"The Year of Miracles" 2021 Why does the global art market shine?
In 2022, the world will enter the third year after being affected by the epidemic. Many people have expressed relatively conservative or even pessimistic sentiments about the economies and markets of various countries in the world in this year.
However, in terms of the art market, the year 2021 just passed has been called a "year of miracles" - more than 100,000 works created by more than 30,000 artists have been sold, of which contemporary art works have achieved a total of 2.7 billion US dollars (approximately RMB). 17.1 billion yuan), which has more than doubled compared to 2020, reaching an unprecedented transaction volume.
Behind this astonishing figure, the Chinese art market has performed even more prominently: whether it is Western artworks in the Chinese auction market, or works by Chinese artists in setting auction records, they all have amazing performances.
This year, the Asian market is becoming the first distribution center for contemporary art, and the Chinese market has performed particularly well, with contemporary works sold within 12 months accounting for 40% of the global transaction volume.
What kind of undercurrents are behind this situation of "rising against the trend"?
In the eyes of industry insiders who are familiar with the art circle, what kind of logic does it have?
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Important Western works shine in China's auction market
Graffiti artist Basquiat's work is the most eye-catching
In 2020, there are only 3 Western art works in the Chinese auction market that are worth over 100 million yuan, and just one year later, in 2021, a total of 11 Western art works in the Chinese art auction market will be sold for more than 100 million yuan.
In 2013, Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group, bought Picasso's painting "Two Children" for 172 million yuan in New York. Two iconic moments for Chinese collectors to buy Western art.
In less than 10 years, Western art has not only been fully spread in the Chinese market, but the list of artists has also become more diversified, and the achievement of "breaking 100 million" has been achieved more quickly.
On the evening of May 20, 2021, German Pop Art master Gerhard Richter's 1968 work "Column Column" (seven pairs) was sold at a high price of 80.5 million yuan at China Guardian, which is the autumn auction of Western art in China The prelude was written by breaking 100 million.
On the evening of November 28, 2021, China Guardian launched the "Impressionist and Modern Art Night Show" for the first time. The "Water Lily Pond and Roses" created by French Impressionist master Monet in 1913 was sold at a high price of 154.1 million yuan, becoming a Western art auction in China. The first million-dollar work.
Just 5 days later, Western artworks in China have once again achieved a record of over 100 million. On the evening of December 3, French figurative oil master Balthus' last complete oil painting "Cat in the Mirror III" was auctioned in Yongle 2021 Autumn Auction "International Vision-Globalization of Modern and Contemporary Art Night Market", 15 buyers from all over the world competed for more than half an hour, and finally sold for nearly 167 million yuan, which not only broke the highest record of artists' public auction, but also created a new The highest transaction price of Western art in China.
In 2021, there is another Western artist whose works are extremely eye-catching in the Chinese auction market - the black graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat who died young.
His work "Warrior" created in 1982 sold for HK$323.6 million, setting a new record for the auction price of Western art in the whole of Asia and was a sensation.
The keen international auction house quickly followed up to bring more works by Basquiat to the Chinese auction market--At the end of May 2021, Sotheby's announced a cooperation with Jay Chou, curated by the latter, and previewed all works All were 100% sold at the evening auction the following month, and the leading blockbuster work was Basquiat's "Untitled", which sold for HK$289 million.
According to statistics, in 2021, there will be 5 works of Basquiat over 100 million yuan in the Chinese auction market, with a total turnover of nearly 1 billion yuan.
Another major auction giant, Christie's, is not far behind, and will launch a Basquiat exhibition themed "Radiance" in November 2021 on the occasion of the Shanghai preview. China's largest exhibition of Basquiat's works.
In March, Christie's will also auction a major Basquiat painting, The Leader, in Shanghai.
Artist nationality shows country's dynamism in auction market
Chinese and American artists occupy most of the global art auction market
While Western art masters have performed prominently in the Chinese auction market, in 2021, Asian artists, including Chinese artists, will also hand in a dazzling report card in the global auction market--the 2021 Global Top Year published on the Artprice platform. On the list of the top 500 contemporary artists, 19 of the top 50 are from Asia, and many young artists born in the 1970s and 1980s are also on the list, showing a strong situation of "green and yellow".
Topping the list is artist Chen Danqing's famous work "Tibetan Group Paintings: Shepherds" in his early years. In June 2021, this small oil painting on panel sold for 161 million yuan, which is the same price as Zeng Fan, who sold at the same price in 2020. Zhi large-scale oil painting "Mask Series 1996NO.6" side by side, became one of the highest prices of Chinese contemporary art auctions.
This painting puts Chen Danqing on the top 3 list of global contemporary artist auction records in 2021, second only to the aforementioned Basquiat and digital artist Beeple, known for his NFT works.
Following Chen Danqing, the famous contemporary artist Zhang Xiaogang's museum-level work "Bloodline: Big Family No. 12" sold for 81.19 million yuan at the Yongle Spring Auction in 2021, setting his second highest price.
In 2016, the work was sold at an auction of 38.18 million yuan in Beijing Kuangshi. After a lapse of five years, the collector sold it again, and the price more than doubled.
It is worth noting that the nationality of artists can also show the vitality of each country in the auction market from one perspective.
In 2021, based on the total annual turnover, American and Chinese artists will account for most of the country.
In Asia, among the top 15 contemporary artists in terms of total auction sales, Chinese artists overwhelmingly occupy most of the seats (12), and the remaining 3 artists are from Japan, namely Yoshitomo Nara and Murakami, who have been well-known for a long time. Takashi, and Ayako Rokkaku, a post-80s female artist who has attracted much attention in recent years, are widely regarded by the art world as the next Nara Yoshitomo.
The post-70s artist Huang Yuxing is currently attracting much attention in the Chinese contemporary art circle. His "Seven Treasures Pine" (seven paintings) was sold at Christie's Hong Kong autumn auction last year for 53.225 million yuan. This high price set his personal auction record overnight. increased by nearly 6 times.
It is reported that since Huang Yuxing's works entered the auction market in 2006, the price in the previous years was only around 100,000 yuan. After setting the first million record in 2016, it began to rise sharply in 2018 and broke through in just over two years. threshold of millions.
However, although the rising stars are eye-catching, in terms of turnover, the artists born in the 50s and 60s in the market still firmly occupy an absolute advantage.
analyze
A younger generation of collectors is on the rise
The Asia-Pacific region accounts for about 40% of the global
Behind these dazzling figures and amazing prices, what new trends are reflected in the current world art auction market?
The rise of the younger generation of collectors has become a group that cannot be ignored.
In addition to the advanced strategy of auction houses, the iteration of collector groups is also one of the reasons why works by Western art masters such as Monet and Balthus are highly sought after when they first appeared in Chinese auctions.
According to industry insiders, there are roughly two groups of Asian collectors, one is the first-generation rich, and the other is the young group.
These young collectors are from wealthy families, most of them have overseas study backgrounds, their knowledge structure and vision are more international, and their selection of works of art is more precise.
This is something that most of the older generation of collectors, whose career is to create wealth, do not have.
At the same time, with the rapid growth of the younger generation, the two types of collectors are merging. For example, parents are collecting Impressionism, and children are collecting trendy art. The two tastes coexist in one family.
According to data previously released by Christie’s, 39% of buyers at auctions in the first half of 2021 came from the Asia-Pacific region.
When Christie’s announced its 2021 global results not long ago, Yang Yuancao, chairman of Christie’s China, also specifically mentioned the group of collectors from mainland China: “In the second half of the year, the total purchases of mainland Chinese customers surpassed Hong Kong, China, and became the largest in the Asia-Pacific region. Collection group."
Under the epidemic, some funds are confused
You can never go wrong buying a work written in art history
Li Yanfeng, general manager of the 20th Century and Contemporary Art Department of China Guardian, told the Red Star News reporter that a major feature of the art auction market in 2021 is that "the explosive power of fine products is very strong".
The boutiques he refers to are the important works that have been clearly identified and repeatedly demonstrated by art history. "The scarcity and importance of these auctions are the most fundamental reasons for their high prices. These boutiques are rare, and once released, the market will The feedback has always been very positive."
In addition, Li Yanfeng also mentioned that under the environment where the global market is affected by the epidemic, the whereabouts of some funds will be confused, so collecting good art is obviously a good choice.
"In addition to the collection value of really excellent artworks, it also has a certain function of asset allocation, because its value is always stable."
However, he also pointed out that investment in art collections is always a relatively niche behavior, so it is less affected by the economic background of the general environment, and the correlation with the epidemic is actually very weak.
"The change of generations, the change of collectors, the increasing internationalization of the knowledge structure of the collection group, etc., are destined to one day accumulate and usher in the current prosperity. It can be said that it is an inevitable result."
As a senior expert in the art auction industry, Li Yanfeng is also full of confidence in the positive impact of young collectors on the art market ecology. "From the perspective of collection orientation, it is very conducive to the expansion of the scale of the modern and contemporary art sector."
Lu Peng, director of the Academic Committee of the 2021 Chengdu Biennale and a famous art curator, believes that the birth of the 2021 "Year of Miracles" is mostly accidental.
"It is the result of various desires and impulses, because there is nothing else to play (investment projects)."
However, this statement also confirms the current situation of "confusion about the whereabouts of funds" mentioned by Li Yanfeng.
"Of course, this kind of impulse and desire is worthy of recognition." Lu Peng added, "It is a good desire and a good impulse. Compared with investment activities purely for value preservation and appreciation, it has more humanistic value. Also important support."
At the same time, as a well-known art historian, Lv Peng also fully agrees with the saying that "it is never wrong to buy works written in art history".
"Art history is always the most important reference. The price of a piece of work can be fired up very high, and it has never been inseparable from art history. So far, as long as it is an important work written in art history, it was created from it. Coming out until today, any time it appears on the auction floor, the value is stable."
Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Qiao Xueyang