Fine arts hub is picture perfect (hktdc.com)


	Kevin Ching, CEO of Sotheby’s Asia, explains Hong Kong’s advantages as an auction centre

	Artist Zeng Fanzhi’s After the Long March, Andy Warhol Arrived in China is expected to fetch up to US$3.85 million at Sotheby’s Contemporary Asian Art sale

	Northern Light, by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara, could sell for more than US$250,000 at the October sale

Hong Kong is to be the worldwide hub of Contemporary Asian Art sales for prestigious international auction house, Sotheby’s.

Until now, Sotheby’s has held auctions dedicated to this sector in four locations: Hong Kong, New York, London and Paris. Exceptional results achieved in Hong Kong are behind the decision that, from 2009, Sotheby’s will consolidate its existing worldwide dedicated sales of Contemporary Asian Art into two sales held twice yearly, in April and in October, in Hong Kong. The newly-consolidated sales will include exceptional works such as those from China, Japan, Korea and other Southeast Asian countries.

Commenting on the decision, Kevin Ching, CEO of Sotheby’s Asia, said that sales of Contemporary Asian Art had become increasingly successful in all of Sotheby’s international sales locations. “However, we have carefully reviewed the results of these auctions, and it has become increasingly evident that contemporary Asian works have consistently fetched the highest prices at auction in Hong Kong, which today is the third largest market globally for art at auction. Accordingly, we have decided to consolidate all existing dedicated sales of Contemporary Asian Art in Hong Kong, beginning next year, where we have seen the strongest concentration of Asian bidders and consignors.”

Spectacular growth

When Sotheby’s held its first sale of Contemporary Asian Art in Hong Kong in fall 2004, the total value of the sale was less than US$3 million. At its most recent sale, in spring 2008, the figure had risen to US$51 million.

A number of reasons were behind the massive growth, but Mr Ching said it is primarily due to the rising levels of personal wealth in the Chinese mainland and other emerging Asian economies, enabling people to become art collectors for the first time. Such buyers, he noted, would naturally look for works familiar to their culture; with interest first in traditional Chinese ink paintings, then in precious objects and collectibles. Now, he said, Asian collectors make up at least half of Sotheby’s buyers worldwide.

But apart from proximity to buyers, Hong Kong provides more key benefits to the auction house.

“Hong Kong is a very important auction centre,” Mr Ching said. “Its tax structure is simple, and there is still no VAT (Value Added Tax) or sales tax. Then, there is the convenient location, great shipping and logistics infrastructure. Hong Kong also has very liberal rules and regulations regarding the import and export of art objects, compared to some other countries.

“Hong Kong’s legal and judicial system is very sound and established. This is important as it protects buyers and sellers who enter into contractual arrangements. The corporate governance and decency that Hong Kong offers ensures that, for example, in the case of a defaulting buyer, the matter can be pursued in court and judgments are quick. In some countries, where the legal system is not so efficient, a legal claim may be not worth the paper it is written on. This is what makes Hong Kong what it is today.”

Global strategy

Sotheby’s will continue to hold pre-sale exhibitions of its Hong Kong sales in New York, another key geographic location.

Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art, added: “In our strategy for a global marketplace of contemporary art, we strongly believe in a consolidation of sales in Hong Kong to better serve the worldwide collecting community.”

Sotheby’s will hold its inaugural sale of Contemporary Asian Art on 4 Oct at 7:30pm. It will, for the first time, include fine art works from various Asian countries, including China.