Rich young Chinese shop at HK’s Art Basel
Huang Xiaoshuai and his wife last year splashed out US$70,000 (RM310,000) for a large painting of fish by Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody – part of a growing clique of young, affluent Chinese art enthusiasts building their own high-end collections.
The picture now hangs in their Shanghai home and the couple, along with other mainland collectors, have flown in to attend VIP events at this week’s Art Basel in Hong Kong where they are hoping to indulge their taste for contemporary Asian and European art.
Each year Huang and Wei Mengyuan set aside US$1.5mil (RM6.6mil) to spend on art – half from Huang’s salary and the rest from family funds.
Huang, an investment banker, says he and his wife first got into collecting when they were deciding how to decorate their new home.
“We have friends who deal art. They gave me some advice (on how) to buy some paintings or sculptures to put in our house,” says Huang.
A hobby turned into a passion -now the couple say they buy art not only as decoration but also as an investment.
Wei says that, unlike jewellery or real estate, art allows her to form an emotional connection and both say they like to meet the artists who create the works they buy.
This year at Art Basel, the couple will be looking out for pieces by Sweden-based sculptor Klara Kristalova and Chinese artist Sun Xun.
China is the third-largest art-buying market in the world and leads the auction sales segment, according to a new report by Art Basel and UBS.
Although sales have been dampened by an economic slowdown there have been some stellar purchases in recent years.
Taxi-driver-turned-tycoon Liu Yiqian has made the biggest headlines, buying a tiny Ming Dynasty “Chicken Cup” for US$36mil (RM159mil) at Sotheby’s in 2014 before drinking tea from it.
Liu, who founded the Long Museum in Shanghai, then branched out into Western art, bagging a Modigliani for US$170.4mil (RM754mil) at a Christie’s New York auction in 2015.
But gallerists and art dealers say the growing band of well-travelled, wealthy young buyers are also now making their mark, albeit with lower budgets and sometimes using their parents’ money.
With a critical eye and in-depth knowledge, they are departing from the more traditional tastes of established Chinese collectors and are building collections in their own edgier style.
Hong Kong-based gallerist Pascal de Sarthe says their passion and know-how has created a “much broader market” which has impacted dealers.
“Now we have more requests about Western art than we used to,” thanks to young Chinese collectors, he said. — AFP