Dec 16, 2013
New NY Times Story about Beijing Poly Group Auctions
A fine article, An Art
Power Rises in China, Posing Issue for Reform, on the Beijing Poly Group
Corporation's auction house (December 16, 2013). Link to article
The article describes the company as a state-run conglomerate that began life selling weapons for the People’s Liberation Army.
ARTICLE EXCERPTS OF NOTE:
There is no question, though, that Poly has not been as compliant as other houses with the industrywide effort to improve the accuracy of sales reporting….Unlike [China] Guardian and other houses, Poly refused for the past two years to allow the auction association to publish data on the individual works whose sales had not been paid for completely. On top of that, the auction association’s studies ultimately found that Poly is increasingly struggling with a nonpayment problem. In 2012, for example, the association found that, because of nonpayments, only 34 percent of the sales Poly reported for works valued at more than $1.6 million each were actually completed by May of the following year. By contrast, Guardian’s payment rate has improved, with 83 percent of sales completed last year, up from 53 percent….Auction houses account for an estimated 70 percent of the art sales in China, compared with roughly 50 percent in the United States, according to Arts Economics, a research company that studies the international market...Poly has its defenders, even among trade association officials seeking to clean up the market, and company officials say the study and critics are being unfair. “The government has a stricter policy on state-owned enterprises than on private enterprises,” said Zhao Xu, the executive director of the company. Either way, although Poly is just one of more than 350 Chinese art auction houses, its size and reach mean that no meaningful effort to address the irregularities can succeed without its participation. “In the Chinese art market,” said Nancy M. Murphy, an expert on Chinese art law and a lawyer at the Beijing firm Jincheng, Tongda & Neal, “Poly is the 800-pound gorilla in the room.”
The article describes the company as a state-run conglomerate that began life selling weapons for the People’s Liberation Army.
ARTICLE EXCERPTS OF NOTE:
There is no question, though, that Poly has not been as compliant as other houses with the industrywide effort to improve the accuracy of sales reporting….Unlike [China] Guardian and other houses, Poly refused for the past two years to allow the auction association to publish data on the individual works whose sales had not been paid for completely. On top of that, the auction association’s studies ultimately found that Poly is increasingly struggling with a nonpayment problem. In 2012, for example, the association found that, because of nonpayments, only 34 percent of the sales Poly reported for works valued at more than $1.6 million each were actually completed by May of the following year. By contrast, Guardian’s payment rate has improved, with 83 percent of sales completed last year, up from 53 percent….Auction houses account for an estimated 70 percent of the art sales in China, compared with roughly 50 percent in the United States, according to Arts Economics, a research company that studies the international market...Poly has its defenders, even among trade association officials seeking to clean up the market, and company officials say the study and critics are being unfair. “The government has a stricter policy on state-owned enterprises than on private enterprises,” said Zhao Xu, the executive director of the company. Either way, although Poly is just one of more than 350 Chinese art auction houses, its size and reach mean that no meaningful effort to address the irregularities can succeed without its participation. “In the Chinese art market,” said Nancy M. Murphy, an expert on Chinese art law and a lawyer at the Beijing firm Jincheng, Tongda & Neal, “Poly is the 800-pound gorilla in the room.”
Oct 29, 2013
Oct 28, 2013
Chinese Auction World Revealed
Another great NY Times article on the perils of the Chinese art market--this one designed for the web with very effective interactive components.
And a commentary on it that suggests the market is even more broken than the NY Times reported.China's Broken Art Market (Reuters blog by Felix Salmon)
And a commentary on it that suggests the market is even more broken than the NY Times reported.China's Broken Art Market (Reuters blog by Felix Salmon)
Oct 22, 2013
The Poly Group--China's State-owned Auction Giant
More news on the booming Chinese auction market, focusing on the state-owned Poly Group.
Oct 10, 2013
SOTHEBY'S FALL 2013 HK SALES BREAK RECORDS YET AGAIN
Yet another great sale year for Chinese art, both old and new:
Bloomberg's article has the details.
Yongle-period gilt-bronze figure of a seated Buddha. Sold for US$30.5 million
Ming, Chenghua-era “Palace” Bowl. Sold for US$18.2 million
"The Last Supper" (2001) by contemporary painter Zeng Fanzhi. Sold for US$23.3 million, a new record for a Chinese contemporary artist at auction.
Bloomberg's article has the details.
Yongle-period gilt-bronze figure of a seated Buddha. Sold for US$30.5 million
Ming, Chenghua-era “Palace” Bowl. Sold for US$18.2 million
"The Last Supper" (2001) by contemporary painter Zeng Fanzhi. Sold for US$23.3 million, a new record for a Chinese contemporary artist at auction.
Oct 4, 2013
Considerations for Insuring Your Art Collection
A thoughtful, but somewhat simplistic, article in the NY Times, October 4, 2013: With Prices High, Insuring Art a Risky Business
At least it suggests getting an outside opinion of value from someone other than your insurance agent, but does not actually advise consumers to seek valuation advice from appraisers (like me), who possess specialized training in determining appropriate levels of coverage for their needs.
At least it suggests getting an outside opinion of value from someone other than your insurance agent, but does not actually advise consumers to seek valuation advice from appraisers (like me), who possess specialized training in determining appropriate levels of coverage for their needs.
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