Li Keran's Thousands of Hills in a Crimsoned View
A star work in the Chinese auction market, Thousands of Hills in a Crimsoned View by well-known Chinese artist Li Keran (1907-89), set a record again on November 15 by selling for 184 million yuan ($28.7 million), more than 30 times the price it was sold for in 2000.
Auctioned by China Guardian, the first major company in the mainland to lift its hammer for the autumn season, Hills has been a shot of adrenaline for the industry, greatly boosting the morale of the market and leading many analysts to start thinking more optimistically about this season's market after a five-year slump.
Starting from next week, this year's autumn auction season is expected to turn white hot since several leading mainland auction companies are about to unveil killer collections one after another. Once these auctions begin, whether this season will mark a turnaround point for the Chinese art market will be clearer.
Highs and lows
China Guardian's special auction, Da Guan, is usually a weather vane for the mainland's entire auction season, as such its success helps indicate the possible market tone for next week's auctions. Covering fine modern Chinese paintings, Da Guan night attracts a large amount of veteran collectors to vie for their favorites and get some insight into the overall market sentiment.
This season's Da Guan night recorded in a total of 920 million yuan in sales, pretty much on the same level as its spring auction Da Guan night, when it brought in 954 million yuan. China Guardian had fully prepared for the special night. Except Dawn by Pan Tianshou and Li's Hills, all the paintings presented that night had never made an appearance at auction before. This piqued the interests of collectors and made the night highly anticipated, especially since word was that two famous paintings by Pan, Dawn and Towering Pines were set to go under the hammer.
The biggest success story that night came from Hills. Estimated between 66-88 million yuan, the painting pushed collectors' enthusiasm to the limit after a few dozen rounds of bidding. However, works put on the block after Hills were not so fortunate since many collectors began to depart after the big sale.
Pan's Towering Pines, which shared the same estimated price range as Hills, sold for only 93 million yuan, while his another highly anticipated work Dawn went for 69 million yuan. Many other works from famous historical artists such as Dong Qichang and Fu Baoshi all ended up selling just a little higher than the lower limit of their estimated price ranges. What's even worse is that some lots by famous artists failed to sell because they didn't meet estimated prices such as Jiang Zhaohe's Plow the Field in Spring and Xu Beihong's Running Horse.
"The results are obviously pretty polarizing," said Gong Jisui, a professor at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts.
"Collectors are not just pursuing the works of famous artists, but works by famous artists that have a clear history of inheritance. Under such circumstances ordinary art works have a harder time selling. This implies that collectors are becoming more critical, a sign that the market is maturing," Gong told the Beijing Business Today.
Quantity and quality
Given the year-long fluctuations in the market and the uncertain outlook for this season, many auction houses have taken a conservative strategy when it comes to the quantity of items put up for auction. Compared to its 600 lots of modern and contemporary paintings during the spring auction season, China Guardian only brought 445 lots this season. Yet its turnover rate was only 57.3 percent, lower than the 67.66 percent it achieved in the spring.
With the economy still experiencing some hardships, auction companies have seen a chill run through the collection market. Poly Auction has also scaled down its auction, with only 700 lots set to appear at its modern and contemporary paintings and calligraphy auction next week, a 30 percent drop over last year's autumn auction season.
Accompanying this down scaling, however, is an emphasis on increased quality. From China Guardian's art masters to Poly Auction's trump card of Qi Baishi's Album of Flowers and Insects - which only appeared in public once in an autobiographical documentary on the artist about 60 years ago - auction companies have embarked on a more mature and professional track aimed at more effectively communicating with target collectors.
"Focusing more on quality over quantity has become a trend for domestic auction companies. It's a sign of maturity," Xie Xiaodong, former deputy general manager of the Beijing Council International Auction Company, told the Global Times.
"In the Internet era, ordinary artworks can be auctioned online, but high-end works of fine art must be auctioned at actual auctions. Doing this can also decrease costs for auction companies, after all, their business is high-end from the start," Xie told the Global Times.
Auction companies have also started using varied pricing strategies to realize the maximum market value of art works. Different from China Guardian's pricing range method, Poly Auction has begun using a "Price Upon Request" method for some of its more competitive works such as Qi's Flowers and Insects. "Price Upon Request" is a strategy usually applied when the auction company feels a work is extremely rare and of high value from both a market and artistic perspective.
Rising tide doesn't lift all boats
Concluding its autumn auction last week with a total turnover of 1.83 billion yuan, on the same level as its spring auction (1.87 billion yuan), China Guardian's auction can give us a look into the rest of the season. As mentioned above, there has been a draw towards more high-end works, while sales of less famous artists have received a lukewarm welcome.
Enthusiasm for contemporary Chinese art is still rising with works like Shi Chong's Delighted Young Man reaching 37.95 million yuan and many others breaking records for their artists by pushing past the 10 million yuan threshold. However, compared to international companies like Sotheby's and Christie's where contemporary art holds dominant positions, domestic companies still come up lacking in this area.
"I'm optimistic about this season's market. It is on the rise and most domestic auction companies will end up with relatively satisfying results," Xie said. However, he also stressed that this rise is not affecting everyone. As collectors become increasingly picky, it's really only the most high-end works that will see an increase in value.
