MORE Chinese collectors are collecting Western art in recent years, a trend that may change the landscape of the global art market.

    According to the Nanfang Daily, several local auction houses in Guangdong are introducing Western artwork at their sales. For example, Holly’s Auctions has launched a special section of works on paper from European art masters during its upcoming autumn sale, the first of its kind nationwide.

    Canton Treasure Auction has put forward a special section of “oil painting, sculpture and prints” during its contemporary art auction. According to the head of its oil painting department, oil painting collecting is a trend we will see in the future, because “Chinese painting is our country’s tradition while oil painting is international.”

    According to the Nanfang Daily, Wang Yefu, the executive director of Holly’s Auctions, said that now China is integrating with the world in all respects, and the art world is no exception. “Internationalization can widen art dealer’s choices. For example, if a collector buys a Rodin sculpture, later it can be traded on the international auction market in New York, France or London.”

    Chinese buyers have been acquiring more famous Western pieces such as the purchase by Dalian Wanda Group chairperson Wang Jianlin of Picasso’s “Claude and Paloma” in 2013. Wang Zhongjun, a movie mogul, bought a US$62 million Van Gogh painting from Sotheby’s last year. Chinese collector Liu Yiqian bought Amedeo Modigliani’s 1917 signature portrait of a nude woman for US$170.4 million at Christie’s in New York earlier this year, setting a record for the Italian artist’s works.

    According to an expert from Christie’s, a new generation of collectors is rising, many of whom have experience studying overseas and have been exposed to Western culture and art for quite a long time. These new collectors do not restrict themselves to Asian art and in fact have a preference for Western art.

    Some experts say that from the perspective of investment, domestic art prices have increased dramatically in the last decade, and risks are rising too. Contemporary Western art prices are increasing steadily, and they still have a relatively high potential for going up.

    Some also say that owing to the rising number of counterfeits in the domestic market, buying art pieces from big international auction houses is less risky.

    (SD-Agencies)