Hong Kong showcase arts fairs attract multimillion dollar sales
Gallery dealers bring in big money at showcase fairs Art Basel and Art Central
An endless flow of champagne and celebrity sightings at Art Basel and Art Central helped the city sparkle over the weekend - but for art dealers, it was all about the sales.
Galleries showing at Art Basel, which closes on Tuesday, and at the first edition of satellite fair Art Central, which closed on Monday, reported satisfactory sales.
Multimillion US dollar artworks by modern period masters such as Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall at Art Basel were still waiting for collectors to take them home, but works with mid-market prices selling at or under six-digit figures were immensely popular.
Dealers said the strong US dollar against Japanese yen, Korean won, euro and Australian dollar had made buyers from these regions think twice before purchasing artworks.
However, they were glad to see a more international crowd from across Asia-Pacific and Europe, instead of a market dominated by buyers from mainland China, where spending on luxury goods has slumped.
Some Australian galleries at Art Basel said clients were pleased to see them pricing works in the weakened Australian dollar, but it meant they had to work harder to cover the costs of the exhibition.
Tim Etchells, Art Central's co-founder, said the four-day fair staged inside a 10,000 square metre tent by the Central harbourfront drew 30,000 visitors - about a third more than expected.
Restaurant and food stalls were jam-packed - one burger shop in the outdoor street food area sold more than 2,000 burgers at HK$100 each.
Etchells said he was pleased to see the public rubbing shoulders with top collectors such as Uli Sigg, Yana Peel and Thomas Shao during the fair. He also hoped to increase the number of exhibitors next year and expand the outdoor food area for "cool people to hang out". Among the 77 galleries, where 65 per cent came from Asia, Asian art appeared to be the most popular.
Zemack Contemporary Art, from Tel Aviv, exhibited at Art Central for the first time, showing paintings and sculptures.
The gallery's Shai Zemack said he sold half of the works at the booth priced between US$10,000 and US$50,000, and a sculpture entitled Crane by French artist Philippe Pasqua at US$120,000. "We will return next year," said Zemack. London's Albemarle Gallery returned to Hong Kong at Art Central, sharing a booth with Shine Artists.
Albemarle's sales director Alessandro Lorenzetti said works including sculptures by Korean artist Lee Jaehyo and photography by Jeff Robb sold well, at a range between US$6,000 and US$40,000.
Hong Kong gallerist Angela Li said works priced around US$10,000 to US$25,000 sold better than expected. "There is a large potential for mid-market artworks," Li said.
At the upper end of the market, multimillion-dollar sales were realised at Art Basel.
David Zwirner from New York and London sold pieces to mainland Chinese and Hong Kong collectors, including oil painting by German artist Neo Rauch at US$1 million to a Shanghai collector.
