The only spring auction in the mainland in the first half of this year - China Guardian Spring Auction closed in late June. The transaction results may not be as good as in previous years, but they did not exceed the expectations of industry insiders.
In the first half of 2022, the epidemic disrupted the rhythm of auctioneers, especially the two art markets and collection centers of Beijing and Shanghai. It is difficult for auction companies to collect and operate items, resulting in the spring auctions of almost all auction houses being postponed to July and August. Only China Guardian successfully completed the spring auction in the last few days of the first half of the year. China Guardian has rushed to hold the spring auction in the first half of the year under adversity, perhaps in order to provide a full operation cycle for the second half of the year and ensure that the autumn auction can perform better. Looking back at China Guardian's previous operating data, the total transaction volume of its autumn auctions in the past seven years has been higher than that of the spring auctions that year.
This "hard-won" spring auction indicates the latest trends in the market.
China Guardian Spring Auction 2022
High price lots determine the total transaction volume
China Guardian's total transaction volume reached 1.471 billion yuan in this season's spring auction. After the auction ended, Hu Yanyan, President of Jiade, left a message on her Moments: "In the past ten years, there have been 14 Spring and Autumn auctions with more than 2 billion yuan in a single season, and 6 of less than 2 billion yuan... Thank you, you know that this year's spring auction is hard-won."
In fact, compared with the transaction situation of previous spring and autumn auctions, the total transaction volume of this year's spring auctions has been at the bottom of the 26 major auctions since the 2009 autumn auction. Even the 2020 Spring Auction transaction volume of 1.589 billion yuan was postponed to August during the epidemic lockdown, which was 7.43%, and the 36.79% decrease compared with the 2.327 billion yuan last year. Several high-priced lots sold at
can often determine the total transaction amount. Jiade did not sell more than 100 million yuan in the spring auction this year, and only 17 items exceeded 10 million yuan. The performance was not as good as in previous years, and it was precisely because of the lack of high-value fine arts. We can also find out one or two from the comparison of the table below.
Comparison of some transactions in China's Guardian Auction (Data source: Yachang Art Network)
No items sold in the 2020 and 2021 Guardian Spring Auction did not exceed 100 million yuan, while 19 items sold in the 2020 Spring Auction had 19 items sold in the 2020 Spring Auction, and 26 items sold in the 2021; 2020 Guardian Autumn Auction had 2 items sold in the 37 items sold in the 100 million yuan, with a total transaction of 2.324 billion yuan; 1 item sold in the 2021 autumn auction had 2 items sold in the 25 items sold in the 100 million yuan, with a total transaction of 2.893 billion yuan. The autumn auctions are better than the spring auctions, which shows the necessity of Jiade's early spring auctions and ensuring the autumn auctions this time.
Qi Baishi "Jia Couple Picture" vertical scroll colored paper 201×100cm
transaction price: 55.2 million
Fu Baoshi "Drunk Monk Picture" vertical scroll colored paper 104.5×61cm
transaction price: 20.125 million
In addition, the number of lots sold and sold also affects the transaction volume. In 2022, the Jiade Spring Auction sold 4,167 lots, 3,710 items sold in 2020, and 5,604 items sold in the Spring Auction last year. It is obvious that the average transaction price of lots in the 2022 spring auction is lower than that of the previous two years, that is, the average transaction price of lots this year is relatively low.
The proportion of the mainland modern and contemporary art sector increased
Observation of the specific sectors of this Jiade Spring Auction, Chinese calligraphy and painting accounted for 41.20% of the total transaction volume, the transaction volume of the 20th century art and contemporary art (or modern and contemporary art) sector accounted for 25.08%, and the antique porcelain sector accounted for 13.05%.
Among them, the calligraphy and painting sector accounted for 56.64% of the 2020 Spring Auction, which is not much different from the 40.22% of the 2021 Spring Auction; the modern and contemporary art sector increased by 14.47% compared with the 2020 Spring Auction, which is slightly less than the 26.64% of the same sector in the 2021 Spring Auction; the antique porcelain sector is not much different from the 2020 Spring Auction 13.78% and the 2021 Spring Auction 15.77% of the 2021 Spring Auction. Compared with ten years ago, the proportion of Chinese calligraphy and painting transactions in the 2012 Jiade Spring Auction was 55.49%, while the proportion of modern and contemporary art sector was only 7.47%. Obviously, the proportion of Chinese calligraphy and painting in auctions in the past two years has decreased significantly compared with the past, while the proportion of modern and contemporary art sector has increased by more than triple.
Fang Lijun "Series 2 (Fourth)" 1992
oil paintings on canvas 200×200cm
transaction price: 63.825 million
Liu Wei "Family Photo" 1992
oil paintings on canvas 200×200cm
transaction price: 57.5 million
significant increase in the proportion of Jiade modern and contemporary art sector is consistent with the changes in the sectors of the two major international auctions in Hong Kong. In recent years, Sotheby's and Christie's in Hong Kong have been trying their best to explore and promote the modern and contemporary art sector, with the purpose of adapting to new market demands and supplementing the insufficient trading volume of traditional art products. Sotheby's 2022 Spring Auction Contemporary Arts sector transaction volume accounted for 40.50%, while Christie's 2022 Spring Auction Contemporary Arts sector transaction volume accounted for 54.03%, both far exceeding the share of Jiade in the same sector.
Hong Kong Christie's has spared no effort in expanding modern and contemporary art. In the 2014 spring auction, the proportion of the modern and contemporary art sector was 25.74%. Compared with 2014, the proportion of the modern and contemporary art sector in the 2022 spring auction has more than doubled, and the corresponding decrease in the proportion is the Chinese calligraphy, painting, porcelain and handicraft sectors. The practice of leading overseas auction houses to significantly increase the weight of modern and contemporary art markets has also led to the improvement of relevant sectors in the mainland auction market.
Zhang Enli "Painting Exhibition" 2008
oil painting on canvas 250×200cm
Transaction price: 4.715 million
Ding Yanyong "Bottle Flower" 1971
oil painting on canvas 250×200cm
oil painting on canvas 250 million
61×46cm
Transaction price: 6.67 million
Young artists are sought after by the market
In this Jiade Spring Auction, the number of ancient calligraphy and painting and modern calligraphy and painting masterpieces was obviously insufficient. In addition to the insufficient collection time caused by epidemic prevention restrictions, it is mainly because collectors who hold high-value calligraphy and painting masterpieces are unwilling to take action, reluctant to give up or afraid of low-priced photos; and in the modern and contemporary art sector, affected by the change in collection concepts in recent years, the transaction of realistic oil paintings and previous high-priced works seems to have encountered a dilemma. Some people are reluctant to sell, while others are eager to sell at high prices. What is more popular in the field of contemporary art are the works of young artists with development potential in the price depression. In recent years, the fact that a group of young artists’ works have been setting records of the highest transaction price in their works at auction fully demonstrates this.
Qin Qi "Just" 2005
Oil Painting on Canvas 190×143cm
Sold Price: 2.53 million
In the future, artists who can be signed by large galleries have more novel themes, with a sense of design and popular styles such as international fashion, and have new era characteristics such as digital and animation art. These high-quality and low-priced art may attract more attention. This is more in line with the artistic tastes that have emerged in recent years, which are loved by young collectors with international perspectives. The future art market may be as Mr. Chen Dongsheng, the founder of China Guardian and famous art collector, said in his message on his circle of friends after the spring auction: "Contemporary art will gradually become the super main sector of the Chinese art market."
It is said that Taikang Space, an art collection agency under Taikang Life Insurance, also purchased some contemporary art works at this Jiade Spring Auction.
mid-Qing Dynasty Chen Mansheng's book, Yang Pengnian's main model of the stone Luo'an, W: 14cm
Transaction price: 2.07 million
Ming Xuande Cloisonné enamel, lotus pattern watercheng H: 11cm
Transaction price: 1.265 million
It is worth thinking about is that some old collectors who originally held traditional realistic oil paintings are also changing their collection concepts. While selling the original collection at a high price, they also bought works by young artists. If we only consider the investment effect of art, according to a sampling comparison made by Artron Art Network in 2021, the art products with the best investment returns in recent years are modern and contemporary art and porcelain, not calligraphy and painting varieties; and the price range of art works with the best annual compound yield is between 50,000 and 500,000 and 500,000-1 million yuan. Due to the limitations of sample collection, perhaps these data may not be very accurate and comprehensive, but may explain some phenomena. At this time, selling high and buying low seems to meet the basic rules of artistic investment.
Tibet 14th century Copper gilt gilt statue (inlaid silver gemstone) H: 33.8cm
Transaction price: 9.775 million
China Guardian has always been recognized by the industry as a leading enterprise in mainland auction houses in terms of corporate brand, corporate history and scale, or operation compliance. The transaction status of its annual pre-auction auction has also become a weather vane for the mainland art market. The lack of confidence in collectors, insufficient supply of goods, and insufficient buying spirit reflected in this Jiade Spring Auction may indicate that it may be difficult for the mainland art market to exceed the transaction volume and transaction volume in 2022.
Editing｜Yuyi
Proofreading | Jiaqi
Pictures｜China Jiade
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