A family with the peculiar arts gene

Alex Chang Yi-hsiu has been in the auction business for more than two decades, attributing his career to his great interest in arts, as well as his family which also enjoys and collects art.

He worked for an art gallery in Taiwan for almost eight years after graduating with a major in mechanical engineering, before jumping ship to global British auction giant Christie's in Beijing, where he had worked for nearly five years.

Chang was invited to join Poly Auction (Hong Kong) last year to develop the market due to his excellent sales performance with Christie's.

He says those aiming to have a go in the art auction business need to be passionate and curious about arts and create more opportunities to get in touch with the industry themselves.

"You may have to spend a great deal of time appreciating art shows, doing research about the industry, talking to the people who are involved."

Recalling the time when he started working in the art gallery, Chang said he once wrote an email to the chief editor of an art magazine in Taiwan as he was very interested in an article. Recently, when he met the editor, he could still remember the email from Chang.

Chang describes the auction house business as quite dynamic and fast-paced, and people have to be really always willing to learn new things.

He says their analysis of each seasonal sale had always surprised him as there was always new information emerging, such as clients' preferences for arts and new findings about the pieces of art.

Chang spent most of the time talking to clients and, during business trips and in his spare time which, according to him, is rare, he tries to do meditation to rest.

"Imagine you only have two to three months to prepare for one seasonal sale, you need to talk with clients, arrange all the art pieces, coordinate different departments, and do the marketing. Your spare time is really limited."

As for his preference in arts, Chang says he loved modern and contemporary arts and oil paintings more when he was younger but, as time goes by, he has turned to antiques and calligraphy.

Poly Auction (Hong Kong) employs more than 70 staff, and Chang says he's happy that his colleagues are relatively young and willing to learn. The company plans to hire more people from different backgrounds and regions in future.

tingduan@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 10/20/2017 page19)