In autumn 2011, calligraphy and painting became the focus

This autumn auction accompanied a turbulent economic environment as scheduled. Although the Chinese art market has repeatedly created astronomical prices in recent years, the shadow of the financial crisis in 2008 on the art market has not completely dispersed. The various drawbacks behind the prosperity are even more apparent. The industry is worried for a moment. Will the market be affected by the global financial climate and how far can the Chinese art market go? The one-month Yachang Art Monitoring Center’s fourth-quarter survey on Chinese art confidence, combined with Hong Kong’s Sotheby’s autumn auction results, revealed the following information in this autumn’s art auction market.

Confidence survey shows that autumn auction prices are still bullish. People's high confidence in the economic situation and the price trend of art is one of the important factors supporting market conditions. According to the Yachang Art Market Monitoring Center's survey on the art market confidence in the fourth quarter of 2011, the survey participants believe that the impact of the economic environment, the survey participants believe that the trend of art prices in the fourth quarter is better, although compared to the second quarter of the spring auction The 82.93% rise in confidence plummeted to 56.13%, and the rising tone still dominated the mainstream. It can be seen that most people are still optimistic about the art market.

Hong Kong-based Sotheby's, as a benchmark for the art market, kicked off its autumn shoot, and its auction results immediately became the focus of attention. What is gratifying is that although it did not extend the strong upward momentum this spring, it was a better signal than the 2008 auction results. From October 1st to 6th, Hong Kong Sotheby’s sold more than 3,000 auction items in 12 auctions, with a total turnover of HK$3.2 billion, easily exceeding the valuation of HK$2.7 billion.

From the timing of purchase, some survey participants believe that it is not currently suitable to purchase artworks. The survey results show that only 48.78% of the people in the spring auction are considered suitable for purchasing artwork. In the fourth quarter, this proportion further dropped to 47.74%. The reason for this situation is that, on the one hand, it is affected by the global financial climate, and on the other, the rising price of high-end art has caused traditional collectors to stay away.

Paintings and calligraphy replace porcelain as a focal point. Concern over the decline of contemporary art This quarter, in terms of the selection of artworks, people’s attention has also changed. Since the autumn of 2010, porcelain has been of the highest concern, and this fall has been replaced by painting and calligraphy. The most attention paid to Chinese modern paintings and calligraphy and ancient paintings was 30.20% and 20.39%, respectively, and the porcelain attention dropped from 26.09% during spring shoots to 10.59%. The percentage of people concerned about early oil paintings also increased slightly, from 8.70% in the second quarter to 10.20%. The attention of contemporary art has dropped from 21.74% in the second quarter to 9.46%. It can be seen that during the period of economic turmoil, collections are more conservative and rational. In order to reduce risks, traditional art boutiques and value-fixed auctions become the first choice for investment protection.