There is no doubt that the volume of art transactions in China is also increasing year by year, and the marketization of art has been accepted by people, or art must also be marketized, which will not only promote the development of art, but also make a certain contribution to the Chinese economy, and now cultural creativity has become a pillar industry.
Shen Peng's calligraphy works (picture from the Internet)
Works of art have value, as a commodity there is a price, then the level of the price has become the core issue. The final transaction price of the artwork is not determined by the artist himself, and it is determined by the market. In the Chinese painting and calligraphy art market, the price of calligraphy is far lower than the price of painting, and the painting mentioned here is limited to Chinese painting, if it is compared with oil painting, it is lower, and this price disparity is an indisputable fact. Compared with calligraphers and painters with similar positions, similar popularity and academic backgrounds, the market price difference is about ten times. The price of the first echelon of contemporary books and the older generation of calligraphers, such as Shen Peng, Ouyang Zhongshi, Li Duo and other old gentlemen, is also about 80,000 to 100,000 yuan per square foot. The price of works by painters of the same rank and seniority (with few conditions mentioned above) is between 500,000 and 800,000 yuan (calculated per square foot). Counting further down, the price of a calligrapher who is slightly more famous in contemporary times must be middle-aged or older than a member of the Chinese Book Association can be tens of thousands. Painters of this age in the painting industry, especially those who have positions of figures, landscapes, flowers and birds, often have about 50,000 yuan per square foot; young powerful calligraphers belonging to "hard currency" can reach 3,000 to 5,000 yuan per square foot, and the price of 1,000 yuan per square foot is common in the calligraphy market, and it is also priceless. Due to the impact of today's special circumstances, the entire art market and its downturn, many young calligraphers in Beijing, many of them have returned home, of course, this is caused by the general environment, including many painters.
Mr. Shen Peng
However, from the perspective of the calligraphy and painting auction market, the transaction price of ancient calligraphy is much higher than that of painting, and the price of ancient calligraphy works in the auction market is not uncommon, such as Huang Tingjian's "Pillar Ming" sold more than 400 million yuan (including commission) at Poly's spring auction in 2010; Wang Xizhi's "Ping An Thesis" sold for more than 300 million yuan at The 2010 autumn auction of China Guardian; Su Shi's "GongFu Ti" at sotheby's September 2013 auction in New York. Sold for 50.37 million yuan (8.229 million US dollars, at the exchange rate at that time), Shanghai collector Liu Yiqian bought it back, only 9 characters; Tang and Song Dynasty Eight Greats Zeng Gong's heirloom ink "Bureau Post" auctioned a high price of 207 million yuan in China Guardian's 2016 spring auction "Daguan - Night of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Treasures", the post totaled 127 words, the single word value reached 1.67 million, which is a thousand words. The art auction market occupies half of the art trading market, and these ancient forwarding records are unattainable by ancient paintings.
Many people think that comparing calligraphy and painting, calligraphy is much easier, writing faster, you can write a sheet in ten minutes, and the low price of calligraphy is an inevitable phenomenon caused by fast writing speed. To say that speed determines price is a fallacy.
Su Shi 'Gong Fu Ti'
What is the reason for the low price of contemporary calligraphy? The same is the work of art, why is the disparity so big? We analyze the following reasons:
External and internal causes. That is to say, there are external causes and internal reasons. Externally, society as a whole lacks recognition of the dignity of calligraphy, while internally, the calligraphy community does not pay enough attention to calligraphy itself.
Calligraphy seems to be the most "people-friendly" field, Chinese calligraphy has a strong mass base, China's achievements since the reform and opening up are obvious to all, as well as the return of Traditional Chinese culture, and the appeal of calligraphy workers, calligraphy into the primary and secondary school classrooms, saying that Chinese calligraphy "calligraphy for the whole people, Hanmo world" is not exaggerated, and the art world has not failed to do it.
The "aesthetic education" proposed by the art world is only from the perspective of appreciating art. Also due to the limitations of technology, it is unlikely that the whole society will be encouraged to paint. No matter how "aesthetic education" is, there can be no lack of calligraphy appreciation, and if calligraphy is missing, it is missing a leg.
Relative to painting, the threshold of calligraphy is indeed low, the operation is simple, people appreciate calligraphy at the same time, will be very spontaneous to lift the pen to write two words. But this is a very wrong understanding that three years can train a painter, while three years of calligraphy may be just an introduction from a professional point of view.
Another important reason is that due to people's lack of aesthetic judgment ability to appreciate calligraphy, they have long lacked judgment on the quality of calligraphy, and they think that writing brush characters is to write calligraphy, which is a serious mistake.
Zeng Gong's "Bureau Post"
Since the 90s of last century, many leaders across the country are keen on inscriptions, the stars of the whole country practice calligraphy, learning calligraphy has become the first choice between cadres after retirement, after practicing for a few years, they think that they have stepped into the ranks of calligraphers, and it is good when they have the enthusiasm to learn calligraphy, but do not call themselves calligraphers. There are also national and local art institutions, galleries, calligraphy and painting markets, and those calligraphy exhibitions, all of which are considered to be high-level calligraphy, and these phenomena blind the eyes of non-professionals, all of which make calligraphy give people the negative impression of "low threshold".
Internally, calligraphy professionals lack reverence for the profession they work in. Since the end of the 1990s, higher education "expanded" the "expansion" of major colleges and universities to expand the enrollment of calligraphy majors, recruiting a large number of calligraphy students with mediocre professional qualifications, these students are not really calligraphy enthusiasts, most of them are originally from the university employment is the purpose; with the development of society, low education and employment difficulties, triggered the "examination and research fever" Many non-calligraphy professionals through the examination of examinations, examinations and doctoral examinations, which are effective examination methods, in addition to the major art institutions have opened "postgraduate course classes" The recruited trainees are mixed, and some just want to mix up a title and promote the position. For a time, "calligraphy doctors" and "calligraphy graduate students" flew all over the sky, and there was a "surplus" situation. The author believes that doctors and masters of calligraphy are not only calligraphers, but must be professional researchers of calligraphy and cultural researchers. Calligraphy operators out of utilitarian blind pursuit of the "Doctor of Calligraphy", in the way of "maintenance" malicious speculation, resulting in many students studying calligraphy students are mercenary, a large number of immature paving to the market, resulting in excess, in order to recover funds had to be sold cheaply, becoming a large wholesale of radish cabbage.
ay! The art market is no different from the vegetable wholesale market. This is also an intrinsic reason why the price of calligraphy works is lower than the value.
Huang Tingjian's "Pillar Inscription"
Do art waist to be straight, is the calligrapher is a professional, do not be too humble, this is also a lack of attention to calligraphy by professionals. Many of the titans who are praised as "masters of calligraphy" have repeatedly expressed the concepts of "I am not a calligrapher, just a writer", "calligraphy is a carving skill, my side job", "I am a writer", and so on. This kind of concept is still popular even after calligraphy works enter the market. In order to occupy the market, some calligraphers have sold a large number of calligraphy works at low prices, believing that their calligraphy works have become popular works of art, and they have become famous. Just think, such a heavy quantity, light quality approach, objectively has also become a lot of good books in today's market circulation is mostly the so-called "commodity word", such a large number is difficult to write with heart, which is also a source of low prices.
From the perspective of marketing, it is impossible for things to be truly profitable, and it is a common market thinking that "things are scarce and expensive", and it is a common market thinking. However, from the perspective of the development of calligraphy ontology, the one-sided pursuit of interests has led to the calligraphy industry changing from "intellectual" artworks to "labor-type" ordinary commodities, resulting in the reality that the price in the calligraphy market is far lower than the value. (one)