Xinyi Guo, Managing Partner of Hauserworth Asia, was the Asia Pacific Director of Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art Department, the Asia Director of Christie's Academy of Fine Arts, and the first Chinese female auctioneer of an international auction house. In 2018, she sold Su Shi's "Wood and Stone Drawings" for HK$463.6 million, setting a record for Christie's asia's highest-priced art auction. She graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of History and Arts degree, followed by a double master's degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Guo Xinyi, a name worth talking about. It has been 13 years since she first lifted the hammer at the South Kensington Auction in London, England. As the first Chinese female auctioneer in an international auction house, she redefined the meaning of women standing on the auction table. Throughout the more than two hundred years of the history of international auction houses, people have admired experience and authority, dominating the auction table by almost all male faces, her appearance has changed this situation, Guo Xinyi and the female auctioneers who follow her steps have brought light and courageous energy to the auction table.
What does it mean for Guo Xinyi to announce in February 2022 that a public personnel appointment announced that Guo Xinyi would move to gallery giant Hauser & Wirth, from an international auction house to a gallery, and reopen her workplace territory? She is keen to visit exhibitions, collect Chang Yu's paintings, read art books for children before going to bed, and believe that everything can talk about art. What are the absolutes in the world of art that she cannot resist? M.C. Interviewed the upcoming Guo Xinyi and listened to her talk about her exploration and curiosity after more than ten years of fighting with art.
Dress HOBBS LONDON
Receiving the call from the headhunter, Guo Xinyi's first thought flashed was, "Why not?" "Throwing an olive branch is the prestigious international gallery Hauser Wirth, a family gallery that started in a small Swiss town with a rapid momentum in the past 30 years, representing many outstanding artists from all over the world, deeply cultivating art in many fields with art as the center, pioneering, pure and even at any cost to broaden the public's perception of the gallery, they fell in love with Guo Xinyi.
This is not a stroke of luck from the sky, but, to be precise, the experience accumulated over the years that ushered in this opportunity. Guo Xinyi couldn't contain her curiosity, thought about it again and again, and decided to take the olive branch. "I've been working at Christie's for 15 years, and every year the spring and autumn beats cycle endlessly. I've never done a primary market or tried to build intimate collaborations with artists, and sometimes I wonder what other art-related work would look like. ”
Her childhood ambition was to become a writer or a teacher. She entered Harvard University at the age of eighteen, and her first course, 19th-century European art history, became her art initiation class. She learned Post-Impressionism from Neoclassical art and received aesthetic training in professional systems. In her spare time, she wanders through many museums in Boston to see paintings, sculptures, and artifacts, and the seeds of art begin to be buried unconsciously. In 2002, when guo Xinyi, a graduate, was faced with a career choice, she, like her peers, threw herself into the coveted Wall Street of Goldman Sachs, working as a securities analyst at Goldman Sachs, researching the fashionable e-commerce, when Amazon and eBay had just emerged. If she follows the trend of her career path, today's story of Guo Xinyi may become the elite story of a financial giant behind the scenes, however, she found her true love after a year and decided to make art a lifelong career. "Going from Harvard to Wall Street, like all young people, wasn't quite sure what they really wanted. Everyone went to Wall Street, and I followed, like a hustle and bustle. I took a moment to make a fuss and found that this was not at all what I wanted to do. ”
So she went to Manhattan,000, the world-famous museum in Manhattan, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and began her first artistic adventure. The museum's nearly 3 million collections silently tell the story of time, and she seems to be immersed in a huge and intricate art box, dazzling and intoxicated. In an interview, Guo Xinyi said, "Art allows me to have a wonderful experience of lifelong learning, and there are always endless new knowledge for me to explore." Those deep and shallow conditions in the past, whether it is entering the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies to continue art studies, or deciding to step into the art circle as an auction performance entrance, whenever guo Xinyi recalls, most of what makes Guo Xinyi happy is related to art. Since then, art has gradually become a measure of her view of the world.
Guo Xinyi used entering Christie's as a turning point in her career, "When I first joined Christie's, I never thought I would be an auctioneer. Becoming an auctioneer was a very fortuitous event, but it had a huge impact on my career, and it boosted my strength and reputation. Entering the third year of Christie's, Guo Xinyi began to receive auctioneer training under the auspices of Christie's International Auctioneer Director Hugh Edmeades, who is known as the "Yoda Master" in the auction world, and regards Guo Xinyi as the most potential auctioneer student, constantly encouraging her to raise the hammer for auction. In the autumn of 2009, Guo Xinyi raised the hammer for the first time at the South Kensington Small Auction in London, and auctioned 40 furniture accessories, becoming the first Chinese female auctioneer to appear on the auction stage.
The first step forward is not easy. Hugh Edmeades has pointed out that the challenge for auctioneer trainees in Asia is that there are not enough opportunities to practice, with only two opportunities a year for spring and autumn auctions, compared with 100 lots a week in London. In the interview, Guo Xinyi made no secret of the resistance encountered when she was a "first person", "At first, the (Hong Kong) company wanted a Chinese face, an auctioneer who could speak fluently Chinese, but it was difficult for me to be an auctioneer in Hong Kong at the beginning. The conventional wisdom is that auctioneers have to practice hard every week in New York or London, and after years of training, they can come to Hong Kong to do large auctions. No one wants a brand new auctioneer to go straight to the stage to do the auction, no one wants to be a white mouse. ”
In those days, she only felt that patience could be a force to break the rules. "Back then, I started with furniture, watches, and red wine a little bit, and then I could slowly shoot art. At first, only a small amount of art can be photographed, and it takes a long time to shoot larger and more important works of art. As an auctioneer, I've been through a relatively long time, and now the new auctioneers will spend less time than I've traveled. ”
Guo Xinyi laughed on the phone, "If I had a word to my 20-year-old self, I would tell myself to be patient at that time." I'll now know better about being patient with everything, that there are a lot of things you don't want to get right away, or maybe the timing isn't the right time. I firmly believe in the saying: life is not a sprint, but a marathon. It's like I didn't become an auctioneer overnight, but the result of time accumulation. So, you have to be patient, do it slowly, learn to find small goals, find small things that make you happy every day, wait for the time that belongs to you, and you will get the success you want. ”
The person who is good at finding freshness talks about her upcoming new job, and it is the art she has loved for many years that has pushed her to a new place. "I joined Christie's for art, and I came to Hauserworth because of art. I appreciate the exhibitions that Hauserworth has done in the past, from the architecture of the gallery space to the exhibitions and publications, all of which show the idea that art and life are closely linked. The gallery represents more than 90 artists and artist assets around the world, including a group of young artists and many female artists, which is very attractive to me. There are some art spaces in Europe and the United States that resemble cultural tourism destinations, and at The Fife Arms, a hotel in Scotland, the United Kingdom, artist Zhang Enli painted an entire ceiling, and the hotel placed many works of art. On the Island of Kings in Porto-Menorca Mahon, Spain, the island explores the possibilities of artistic diversity, such as indoor and outdoor exhibitions, art tourism, education, etc., which are all fascinating to me. The new job has brought me new opportunities, and I look forward to the freshness of these lives and the arrival of small goals. ”
Checkered jacquard shirt SHANGHAI TANG
Brown coat, skirt
The black heels are FENDI
On December 1, 2021, Christie's Hong Kong Autumn Auction "Evening Sale of 20th and 21st Century Art" was in full swing, and Guo Xinyi stood on the auction stage in a silver dress with a jewel-like luster. That night, after Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's oil painting "Pumpkin (LPASG)" set a new world auction record for 62.54 million Hong Kong dollars, the sculpture "Pumpkin" also set a world auction record for the artist's sculpture works for 55.45 million Hong Kong dollars on the same night, as a witness, Guo Xinyi set two auction records for her art idol in the same auction, and afterwards, she wrote a sentence on her social account, "Definitely one of the highlights of my auction career." ”
Another highly notable moment was in 2018, when she auctioned Su Shi's "Wood and Stone Diagram" at Christie's Hong Kong Autumn Auction "Extraordinary Song Dynasty Aesthetics - Millennium" for HK$463.6 million, setting a record for Christie's Asia's highest-priced art auction, which no one has surpassed so far. Hugh Edmeades sees auction as Shakespeare's play, and Guo Xinyi, who is well versed in the art of auction performance, likens it to performance time, "I am often reminded that auction is a performance, and there needs to be a little dramatic performance for everyone to see." 」 ”
Guo Xinyi clearly remembers the auction of Su Shi's "Wooden Stone Diagram", before the auction, she had many trainings with two senior auctioneers who flew to Hong Kong from Christie's headquarters. "That auction had 21 pieces in its entire collection. In order to know exactly what to say before the auction, I rehearsed with experts in advance, and we needed to practice each piece from start to finish. When I was practicing, I found that in the past, I didn't shoot hundreds of millions of collections so often, most of them shot eight or nine million. At that time, I had to shout from more than 300 million at the beginning, thinking about how to finish the price of hundreds of millions of dollars in English, and then quickly complete the conversion with Chinese. Later, I practiced 300 million, 320 million, and 350 million, and practiced it in one mouth. "There's a detail that she's impressed with," they said, and when you got to the last lot, you called the hammer price, you lifted the auction mallet, stopped in the air, stayed in the air for 10 seconds, and gave everyone a chance to take pictures. When everyone is finished shooting, then knock the auction hammer down, when you knock it down, you have to be calm, pose, wait for 10 seconds, let everyone continue to take pictures. On that day, Guo Xinyi came on the scene, and in the auction hall filled with more than 400 people, which lasted for 5 minutes, he pushed the "Wooden Stone Diagram" to a sky-high price of 410 million hammers.
As you can see, the auctioneer stands on the auction table, seemingly everything in the clouds, but there is actually a careful design behind it. From gestures to sounds, from eyes to clothing, each has its own exquisiteness. On the auction stage, use the entire space of the auction table as much as possible, using your hands, not just one hand; in order to make the voice sound not like an inexperienced little girl, use the dantian to make the sound, in order to create a mellow, calm and majestic voice. In the past, Guo Xinyi had her own vocal coach and received training in sound from time to time; the costumes that appeared on the auction stage needed to carefully think about what was photogenic and beautiful, not too exposed, fancy, not too rigid, dull, nor could there be squares and lines affecting the elements of the photogenic. Every year, she reviews her auctions, such as the posture of standing on the auction table, how to accurately and dramatically introduce the next lot, attracting the attention of the audience.
Guo Xinyi cares about eye contact, generally in the auction competition bureau to the end of the only two competitors, how to make the bidder who was originally ready to give up bid again? She put her experience and thought out, "You don't 'let go' of the person who called the price before." If the bidder is on the scene, use your eyes to reach out to him, sometimes without having to say much. When the audience is silent, there is a pair of eyes staring at him, he will subconsciously want to take action, and may raise the card more. So, before you drop the hammer, don't look at the last buyer, but at the second highest price or the person who called the price at the beginning, because many of them will come back and ask for another price. If the bidders are not on the scene, even if they only do the phone label, they will actually look at the Internet at the same time, and I will look directly at the camera. ”
In Guo Xinyi's cognition, the auctioneer plays the role of directing the atmosphere of a room, and must know how to master the timing and rhythm. "You have to be able to think quickly, to be able to direct yourself to the atmosphere of a room, and there's a lot of thinking that depends on you being able to read the atmosphere of the whole space. You know how to control the rhythm and know what the auction is going to be fast. "For example, when you encounter a stream auction, you must also have the courage to kill and decide," an auctioneer's most professional moment is when an auction has four or five lots in a continuous stream, you can also maintain the atmosphere and maintain the rhythm that should be there. When you first became an auctioneer, you would not want to let things flow, and you would always shout: Is there a higher bid? Slowly dragging will lose your speed, and you have to deal with it with confidence and determination. A good auction, a good atmosphere, that's what all auctioneers can do. If you don't shoot well, you can still maintain a good atmosphere, which is a good auctioneer. ”
The distance from a good auctioneer to a great auctioneer is the word practice, Guo Xinyi said, only by constantly practicing and accumulating quantity can we achieve qualitative change. "You have to practice in different scenarios, in different situations. Before the epidemic, we often went to different cities for auctions, and the auction atmosphere in cities would be different. I've photographed London and New York, hong Kong and Shanghai. The scene was full of people's auctions, I have photographed; almost no one, only the Internet, telephone and camera auctions, I have also shot; only Chinese auctions, I have shot; only foreign language auctions, I have also tried. When the training reaches a certain level, you are used to adapting to different occasions, so that you can adapt to no matter which situation you are in. ”
Thirteen years after her first appearance on stage, Guo Xinyi has held more than a thousand auctions with a hammer, and she still retains the nervousness of newcomers on stage. "I don't like standing in front of a lot of people and talking. It's nerve-wracking every time you go on stage, even after so many auctions. I am most afraid of charity auctions, and at the beginning of each charity auction, everyone always chats and auctions between the main course and dessert. I would have no appetite for nervousness, but the auction required physical strength and had to eat something. Haha, one of the important things I've learned now is that it's normal to be nervous. There is no way to stop yourself from being nervous, you have to accept your tension, to face your tension. Nervous, it doesn't matter, it's not a problem, just play with such a mentality! ”
"Everything can talk about art", this is Guo Xinyi's tag left on social networks. Two years ago, Guo Xinyi, who was affected by the epidemic, began to choose to appear on social networks to share the daily life of art. She talks about the artists she likes, takes everyone around the exhibitions, and does not forget to share newly purchased art derivatives, and young people who are interested in art often throw out many questions in the comment area, and she always takes time to answer patiently as much as possible. Chen Liangling, a colleague who was recruited by Guo Xinyi to Christie's Hong Kong and became an auctioneer at her pace, commented on her, "Guo Xinyi has opened up the path for Asian women to take on the role of auctioneer, and she is very enthusiastic about promoting her descendants. It is precisely because she has become a model that we, the later auctioneers, have appeared for generations, and I think she is a beacon of existence."
To this day, Guo Xinyi still exudes the power of role models, she said, "When I started working, my parents didn't think that art was a lifelong profession. Some time ago, my eldest daughter handed me a letter from her sister, an eleven- or twelve-year-old girl, in which she said that her dream was to become an auctioneer. I often get messages on social networks where many young people tell me: You are my target, you make me very interested in the art industry. It is happy for me to be able to bring more young people to have dreams, to be enlightened, to make a difference. When young people are interested in auctions, they will be eager to understand the art world, and slowly they will understand that in addition to auctions, there are many different jobs, galleries, art galleries, art institutions or art magazines, etc., so that more people can understand and explore this industry, I have a sense of accomplishment. ”
As she spoke, she laughed, "Are you asking me if I have age anxiety?" I want to tell you that I definitely prefer my current self. Compared with the 20-year-old me, how anxious I was at that time, I didn't know what I would do when I grew up, and I didn't know if I could start a family? Now that everything is on track, I have become more confident, and confidence is also brought about by the experience of life. If you step into the art industry, you will understand that your white hair is more attractive than the face of youth. ”
Dress HOBBS LONDON
M.C.: Moving from an auction house to a gallery, what's new that will keep you curious to continue exploring?
Guo Xinyi: Working in an auction house, the collector is the collector, because it is necessary to collect art from the collector, receive the lot, and then sell it to other collectors. If I'm in a gallery, I need to build an intimate relationship with the artist, choose good artists, persuade the artists to join the gallery, manage the artist's entire career, help them develop, so that the artists can focus on doing their artwork. From auction houses to galleries, I look forward to gaining a deeper understanding of the development and market of each artist, and doing the work of promoting them in Asia.
M.C. What kind of gallery do you think is attractive?
Guo Xinyi: The most important thing is that the artist should be good. There are some artists whose works are easy to monetize, but that doesn't mean he contributed to art history. For me, the works of the artists in my gallery are more attractive to collectors on the one hand, with the ability to monetize, and on the other hand, they can also inspire the audience, let everyone understand, and can drive the public's interest in art, especially new art. The new art I am talking about is contemporary art, which is more challenging to the public's concept of art, it will be innovative, it will bring you a new perspective, a new revelation of art for life and culture.
M.C.: You have developed a distinctive and appropriate dress style at auction, at auction, have you ever linked the color and style of your dress to the information of the lot on the day of the auction?
Guo Xinyi: I spent a lot of time thinking about the clothes I went to the auction! If any auctioneer tells you that they haven't thought about what clothes they're going to wear, that's a lie, haha! The costume needs to be contrasted with the color of the background wall at the auction site. I like to wear clothes with a little flower, and it must be a big flower to be more beautiful. In terms of color, I would wear a brighter and prefer waist-cinching clothes. I don't usually wear too much jewelry on stage, standing on the auction stage for so long, hoping that the whole person looks light. If it's a night shoot or when I'm shooting an important lot, I wear clothes that are a little shiny.
M.C.: Everyone is familiar with you on the auction table, will you still hold the gavel auction in the future?
Guo Xinyi: If there is a commercial auction at the auction house, I will not do it for the time being. However, I will still do some charity auctions.
M.C.: Do you have a collection of paintings? Privately, what hobbies do you have besides art?
Guo Xinyi: I have two works by Chang Yu, a small sketch painting, and a painting by Hong Kong artist Shi Jiahao. Privately, my biggest hobby is playing with my three little kids. Recently, I was enjoying the longest vacation in more than a decade, I would do yoga and go mountain climbing. My family and I live near Central, Hong Kong, and sometimes, we want a place to spend the weekend or experience life in the countryside. Not long ago, we bought a small house on the outskirts of Hong Kong, and now we will think about how to decorate and arrange these every day, which is very happy.
M.C.: 13 years after your first hammering, are there more and more women in Asia-Pacific auction houses or world-class art galleries that are gradually gaining prominence?
Xinyi Guo: Absolutely. If the time coordinates are set 10 years ago, although there are many women working in the art industry, the position of director of a world-class art museum is basically held by men. The past five or six years have changed, in 2016, Frances Morris, the female director of Tate Modern in the United Kingdom, was appointed, last year the Louvre in France welcomed the first female director Laurence des Cars, and suhanya Raffel, director of the new landmark art museum M+ museum in Hong Kong, is also a woman, I saw the whole industry gradually changing, I feel very touched, very happy.
Photography / RICKY LO
Interview, Writer/ Xu Lu
Editor/Yuan Xin
Styling /PATRYK CHAOU
Makeup/OMIX Leung Chi Chun
Hairstyles /PETER CHENG