by the billion-level strength of the super-rich, it is really sour...
In 2010, the American magazine Art News named Liu Luanxiong one of the world's top ten art collectors, and to this day, he still ranks at the top of the global rankings, no less than his ranking on the global wealth list.
In 2012, Liu Luanxiong auctioned a silk enamel double crane incense burner for 129.46 million yuan. In the same year, a Northern Song Ru kiln azure glazed sunflower wash fell at a price of HK$208 million, setting a world auction record for the Ru kiln auction and also being auctioned by Liu Luanxiong.
Qing Yongzheng imperial filigree enamel double crane incense burner
Song Ru kiln washing In 2012, Liu Luanxiong bought it for HK$278.6 million
This Ruyao sunflower wash is the only surviving sunflower six-petal basin wash, which was estimated at HK$60 million to HK$80 million at the time, starting from HK$40 million, with a total of 8 buyers participating in the auction, which lasted 15 minutes and 34 bids, and was finally auctioned by Liu Luanxiong by phone for HK$278.6 million, which is a perfect display of financial strength, eyesight and courage.
By 2016, Liu Luanxiong had leapt to the top three global collectors, and the top of the instrument and the top of the painting were all included in his bag.
Splash, which Liu won for £2.9 million in 2006, sold for £23.117 million in February 2020.
Even if it is worth tens of billions, for Liu Luanxiong, playing with collecting is still an investment means worth digging deeply. "When I first bought it, I felt that it didn't matter, as long as the things were good and beautiful, and I was happy to buy them." 30 years ago, a piece of porcelain bought for 1 million to 2 million yuan is now 40 million to 50 million yuan a piece, and buying an office building can not rise so much. ”
For example, in 2003, Liu Luanxiong sent a pair of Tang Sancai pottery horses to Sotheby's in New York, which sold for $1.576 million; 10 years later, this pair of pottery horses appeared again at the auction site, and after fierce bidding for 4.197 million US dollars (about 25.68 million yuan), the price rose by more than 2 million US dollars in ten years, which can be said to be very frightening.
Liu Luanxiong's old Collection of Tang Sancai pottery horses
For example, 15 years ago, Liu Luanxiong bought a famous work by American graffiti painter Jean Michel Basquiat for 1.8 million yuan, and recently a buyer bid 100 million yuan, Liu Luanxiong refused to cut love.
In Liu Luanxiong's view, the return on his investment in various types of art is at least 100 times that of Chinese porcelain, 10 to 20 times of Chinese painting, and 5 times of Western painting, which decreases with the length of investment.
Wu Guanzhong's "Scenery of the Northern Kingdom" 2007 Liu Luanxiong was auctioned for HK$31.68 million
Liu Luanxiong is undoubtedly one of the modern high-net-worth people, last year the Hurun Research Institute released the 2021 China Multi-Millionaire Brand Tendency Report, the report shows that in 2022, 92% of high-net-worth people have collection habits, up 22% from last year, of which China's high-net-worth people love to collect People are mainly concentrated in the economically more developed eastern region, the enthusiasm for collection has risen, and 23% of people will include collection in the consumption type planned to increase in the next three years.
The yield of collection investment is less correlated with the yield of mainstream assets such as stocks, bonds, gold, real estate, etc. For these high-net-worth individuals, investing in art collection can achieve multiple purposes such as spiritual enjoyment, social reputation, family inheritance, and financial returns.
China's art market began to develop rapidly in 2003, and by 2011 it became the world's largest art market, and in less than 10 years, it has completed the leap from an annual auction volume of several billion yuan to hundreds of billions of yuan, thus creating a high return on investment. In 2021, China is the first time to surpass the United States with a turnover of 37.506 billion yuan in the art market, becoming the world's first, these art collections, while changing people's material life grade, but also enhance the taste of people's spiritual life, I believe that in the future, people's consumer demand for collection will be further improved!
Finally, let's take a look at several other lots in This Liu Luanxiong's special auction to see if they can create a miracle in the auction house again...
Ming Xuande Blue and White Passion Lotus Pattern Small Plate "Daming Xuande Annual System" 15.3cm Estimate: HK$1.5 million to HK$2 million
Ming Chenghua Blue and White Double Dragon Catching Pearl Pattern Plate "Daming Chenghua Annual System" 16.3cm Estimate: 20 million - 30 million Hong Kong dollars
Qing Yongzheng Pastel Over-branch Fushou Double Full-grained Large Plate "Great Qing Yongzheng Year System" 51cm Estimate: 18 million -25 million Hong Kong dollars
Ming Hongzhi Yellow Ground Blue Flower Folded Branches And Tree Flower and Fruit Pattern Plate "Daming Hongzhi Annual System" 26.2cm Estimate: HK$3 million-5 million
Ming Yongle Blue and White Dragon Pattern Jar Height 24.4cm, width 29.8cm Estimate: HK$45 million - HK$65 million
Qing Yongzheng Coral red multicolored folded branches floral pattern shallow bowl a pair of "Yongzheng Imperial System" model 11.9cm estimate: 3 million - 5 million Hong Kong dollars
Ming Yongle Sweet white glazed dark flower tangled lotus eight auspicious pattern monk hat pot 19.5cm estimate: 5 million -7 million Hong Kong dollars
Qingqianlong Glazed Red Dragon Lingzhi Gourd Bottle "Great Qing Qianlong Year System" 29.8cm Estimate: 8 million -12 million Hong Kong dollars