Art market shows signs of recovery

The flagship China Guardian Spring Auction wrapped up on Tuesday. Experts say that after an abrupt cooling down last year, the market is starting to warm up.

The total sales volume at Guardian's art auction totals more than 2.5 billion yuan, up 20 percent from last year.

39 of some 4000 lots were sold for over 10 million yuan this year, while 3 surpassed the 50 million bench mark. The top selling lot was "Flowers on the Battlefield" by Chinese painter Wu Zuoren, sold for around 80 million yuan. The painting "Red Whisk Lady" by Zhang Daqian was the second most expensive lot at 71 million, followed by a jade seal belonging to Qing dynasty emperor Qianlong, for 66 million.

Late writer Lao She's art collection, which included sixteen ink paintings by famous artists, sold for 160 million yuan collectively, with a rarely seen piece by Qi Baishi entitled "Sunflowers" as the main highlight, selling for 13 and a half million yuan.

Although these sales are promising, the market is no longer in the glory years of 2010 and 2011, when several lots sold for over 100 million yuan. The market hit a low last year, with sales down by over 50 percent from the previous year.

Sun Jie, market manager of China Guardian, said, "2011 was the peak year in China's 20 year art auction history. There was a lot of idle cash in China last year. And a lot of this was put into the art auctions which increased very rapidly over these two years."

Experts say the fluctuating market is a result of the domestic and international economic climate. These changes are, however, forcing buyers to be more rational with their purchases.

The art auction market saw an abrupt slump last year, after two years of frenetic increase. From the Guardian auction that is going to wrap up this afternoon, we see a warming up of the market. With the exit of many speculative buyers, the market becomes more rational, and hopefully, more healthy.

Decades ago in China, collecting art was limited to the literati. In 1994, the first auction was held by Guardian on the Chinese mainland. Ever since, the market has nurtured an ever-increasing group of collectors and buyers. With Chinese people becoming increasingly wealthy and appreciating art and history, the art market has, along with the stock market and property, become one of the major ways for investment in China.

Although none of these lots sold for more than 100 million yuan, there are definitely more people buying and collecting less costly pieces of art. Some ordinary people now might buy a painting or a teapot worth tens of thousands of yuan. In this way they feel like they own a piece of history, or simply make an investment.

Experts warn that the major risk facing buyers is counterfeit goods. So before you invest your money, be sure to do your research.