Chinese Art — The Scarcity And Valuation Connection

Parallel Between China’s Art Market And The Broader Economy

Zhang Dali, Forbidden City: 1998. MOMA Collection.

The New York Times published an interesting story yesterday about the connection between buyer trends and scarcity in recent art auctions. Technically, scarcity has always played a part in buyers’ habits, obviously, as dead artists usually sell for more than those with a pulse. But the reporter remarked that scarcity is being pushed along quite rapidly in some markets, more than in others. At a recent sale of antiquities, the popularity of Chinese works reflects the rising belief among many collectors that — from Shang Dynasty pottery to important historical contemporary artists from 1989-1999 — the Chinese market exhibits all of the hallmarks of a solid global art market: Scarcity (driven by increased domestic buying and slower output by living artists), outpacing inflation, and quality (established by more high profile acqusitions). So as the market for antiquities continues to roll along, the increased attention to contemporary pieces should ultimately benefit the whole Chinese art market.

Chinese Art Coming To a Museum Near You

More Museums Expected to Follow the Lead of the Getty, MOMA, Tate, Pompidou etc.

Yesterday, we wrote about the Getty Museum in Los Angeles acquiring photos by Chinese artists Wang Qingsong and Hai Bo, and described how the leap from gallery or personal collection to museum solidifies an artists’ or a country’s artwork, giving it validation and ensuring longevity. Since then, we’ve been keeping an eye out for articles on this topic, and are finding that the story has been picked up pretty widely, with each outlet throwing in a little more detail.

Developments in the Chinese Art World

Recent Acquisitions by Museums and More Interest From Local Collectors Running in Parallel

Wang Qingsong - Can I Cooperate With You?, 2000

While some art critics only see doom and gloom ahead for art markets around the world, it looks like there are pockets of good news for a handful of contemporary artists and art buffs.

Sichuan Province’s Chongqing News recently did a story on the Chinese art market , through the lens of how the global economic slowdown has brought down the price of nearly everything in China, from real estate to automobiles, and how this dive in prices has extended even to the realm of contemporary works of art. At this moment, the consensus seems to be: If you have the money, you might as well buy as much of this stuff as you can now, since

prices are going down (though [not as much] for the big names), and it could be a good time to invest.