Calligraphy and painting auction bid farewell to the "billion-dollar era"?
"No matter how good things are, it's a tragedy to buy expensive things." As the auctions of major auction houses are sold one after another, netizens who pay attention to this industry can't help but express their emotions.
Recently, the Red Star Capital Bureau learned from the information of all parties that the same work by the same artist appeared at the auction. In 2013, the transaction price was 2.3 million yuan, but in this auction, only a fraction of 32.2 million.
An industry insider told the Red Star Capital Bureau that compared to now, around 2013 was the hottest time for the calligraphy and painting collection market, and now the market is down, "One of the simplest indicators is: in the first half of this year, none of the auction houses in China exceeded 100 million yuan. Yuan's auction, the '100 million era' has passed."
The same work sold for a fraction of the price
On July 26, a painting by He Tianjian, "Deep Spring with Grass and Trees", appeared in the Chinese Painting and Calligraphy (2) Special Session of the 2022 Spring Auction of Beijing Poly International Auction Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Beijing Poly").
The painting sold for 178,250 yuan.
However, the Red Star Capital Bureau found that this painting once appeared in the 2013 spring auction of China Guardian International Auction Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Guardian").
At that time, the painting was named "Deep Grass and Trees in Spring City", and the transaction price was 460,000 yuan.
That is to say, after 9 years, the market value of the painting has shrunk by about 60%.
Mr. Liu, a painting and calligraphy broker, has been in the business for many years. He will buy collections from private collectors and auction houses according to his own judgment. When the right time comes, he will sell the collections in his hands to private collectors or auction houses.
Mr. Liu told the Red Star Capital Bureau that whether it is called "Deep Grass and Trees in Spring" or "Deep Grass and Trees in Spring City", this is actually the same work.
"Like we buy it ourselves, it takes a few years to hoard this kind of goods before we can take them out. If we show up frequently, the price will not be able to sell. But some people auctioned here this year, and sold it at another auction house next year. The name may not be recorded. Some people who don’t know how to do it may think that this thing is just out, and it can sell hundreds of thousands more.” Mr. Liu said to the Red Star Capital Bureau.
Not only He Tianjian's works, Mr. Liu told the Red Star Capital Bureau that recently, many collections of calligraphy and painting have encountered such a situation, and the latest transaction price is not as good as the last transaction price.
Take Ye Qianyu's work "Indian Dance" as an example. At this year's China Guardian's spring auction, this work sold for 322,000 yuan.
This work appeared in the auction of Beijing Kuangshi International Auction Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Beijing Kuangshi") in 2013, and the transaction price was 2.3 million yuan.
By comparison, the painting has lost about 86% of its value.
On July 28, the Red Star Capital Bureau found that the dynamics of the official website of Beijing Kuangshi stayed at the 2019 autumn auction, and the engine that could search for information such as the transaction price of the collection was no longer available.
However, according to the collection records of the third-party platform Artron Art Network presented by Mr. Liu, the work was indeed sold for 2.3 million yuan in December 2013.
The market of calligraphy and painting collections returns to rationality
The Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that some netizens said that the business manager of an auction house received the goods from him, and Qi Baishi's works fell by about 2/3 compared to the previous high price.
However, the netizen rejected the interview request from the Red Star Capital Bureau.
Mr. Liu told the Red Star Capital Bureau that according to his understanding, Qi Baishi's works may have fallen by about 2/5.
"Many people know that Qi Baishi painted shrimps and crabs, but he also painted landscape paintings. One of his works sold for more than 26 million more than ten years ago. Beijing Poly sold it a few days ago, and nearly 10 million in the middle evaporated directly ( including commission)."
The Red Star Capital Bureau inquired and found that on July 26, at the Beijing Poly Auction 2022 Spring Art Auction - Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Night Market, Qi Baishi's work "Bamboo Garden Qing Lan" was sold for 18.975 million yuan.
However, or because of a long period of time, the Red Star Capital Bureau did not find the auction information of "Zhupu Qinglan" more than ten years ago.
A salesman from Beijing Poly told the Red Star Capital Bureau that around 2013, the market for calligraphy and painting collections was the hottest, "the market situation is not the same as it is now." "The prices of different painters in different years are different. , compared with the same theme and the same size, the current price has returned to rationality." The above salesman said to the Red Star Capital Bureau.
The Red Star Capital Bureau found through the Artron Art Network that the number of auctions in the spring and autumn of 2013 were 7,358 and 8,657, respectively, and the number of transactions was 5,854 and 6,405, with a turnover of 5.984 billion yuan and 552,700 yuan respectively.
Based on this calculation, at that time, the average transaction price of each lot was about 1.02 million yuan and 860,000 yuan.
By the spring of 2022, the data were all sluggish.
Among them, the number of auctions was 2,315, the number of transactions was 1,944, and the transaction value was 1.419 billion yuan.
The average transaction price of each lot is about 730,000 yuan.
Mr. Liu also said that from 2009 to 2013, the market for calligraphy and painting collections was the best.
Now that the market is going down, "One of the simplest indicators is that in the first half of this year, none of the auction houses in China has a single lot that exceeds 100 million yuan, and the '100 million yuan era' has passed."
Guaranteed activity funds, even if you lose
According to Mr. Liu, generally speaking, when a collection is sent to an auction house for auction, a contract will be signed with the auction house to negotiate the reserve price of the collection.
"For example, if I send five pieces for auction, and the reserve price for each piece is 500,000 yuan, I have to get 2.5 million yuan, after deducting the commission to the auction house, I have to get at least 2.25 million yuan. I will not sell it at this price." Mr. Liu said to the Red Star Capital Bureau.
However, Mr. Liu believes that some collections should be sold even if they are at a loss. "I also want to live, more or less I have to sell a little something and buy a little more things. Only when it is circulated will the funds flow. I used to buy at high prices. Yes, it will be sold at a low price now, and you have to recognize the loss.”
Taking a collection that was purchased for 100,000 yuan as an example, Mr. Liu said, "Suppose someone offers me 70,000 yuan now, but I won't sell it; when next year, if the price is 60,000 yuan, then won't I lose even more? It's the same as stocks. , I (would rather) cash out and use the money to buy something else.”
Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Yang Peiwen