”Multipolar” or “Multilevel”: The rise of China’s art market
According to the “The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2024” released by Art Basel and United Bank of Switzerland (UBS), China’s art trade volume in 2023 was $12.2 billion, surpassing the United Kingdom’s $10.9 billion and ranking second in the world, approximately equivalent to 45% of the United States. 1 This seems to indicate that China’s art market has partially digested the impact of the COVID-19 and is moving towards a brighter future. Within Asia, China’s art market remains the largest market, and harbors significant potential. Hong Kong, serving as the center of art market in the Asia-Pacific region, not only hosts well-known auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s overseas branches, but also acts as a weathervane for the market globally. As the only developing country among the major art trade nations, China’s art market ecosystem is young and vibrant, forming different market levels compared to the United States. As a typical example among the “Global South” countries; the pattern of China’s art market may serve as a mirror for other countries and regions.
Since China’s reform and open policy, its art market began to take shape in the 1990s, and it has been just over thirty years to date. Chinese galleries and auction houses have adopted Western business methods and, alongside China’s economic boom, have created miracles in art market history. This was unexpected not only for practitioners far away in America and Europe, but also for ourselves. This means that the formation of China’s art trade preceded the study of market theory and the spread of art education. Behind these exciting figures, the Chinese art market also faces issues similar to those of most “Global South” countries, such as outdated art legislation and imperfect tax system for artworks.
The Guardian Art Center , Beijing’s new cultural landmark. The location of the famous China Guardian Auctions Co. Ltd
Unlike Japan’s frenzy over Western masters like Van Gogh in the 1980s, China’s art market shows a strong preference for traditional Chinese art. According to the “China Antiques & Artworks Auction Market Statistical Annual Report”, published by The Culture & Artworks Auction Committee of China Association of Auctioneers, in China’s auction market for 2022, Chinese Calligraphy & Painting accounted for $1.03 billion in turnover, representing 45.15% of the market share, while Porcelain and Jade Miscellaneous Items reached $630 million, representing 27.87% of the market share. Together, Chinese Calligraphy & Painting and Porcelain and Jade Miscellaneous Items accounted for 73.02% of the market share. The composition of China’s art market is primarily dominated by traditional Chinese artworks, andwith the main buyers are from Asia. Oil Paintings and Contemporary Art, which is the most important sector in the art markets of Europe and America and has the best international liquidity, accounted for only $260 million, or 11.30% of the market share. 2 Differences in Western and Eastern ideologies, along with objective factors such as tariffs, transportation, and insurance, have led to a misalignment between China and the US-centered Western art market mechanisms. It can be said that China’s art market has completed its process of internationalization but has not yet formed a global market identity.
Christie’s Beijing Art Center , at No. 82 Jinbao Street , Beijing
In recent years, the trend towards digitization in China’s art trade has become apparent, benefitting from the advanced development of internet technologies and the extensive coverage of logistics networks in China, this is also a continuation of self-help measures in the art market field during the pandemic control period. The rise of social media promotion and online auctions has attracted new buyers, and the widespread availability of logistics has broken down the regional disparities acrossvast China, reducing the costs of art transactions and gradually democratizing art collecting. Major Chinese auction houses like China Guardian and Beijing Poly have set up online auction sessions, which have proven to be quite profitable. This has become a characteristic of the Chinese market and an experimental plot for new trading models. However, at the same time, the development of Digital Art in China, such as NFT art, has almost stagnated, missing the opportunity to participate in construction of a global virtual art market. Thus, the technological revolution’s impact on China’s art market is one-sided, shaped by the choices of government and capital, and also reflects the interplay of Eastern and Western cultures in the art domain.
The current state of China’s art market represents an effective case of how “Global South” countries may participate in the construction of global art markets amid opportunities of booming emerging technologies and capital. It also suggests the possibility of the global art market transitioning from unipolar to multipolar structure.
The shaping of Eastern artwork identity and the exploration of new art trading mechanisms in the East Asian markets, represented by China, Japan, and Korea, are central to examining whether the Chinese art market can integrate into the global market. These efforts are also key to determining whether the global art market evolves into “multipolar” or “multilevel”.
Shaojie Wang
1 Clare McAndrew, The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2024. Art Basel and UBS. Switzerland.pp.4.
2 China Antiques & Artworks Auction Market Statistical Annual Report.The Culture & Artworks Auction Committee of China Association of Auctioneers. Beijing. pp24.
