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Shanghai interest in arts grows SHANGHAI: In a city more associated with the colour of money than the colours on a canvas, a growing interest in the arts is making waves. Interest in art collecting is growing in Shanghai and neighbouring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, said Li Lei, vice-president of the Shanghai Institute of Oil Painting and Sculptures and one of the organizers of "Art Shanghai," which begins today. The four-day fair includes more than 6,000 works by Western artists and some Chinese contemporary painters, and will cater to the growing number of collectors with a taste for the lesser known works of Western masters and who may be willing to pay up to 1 million yuan (US$120,000) for them. This growing pool of customers has not gone unnoticed overseas. "Art Shanghai" has attracted more than 100 galleries and a similar number of artists from 11 countries. Organizers say the event, which was held for the first time in 2003, is one of the largest art fairs in the country and the largest in Shanghai. However, in this financial hub, much like the rest of China, modern and contemporary Western art is an acquired taste. When Christie's held its first pre-auction public viewing in Shanghai in 1993, the first on the Chinese mainland, it had on display impressionist works from European collections alongside Chinese art, said Ben Kong, Christie's Beijing representative. In subsequent viewings, the Western works were conspicuously absent. That changed at the turn of the century. In 2000, a Shanghai-based real estate development company paid a French gallery US$1 million for a sculpture by Rodin. Even more telling is the fact that purchases of that kind no longer make headlines. "In the past five years mainland collectors of Western art have matured as they learnt more about Western art history and the ups and downs at New York and London art markets," Li said. Auction houses are becoming busier and busier. The city's two largest auctioneers, namely Duoyunxuan Auction Co Ltd and Chongyuan Auction Co Ltd, have seen annual growth of more than 50 per cent in the past five years. The number of art fairs has also risen.There are more than 400 galleries in Shanghai which is playing a leading role in the growing interest in Western art. (China Daily 05/18/2005 page2) |
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