Art Basel Hong Kong – back with a bang!

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By all accounts ‘palpable excitement’ circumscribed the return of Art Basel Hong Kong and was clearly welcomed by the city, regional and international collectors, and the exhibiting galleries and artists. 

Proudly espousing some stats, media releases noted that 177 galleries were taking part in this year’s iteration, up from the 130 exhibitors in 2022, making ABHK the “largest fair in Hong Kong since 2019”.

Early indications suggested a plethora of healthy sales during the VIP day.  Selected notable sales were several acquisitions by Asian museums: “Birdcage Man”, Yinka Shonibare at £200,000, from Stephen Friedman; “Truffaut” by Elizabeth Peyton at $2.2m from David Zwirner. The George Condo 2011 work on Hauser & Wirth’s stand, “Purple Compression” sold for $4.75m to a private collector, and the large-scale abstraction by Mark Bradford, “A Straight Line” also sold for $3.5m.  White Cube enjoyed some solid sales of works by Anslem Kiefer (EUR1m), Damien Hirst (USD525K), Antony Gormley (GBP500K) and three works by Park Seo-Bo.

Strong, buoyant attendance was also evident, although there was a visible difference in numbers between the VIP and Public days, with the latter becoming painfully congested.

Mainland Chinese collectors accounted for “a big chunk” of attendees; Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese collectors were also highly visible at the fair, especially younger collectors.  European collectors were in the minority.

Whilst there has been speculation that Hong Kong’s formerly draconian measures regarding the pandemic would have a negative impact on the international position of Hong Kong, as a global city, and it is certainly a changed city now, the tax advantages are driving the market and maintaining its position.

Additionally, substantial investment in the city’s cultural infrastructure is a factor: M+ Museum finally ‘fully’ opened to the public with a major survey show by the ubiquitous Yayoi Kusama alongside showcasing the 1500-strong Uli Sigg collection.  The West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) precinct, which ‘houses’ the Museum will likely become a destination arts hub, with the addition of Phillips new Asian headquarters, also based in the WKCD.

Christie’s to increase its saleroom footprint in Hong Kong

The Henderson, Hong Kong by Zaha Hadid Architects for Henderson Land. Rendering by Arqui9, courtesy of Christie's.

As part of an an ambitious growth plan for the Asian market Christie’s has signed a 10-year lease on a new Hong Kong office space that will massively expand its presence in the booming Asian art market and allow for will now allow for six week-long sales held in-house throughout the year.

The British auction house will be an anchor tenant in the Henderson, a new skyscraper from Zaha Hadid Architects set for completion in 2023, according to the Art Newspaper. Christie’s plans to open up shop in 2024.  The larger premises will provide the space Christie’s presentation of large-scale artworks, live auctions, private sales, and educational programs.”

Read full article here: https://news.artnet.com/market/christies-hong-kong-new-location-1992791

Hong Kong: Spring Auctions

Lot 11 | Bernard Frize, Toky, 2018, acrylic and resin on canvas, 180 x 255 cm
Estimate: HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000 / Hammer price: HK$2,100,000 / Price realized: HK$2,646,000

Hong Kong’s evening sales of Modern and Contemporary art this Spring season raised a total of HK$3.45 billion (US$445 million) against the total estimate of HK$2.97 billion to HK$4.21 billion. This was 67.6% higher than the total sales in Summer 2020, and 27.4% higher than the previous record season in Autumn 2020.

Despite the disruption caused by Covid-19 across the global art market, Hong Kong continues to demonstrate confidence at the top-end of the art market, and the increasingly important role of Hong Kong as a global art market hub.

Notably the collaborative ‘white glove’ sale of Phillips and Poly Auctions, “20th Century & Contemporary & Design” held on 8 June pulled in a robust total of US$63.7m, garnered 17 artist records and demonstrated the measure of a strategic alliance which played to the strengths of each party: Phillips international presence and curation of the sale, and Poly’s impressive clientele from mainland China and major cities in S.E. Asia.

Phillips attributed the success of the sale to a live auction experience that saw bidders in auction rooms in Hong Kong and Beijing, phone bidders, and 800 online bidders participate simultaneously.  Jonathan Crockett, Phillips Asia chairman noted the strength of Asian buyers in “building global demand for the modern and contemporary art” categories.

Valuing your Art and the Appraiser

Zhang Xiaogang’s Bloodline: Big Family No 3. Auctioned at Sotheby’s HK in April 2014 for a hammer price of US$10,698,699

Art like any asset, requires the same respect as that accorded to your other personal assets: your car, your home, or your stamp collection.  Interestingly, as part of the ‘acquisition’ process of these types of assets, insurance becomes part of the overall monetary outlay; you seek the advice of an advisor or broker to ascertain adequate insurance and annual premiums ensue thereafter.  Yet, the same cannot be said for art.

Speak with an insurance broker and you will be surprised to hear how infrequent clients seek the advice of a professional when estimating the value of their art collection; the consequences of not having an up to date valuation, and therefore a current value, can mean the difference between being reimbursed for loss or damage appropriate to its market value or incurring a loss on that initial investment.

Additionally, having an up to date and current value of your collection can also assist in having in place a de-accession strategy; selling too early or too late can result in an unforeseen loss.

Obtaining a professional appraisal of your artwork operates in much the same way as seeking a value for other assets.  Credentials should be assessed; market sector and speciality experience should be examined together with the level of tertiary qualifications and membership with an industry association.

Most importantly, seeking the services of an independent, objective and impartial professional will result in a more accurate valuation, and without the potential bias of a vested interest in the artwork and therefore its value.  Returning to the gallery or dealer from which you first acquired the artwork and seeking an appraisal is clearly a conflict of interest.

Additionally, the quality of the appraisal documentation is equally important: it should demonstrate a solid, up to date appreciation of the market for the subject artist/artwork; present well-reasoned research; provide documentary proof and/or reference to recent auction results and other market indices (ones which are verifiable); and finally, clearly and concisely outline the methodology used for the appraisal.

There are a number of attributes which an experienced appraiser will utilise in order to determine the value of your artwork:

• Authenticity - discernment of a signature, title or date, original sale documentation;

• Quality - consideration of the artist’s period in which the work was executed; composition, palette and technical prowess;

• Rarity - how many works by this artist are available on the open market;

• Limited Edition Prints (if applicable) – the breadth of the edition for the work; available prints in the edition;

• Condition – the archival stability of the work and framing quality, i.e. is the artwork in its original frame?;

• Provenance – probably one of the most crucial factors in the overall valuation process, “provenance” equates with the artwork’s ‘history’, i.e. from artist’s studio to gallery exhibition to auction house sale; and includes discerning any notable non-commercial exhibitions in which the artwork was included, for example, a ‘survey’ exhibition at a regional gallery, in addition to any publications in which the artwork was illustrated or discussed;

• Market – does the artist have an auction record? Sales rates for the artist in either the primary or secondary markets.

Valuing your art necessitates the same respect as valuing your other lifetime assets.  Regular, up to date valuations of your artworks are an important adjunct to the ongoing maintenance and accurate documentation of your collection.

Seeking the advice and services of an experienced and knowledgeable professional is a critical step in the provision of an accurate art appraisal.  Professional art appraisal services offer new and established collectors a comprehensive appreciation of their collection, its current parameters and indeed, future directions.

©Catherine Asquith, January 2019

Zhang Xiaogang headlines Phillips' Hong Kong Auction

Phillips Hong Kong sale on May 27th will feature a $5m collection of Chinese Contemporary art entitled Pioneers of Modernism: A Selection from the Scheeres Collection. The lead lot is a Zhang Xiaogang work, Bloodline, Big Family No. 9 (above) that comes to market with an estimate upon request. Another work from this same series sold in China five months ago for $4.4m for a much later work. The record for these Big Family works and the artist is slightly more than $12m achieved in 2014.

Comprising 20 lots estimated in excess of HKD 40 million, the collection include historically significant contemporary Chinese works by celebrated artists such as Zhang Xiaogang, Fang Lijun, Yue Minjun, as well as such modern masters as Richard Lin, Sanyu, Le Pho, among others.  The highlights will be unveiled in a touring exhibition across key cities in Asia .  

onouring its debut appearance in the market, Pioneers of Modernism: A Selection from the Scheeres Collection will be presented in a dedicated auction preview in H Queen’s Atrium in Hong Kong from 24 to 27 May 2018 alongside Phillips Hong Kong’s Spring Sale 2018 preview held in Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.

Art Basel Hong Kong, Report

The fifth edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong, which featured 242 premier galleries from 34 countries and territories, has ended on a high note. This year’s show included memorable moments such as:

• Our Conversations and Salon series was well received, offering visitors over 25 engaging sessions including the Salon panel 'Taking Stock: An Art Market Report'. The discussion followed the release of The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, which covers all aspects of the international art market in 2016.
• Kingsley Ng’s Twenty-Five Minutes Older, a moving installation in which two of Hong Kong’s iconic public trams were transformed into traveling works of art. The project was commissioned by Art Basel and supported by MGM Resorts Art & Culture.
• Another highlight was 'Virtual Frontiers: Artists Experimenting with Tilt Brush' presented by Art Basel and Google Arts & Culture, where visitors explored new virtual reality works created by artists: boychild, Cao Fei, Robin Rhode, Sun Xun, and Yang Yongliang. The works were produced using Google’s Tilt Brush - a 3D drawing and painting application.
• Nonny de la Peña’s project, 'Passage: The Life of a Wall on Lin He Road', a new iteration of 'Safely Manoeuvring Across Lin He Road' by Lin Yilin, presented by Asia Art Archive, also proved very popular amongst visitors as well.

Journalists from across the world attended, writing overwhelmingly positive reviews.  Forbes stated that ‘since its inception five years ago, Art Basel in Hong Kong has transformed the city into one of Asia’s most important cultural hubs.’ In addition, The New York Times observed that '…in the five years since Art Basel first began in Hong Kong, it has become perhaps the most important annual event on the regional art calendar[…] When it comes to Asian art, Art Basel Hong Kong is the place to go[…]' Financial Times reported that ‘Dealers find an audience for more challenging work at the fifth edition of the fair [...] [Art Basel’s] growth maps the burgeoning engagement of the Asia Pacific region with international contemporary art.’

The five show days were attended by private collectors as well as directors, curators, trustees and patrons from nearly 80 leading international museums and institutions across 20 countries, including Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Long Museum, Shanghai; MoMA PS1, New York; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney; National Gallery Singapore, Singapore; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul; New Museum, New York; Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Serpentine Galleries, London; Tate, London and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

With numerous gallery openings and an expanded program of parallel events, the Art Basel week continued to spotlight Hong Kong's vibrant arts and cultural scene.

(from “Art Basel Hong Kong” newsletter 4th April 2017)

Art Basel Hong Kong

The fifth edition of Art Basel’s show in Hong Kong will commence on March 21 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) in Wan Chai.
 
Bringing together gallerists, artists, collectors, curators, museum directors and critics from across the globe, Art Basel HK will present a total of 242 leading galleries from Asia, the Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world.
 
The fair comprises a number sectors: “Galleries”, the fair’s core sector showcases 20th and 21st century works, and also includes the “Insights” sector, the latter highlighting the curatorial projects, and the “Discoveries” sector featuring solo and 2-person projects. 
 
The “Encounters” sector is dedicated to large-scale sculptural installations and performances which punctuate the fair and is invariably a ‘feature’ of the fair, always attracting much attention and appreciation.
 
The “Kabinett” sector, previously only on show at Art Basel Miami Beach, will make its debut at this year’s ABHK, and features curated projects within selected gallery booths.
 
Complemented with a program of film, conversations and salons, (and a few parties!), Art Basel Hong Kong offers a stimulating week of all things art.
 
Beyond the fair, Hong Kong’s thriving arts scene is also on show throughout the week, with exhibitions, events and site-specific installations taking place across the city and beyond.