Despite pre-opening jitters over the state of the Chinese economy, Art Basel Hong Kong has already reported brisk sales at its seventh edition, which opened to the public today.
With the region's growing wealth and appetite for art, art fairs like Art Basel Hong Kong, which opened to the public today, are big business, drawing collectors from China and across Asia, as well as farther afield. Of the 80,000 visitors expected at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 40,000 are coming from abroad, Art Basel said.
«The Art Market,» a report jointly published by Art Basel and UBS earlier in March noted that art fairs are highly important in Asia, with between 92 – 97 percent of HNWI collectors from Hong Kong and Singapore having purchased from an art fair in the past.
Almost 300 Galleries From 35 Countries
«It’s not just China – it’s Singapore, it’s Malaysia, it’s Taipei. It’s not one market,» Artnet quoted New York-based dealer Sean Kelly as saying about the fair, which has 242 galleries from 35 countries participating through the weekend.
«Increasingly, the market’s center of gravity does feel as if it is being pulled eastward,» Artnet reported from the exhibition floor, while Artnews reported «high energy» at the fair and quoted a dealer as saying, «The quality of this fair is now on par with the great European fairs. It is highly sophisticated.»
Swift Sales
The Art Newspaper also reported swift sales among the 107 galleries – 75 percent of which are Asian – at the Art Central fair concurrently taking place just around the corner from Art Basel. «Here at we’re meeting a lot of Australian and Chinese collectors. Hong Kong is a very good market,» a dealer exhibiting from the Philippines was quoted as saying.
Art Basel reported that sales already concluded include a significant work by Andy Warhol at White Cube for $2.85 million, a work by Alice Neel for $1.7 million at David Zwirner, and a painting by George Condo at Almine Rech Gallery for between $1.2 million to $1.4 million. David Zwirner sold its entire booth, including four new sculptures by Carol Bove for $400,000 to $500,000 each, on Wednesday, the first VIP day.
China Dominates
finews.asia previously reported that the global art market grew by 6 percent in 2018, reaching total sales of $67.4 billion – its second-highest level in 10 years.
Asia's has recorded a growing share of world imports of art and antiques in the past decade, which mirrors the growing regional wealth. In particular, sales in China reached $12.9 billion in 2018. China accounted for 45 percent of all art imports into Asia (compared to 17 percent in 2000), with 95 percent of these imports going into Hong Kong, according to «The Art Market» report.
