TIME,
Vol 150 No.9, September 1, 1997
Illustration
on the right of the picture:
Zeng
Mi’s Two Cows (far left)
and Comrade Captain No.3 by
Zhu Wei reflect traditional and pop styles of Chinese art.
The
Pleasures and Profits in Chinese Art
By
Meredith Berkman
Chinese
paintings are hot, hot, hot. Here are five rules that could make you a
prosperous patron of the arts.
In
the three years, landscapes by Li Huayi shot up from less than $4,000 to
$25,000.
In
Singapore last year, my husband and I bought a small painting by Wei
Dong, a Chinese artist who places postmodern, sometimes hermaphroditic
figures in serene classical landscapes. His works - usually political
parables - can be violent and almost misogynous. ("Too much raw
tissue," one critic says). My husband was skeptical (in fact, he
loathed the painting), but I admired Wei Dong’s controversial style
and his merging of old and new. To placate my husband, I assured him we
would be able to sell the piece - which cost us less than US$3,000 - for
a sizable profit in a very short time. A year later, Wei Dong’s work
sells respectably in Germany and Japan, but its highly doubtful we could
sell the painting at this point for more than we paid, even if we wanted
to (my husband does, I do not).
Welcome
to the unpredictable, highly subjective, intensely personal, frustrating
- and furiously growing - world of Chinese art. As China opens up its
cultural, as well as economic borders, gallery owners and museum
curators are exhibiting dozens of the country’s most talented artists,
sparking an international frenzy for mostly mainland Chinese art. Media
attention and consumer demand have inflated prices, while serious
collectors have been bidding up important works by modern masters (the
period loosely defined from the early 1900s to the mid-to-late 1980s).
Many
20th century paintings are now far beyond the means of a
middle income collector. Works by major living artists like Fang Zhaolin
can cost $50,000 or more, and paintings by the late Zhang Daqian,
considered the Chinese Picasso, can sell for $500,000 or more. If name
recognition is important and you’re willing to compromise on quality,
you can buy a minor work by a major artist for much less. Zhang Daqian,
who died in 1983, did thousands of sketches, studies, and small
paintings; some of them are still on the market, occasionally for as
little as $10,000. One caveat: You may want to hire an art adviser to
steer you away from the many Zhang Daqian forgeries. Zhang, himself an
occasional forger of old master paintings, has been frequently copied.
But
most buyers with limited budgets are betting on unknown contemporary
artists (young painters known as the "Post-’89 Group") whose
paintings can still be bought for less than $5,000. Even if you’re a
scholar of Chinese art, however - someone who has studied the venerable
two-thousand-year history of classical Chinese painting - you may have
trouble making sense of contemporary art’s wildly divergent styles.
They include everything from political pop art to the quiet
ink-and-brush paintings of traditional artists. What follows is an
art-lover’s guide to making a smart purchase in Chinese contemporary
painting. With a budget of $10,000 - and in many cases much less - you
can easily find paintings that satisfy both your aesthetic and
investment requirements.
RULE
ONE: BUY WHAT YOU LIKE
Ask
10 art aficionados what they think of a particular painter or painting
and you’ll almost certainly get 10 different answers. But if you ask
them for their best shopping advice, all tell you the same thing: Buy a
painting because you like it, not because you’ve heard that you
should. "Don’t just buy with your ears, buy with your eyes,"
advises Stephen McGuinness, the owner of Hong Kong’s respected Plum
Blossoms gallery. Reason: Art is a long-term investment at best, so
you’ll probably have to live with your choice for some time. Indeed,
you may never be able to sell at a profit.
RULE
TWO: PICK A REPUTABLE GALLERY
Where
you buy your paintings can be as important as what you buy. That’s
because a good gallery will do much of your work for you. Smart gallery
owners have already vetted the hundreds of available artists and chosen
to represent only those they believe are promising. In addition, a good
gallery will aggressively market the artists it represents, sponsoring
their shows and lobbying to have their work placed in important
exhibitions, fueling further interest in their work. "Only
promotion will make the artist famous," says Manfred Schoeni, owner
of Hong Kong’s Schoeni Gallery, who recently staged a group exhibit at
the Kowloon Joyce Boutique store. "If there’s no demand, the
price won’t go up."
Galleries
specializing in Chinese contemporary art have sprung up all over Asia -
in Taiwan, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and a few in Shanghai and Beijing -
but most are based in Hong Kong. Among the most respected, apart from
Schoeni and Plum Blossoms, are Hanart TZ and Zee Stone Gallery. Alisan
Fine Arts, whose owners, Alice King, is the sister of Hong Kong Chief
Executive Tung Chee-hwa, specializes in the work of Chinese artists
living overseas, although the gallery is moving into mainland art.
Magazines like Orientations and
Arts of Asia can provide you
with the names of other galleries and art dealers.
Pick
a gallery where you feel comfortable, and don’t be afraid to ask
questions. Find out who owns the gallery. Has he or she studied art
history or is the owner simply a retailer? Ask questions about
particular artists. Where are they from? Where were they trained? This
can give you an insight into their styles: For example, Beijing artists
are generally more political than Hangzhou artists, who, thanks to the
fine arts academy there, might display more western influence in their
work. How - and where - have they been selling?
RULE
THREE: TEACH THYSELF
While
a reputable gallery will do some of your homework, a smart shopper must
do the rest. You need to make yourself knowledgeable on the subject of
Chinese art. "You have to pound the pavement," says art
consultant Mee Seen Loong, the former managing director of Sotheby’s
Hong Kong. "Go to auctions. Go to exhibitions. Go to gallery
openings."
Warns
Christina Chu, curator of Chinese painting and calligraphy at the Hong
Kong Museum of Art: "There are masses and masses of kitsch, and a
high price has nothing to do with whether a painting is good or
not." Violetta Wong, head of the Chinese painting department at
Christie’s Hong Kong, says that Chinese and Western paintings should
initially be judged the same way: a good work is balanced, expressive,
and pleasing. But there’s also a more spiritual element that’s not
so easy to define: "Chinese paintings need something else - a
feeling of elegance, of artistic literacy," she says.
Art-history
texts like Joan Lebold Cohen’s The
New Chinese Painting 1949-1986, (Harry N. Abrams, 1987, $19.95) or
Michael Sullivan’s Art and
Artists of 20th-Century China (University of California
Press, $65.00) provide good overviews on the subject. So do
museum-published books (and exhibition catalogues) like the Boston
Museum of Fine Arts’ Tailes
form the land of Dragons: 1000 years of Chinese Painting ($65.00) or
Hanart TZ Gallery’s China’s
New Art Post-1989 ($129.10). Asian art magazines - and even general
- interest art magazines - can provide you with information about
particular styles and artists.
Since
Chinese art is frequently sold at auction by major houses like
Christie’s and Sotheby’s (both in Asia and in the West), studying
their catalogues - past and present - and attending previews and sales
are important ways to see what’s available and to track art-market
trends. Of course, auctions are also a place to buy, and even collectors
with limited budgets should not rule them out. If you’re lucky and you
know your Chinese art, you can even end up with a name-brand bargain.
"The estimated price [in the catalogue] depends on the market but
it also depends on our agreement with the owner," Wong says.
"Some either don’t know much or they want to sell quickly."
A low estimate will hold down the bids." (For more on buying at
auction, see the story on page 5.)
RULE
FOUR: GET IN EARLY
Even
if you’re not buying to make a profit, it’s immensely satisfying to
identify an artist on the rise. Three years ago, ink-on-paper paintings
by Zhu Wei - known for his huge-headed figures and political themes -
sold for as little as $1,500. Within months, Zhu Wei had become the most
talked-about artist of the Post-’89 Group. His paintings now start at
$4,000.
The
trick, of course, is figuring out which artists are likely to break out
of the pack months or years before they do. "Ask yourself, ‘Will
this artist have any influence on the trend he presents?,’"
advises Hanart’s owner Chang Tsong Zung. "If not now, then in the
future?" Pay attention to the important art shows. Inclusion in
exhibitions such as New York’s annual Asian Art Fair (held in March)
can be good indicators of an artist’s future success. "You can
analyze an artist just as you would stocks," advises Loong.
"Is this the sort of painting that would appeal to a wide range of
people? Is it controversial or mainstream?" Figurative paintings
are safer bets than abstract paintings; decorative pieces are more
salable than darker, more complicated works.
At
the moment, Hong Kong galleries are doing a brisk business in works
depicting Hong Kong’s reunification with China, since people feel
they’re buying a piece of history. A Hanart artist, Han Xin, did an
entire humorous series involving former Governor Chris Patten and an
accordion-playing Chinese president Jiang Zemin. But the market for such
works is largely local. Manfred Schoeni warns it could take some time
before topical works like these catch on abroad, a prerequisite for
higher prices. Violetta Wong of Christie’s - which held its first
auction of contemporary works in 1991 - worries that the sheer volume of
these paintings suggests that the genre is more commercially driven than
artistically motivated. "Before, these artists could only finish
one or two paintings a year," she says. "They’re working too
quickly now because the market demand is so high. If you want to buy one
of these paintings, make sure that technique and training show in the
work."
Paying
the premium to buy the work of a well-known artist is a smart move only
if you want to reduce your investment risk. It’s more likely that such
an artist will have a strong secondary market, points out Mee Seen Loong.
"If you decide you’re no longer interested, you know there’s
someone else willing to buy it from you." But don’t get too swept
up by an artist current popularity. The "Four Wus," a group of
Shanghai painters of the 1930s, were so successful during that period
that there were waiting lists to buy their work. Today, says McGuinness,
"you couldn’t give one of their paintings away."
RULE
FIVE: DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE TRADITIONAL
Paintings
by artists working in the traditional style are often less expensive
than pop art. Eventually, however, they could have a much higher resale
value.
Dismissed
by some collectors as boring or difficult to differentiate, these
classic ink-on-paper works - some of them black-and-white, others
splashed with strong colors - can be subtle and subdued, and also
strikingly beautiful. "Traditional art," explains Wong of
Christie’s, "has been proven by time."
Some
experts believe that as mainland Chinese collectors enter the market,
they will most likely gravitate towards these historically evocative
works. The experts also speculate that non-mainland buyers will
eventually want to balance out their heavily modern collections.
Interestingly, the quiet landscapes or simple scenes of country life can
be noticeably modern, integrating hints of western-style abstraction or
surrealism.
The
rise of a traditional artist can be just as rapid - and just as
unexpected - as the ascent of a pop counterpart. For example, in the
past three years, remarkable landscapes by Li Huayi - a Chinese artist
who has been living in the United States and whose east-meets-west works
had never appeared at auction before - have skyrocketed in price from
less than $4,000 to at least $25,000. Li Huayi, in fact, was recently
the subject of a solo exhibition at New York’s Kaikodo Gallery.
Finding
the next Li Huayi isn’t easy, but you can buy an affordable work by an
experienced traditional artist with a solid reputation. The rules for
picking the right painting are virtually the same as they are for any
expressionist or pop work: Study the artist’s background, consider the
opinions of experts, but in the end buy something you think is
beautiful. An artist like Zeng Mi - a 62-year-old painter working in the
xieyi or "free
expression" style - is a good place to start. With average prices
starting at about $2,500, Zeng’s quietly powerful work is considered
extremely undervalued by people like the Hong Kong Museum of Art’s
Christina Chu, who praises Zeng Mi for his "purity of brush and
ink."
Clearly,
Chinese art should be approached in a thoughtful and methodical way. You
may not always make big profits from your purchases, but remember: A
painter is only a bad investment if you don’t enjoy seeing it on your
wall.
美国《时代周刊》金钱特刊，1997年9月1日金钱收藏
图片说明文字：
曾宓的两头牛，和朱伟的上尉同志之三，反映了中国美术的传统和流行风格。
中国艺术收藏中的乐趣和收益
作者：米尔蒂斯-伯克曼
中国画现在是热，热，热。下面是美术收藏致富的五条规则。
去年在新加坡，我丈夫和我买了一幅魏东的小画，魏东是一个中国画家，他把后现代的，有时是雌雄同体的形象置于平静的古典山水中。他的作品
- 经常是政治寓言
- 有时是暴力的和厌恶女人的。（“太多草纸了，”一个批评家说）。我丈夫充满怀疑（事实上他讨厌那画），但我钦佩魏东富争议的风格和他的古今融合。为安抚我丈夫，我向他保证我们可以卖掉这幅画
- 我们花了不到3000美金 -
在短时间内挣一笔可观的数目。一年后，魏东的作品在德国和日本都卖得很好，但我们还是不太可能在那时把画以高于买价出手，既使我们想卖（我丈夫想，我不）。
欢迎来到难以预测的、高度主观的、强烈个人的、令人沮丧的
- 并疯狂猛涨的
- 中国美术世界。随着中国开放它的文化和经济边界，画廊主和美术馆长们都争相展出这个国家最有才华的美术家，点燃了全世界对主要是来自大陆的中国美术的狂热。媒体的关注和市场需求使价格狂飙，同时严肃的收藏家不惜血本收集现代大师的重要作品（现代大约定义为1900年代初到1980年代末的时期）。
很多20世纪的绘画作品已经远远超出了中等收入收藏家的承受范围。象方兆麟这样的尚在世的重要画家可以卖到五万美金或更多，而号称中国毕加索的张大千的作品则五十万美金起。如果你愿意买名字而在质量上做些让步，你也能以低得多的价钱买一幅知名画家的不知名作品。张大千，卒于1983年，生前画过上千幅素描，习作，和小幅作品；一部分依然在市场流通，有时一万美金有售。给你一个忠告：你可能需要雇一个艺术顾问帮你辨别大量张大千作品的赝品。张的作品经常被仿造，张本人偶尔也赝造古代大师的作品。
但大多数预算有限的买家都将他们的筹码压在还不知名的年轻美术家身上（那些被称作“后89群”的年轻画家），他们的作品还可以低于五千美金的价格买到。就算你是一个研究中国美术的学者
- 研究过中国两千年来璀璨的古典绘画史
- 你也不一定能从当代绘画大相径庭的风格中看出门道来。它们几乎无所不包，从政治性流行美术到静谧的传统笔墨画。下文可视为美术爱好者指南，可帮助你挑选中国当代绘画。如果你有个一万美金的预算
- 在很多情况下可以少得多
- 你很容易找到既能满足你审美需要又能满足你投资要求的作品。
规则一：买你喜欢的
问十个狂热美术爱好者他们怎样看同一个美术家，你多半会得到十个完全不同的答案。但如果你问他们对你买画的忠告，所有人会给你同一个答案：你买一幅画因为你喜欢它，而不是有人告诉你你应该买。“别用耳朵买画，用你的眼睛，”斯蒂芬-麦克吉尼斯建议道，斯蒂芬是香港备受推崇的万玉堂画廊老板。原因是：美术最好是长期投资，所以你很可能要对着你买的画过很长时间，甚至你可能永远都不能盈利出手。
规则二：选择一家有信誉的画廊
在哪里买往往跟你买什么同样重要。因为一个好画廊能帮你做很多原本需要你自己做的工作。聪明的画廊主业已审查过上百个画家，并从中挑选他认为确有可为的画家来代理。而且一家好画廊会非常积极地推销它所代理的画家，资助他们开个展，尽量把他们的作品送到重要的展览参展，扩大买家对他们作品的兴趣。“只有推广才能让一个画家成名，”香港师尼画廊的老板曼福来德-师尼说道，他刚在九龙的Joyce专卖店组织了一个群展。“没有需求，价格就上不去。”
专门代理中国当代美术的画廊现在在亚洲遍地开花
- 台湾，新加坡，吉隆坡，上海和北京的几家
- 但大多数在香港，其中最受尊重的，除了师尼和万玉堂，还有汉雅轩和Z石画廊，埃丽森工艺美术，它的老板埃丽丝-金是香港特首董建华的妹妹，她专门代理居于海外的中国美术家的作品，现在也转向大陆的画家。诸如《方向》杂志和《亚洲美术》也会提供其他画廊和美术掮客的名字。
选择一间让你感觉舒服的画廊，别怕问问题。了解谁是画廊老板，她/他是否学过美术史还是仅仅是零售商？问一些关于一个具体画家的问题。他们是哪儿的人？受过什么训练？这可以让你深入了解他们的风格：例如，北京的美术家们比杭州的美术家们更关心政治，而来自杭州的画家们，因当地美术学院的原因，作品受西方影响更多。还有他们的作品一直在哪里—以及如何—销售？
规则三：教授你自己
在一间有信誉的画廊可以帮你做一部分工作的同时，一个聪明的买家必须作剩下的功课。你必须对中国美术有一定知识。“你得投石问路，”艺术顾问龙美仙说，龙美仙是前香港苏世比拍卖行的董事经理。“去看拍卖会，参观展览，参加画廊开幕式。”
克里斯蒂娜-朱，香港艺术博物馆中国书法和绘画分馆长，警告道：“有大量劣质品存在，而高价并不说明一件作品的优劣。”香港克里斯蒂拍卖行中国画部部长维奥莱塔-黄说，首先应该用同样的方法鉴赏中国画和西洋画：好作品应该是和谐的，有表现力的，且赏心悦目的。但也有一些精神上的元素不那么容易定义：“中国画还需要其他的一些元素
- 一种高雅的和有艺术修养的感觉。”
美术史课本象琼-科恩的《新中国绘画1949-1986》，（哈里-N-阿卜拉姆斯出版社，1987，$19.95）或麦克尔-苏里文的《中国20世纪的美术和美术家》（加州大学出版社，$65.00）都有对这个课题很好的综述。同样还有美术馆出版的书籍（和展览会目录）如波士顿工艺美术博物馆出的《龙之地的故事：中国绘画1000年》（$65.00）或者还有汉雅轩画廊出的《后1989中国新美术》（$129.10）。亚洲美术类杂志 -
甚至普通艺术杂志 -
都能为你提供有关具体画家或作品风格的知识。鉴于主要的拍卖行如苏世比和克里斯蒂（亚洲及世界各地的）经常拍卖中国美术作品，研究它们的目录-
过去的和现在的 -
参加它们的预拍和拍卖会是使你了解能买到什么和跟踪美术趋势的重要途径。当然，拍卖会也是一个卖场，就算预算有限的收藏者也不应把它排除在外。如果你幸运并且知道你要什么的话，你也可能最后用协议价成交。“（目录里的）估价不光依据市场而且依据我们和卖方的协议，”维奥莱塔-黄说，“有些卖家要么不了解市场要么急于出售。”低估价会抑制叫价。（有关如何在拍卖会购买，请参阅本期第五页的文章。）
规则四：尽早介入
即使你买画不是为了盈利，能捕捉到一个正在上升期的画家也给你带来极大的满足。三年前，朱伟
- 以他的大头像和政治主题而著名
- 的纸墨画最低才卖1500美金。仅只几个月时间，朱伟就成了后89群中最常被提及的画家。他的作品现在至少卖4000美金。
窍门当然就在想办法提前数月或数年预测哪些画家能脱颖而出。“问问你自己，‘这个画家对他所代表的趋势有无影响力？，’”哈纳德画廊老板张宗曾建议道，“如果现在还没有，将来会不会有？”关注重要的画展。能参加诸如纽约亚洲艺术年展（三月举行）的展览可作为一个画家有成功前途的有力参照。“你可以用分析股票的方法分析画家，”龙美仙建议说，“这是否那种可以打动很多不同类型人的画？它属于具争议性的还是主流的？”具象的画要比抽象的画保险，有装饰性的作品比暗色调的难懂的作品好卖。
当前香港的画廊对那些描写香港回归的画作趋之若鹜，因为人们觉得他们是在买一段历史。汉雅轩代理的一个画家韩星创作了一系列包括前港督彭定康和拉手风琴的中国主席江泽民的幽默作品。但这种作品的市场多半仅限于本地。曼弗莱德-师尼警告说这种时事作品可能需要很长时间才能吸引海外市场，而海外市场又是能卖高价的先决条件。克里斯蒂的维奥莱塔-黄 -
克里斯蒂从91年起拍卖当代作品 -
担心这种作品的大量出现暗示这个流派只是商业驱使，而不是出于艺术动机。“以前这些美术家一年才能完成一两幅作品，”她说，“但现在旺盛的市场需求致使他们画得太快。如果你想买这种作品你就得挑能反映出作者技巧和功力的作品。”
只有在你想尽量降低投资风险时，花额外的钱去购买一个知名画家的作品才是聪明之举。因为这种画家更可能有活跃的二手市场。龙美仙指出：“如果你对它不再感兴趣，总有其他人会愿意买你的收藏。”但不要对一个画家当前的声望过于激动。1930年代有“四吴”，是四个上海美术家，他们在当时如此之成功，以至于买他们的作品都要排队等候。可如今，麦柯吉尼斯说，“他们的作品一幅都没人要。”
规则五：不要低估传统派绘画
传统风格的作品往往比流行作品便宜。但最终它们可能有高得多的转售价值。
尽管有些收藏者因它们枯燥或难以区分风格而把它们排除在外，但这些古典的纸墨作品
- 有些是黑白的，有些则是重彩的
- 也可能非常细致而柔和，异常之美丽。“传统派绘画，”柯里斯蒂的黄小姐解释道，“是经过时间考验的。”
有些专家相信，当中国大陆的收藏家进入市场后，他们最有可能被这些能唤起历史记忆的作品所吸引。这些专家还推测大陆以外的买家最终也想平衡他们过多的现代作品收藏。有趣的是，静谧的山水画或简单的乡村生活画面也可以是现代的，融入西方的抽象风格和超现实主义。
一个传统派画家也可能象搞流行的同行们一样迅速地
- 超乎意外地
- 崛起。举例而言，在过去三年里，一个旅居美国的中国画家，他的东西方结合的作品从没在拍卖会上出现过，李华一不同凡响的山水画标价从不到4000美金飙升至25000美金。事实上李华一就是最近在纽约凯克多画廊举办的一个展览上的话题。
要找到下一个李华一不容易，但你能买到一幅一个富有经验和可靠声誉的传统派画家可承受的作品。挑选一幅正确的传统派绘画的法则和挑选印象派或流行作品的一样：研究画家的背景，考虑专家的建议，但最重要是挑你觉得漂亮的。象62岁的写意风格画家曾宓就是一个很好的起点。平均价格才不到2500美金，曾宓那平静而有力的作品被诸如香港美术馆的克里斯蒂娜-朱 -
她评价曾的画为“笔墨的纯境”-
等人认为严重低估了。
显然，必须用一种深思熟虑的和有系统的方式去接近中国美术。你不一定总能从购买中盈利，但请记住：只有买一幅你压根不想看见它挂在你墙上的画才是失败的投资。
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