- Title: CHINA-ART/CHRISTIES AUCTION PREVIEW Christie's opens new Shanghai auction house
- Date: 22nd October 2014
- Summary: SHANGHAI, CHINA (OCTOBER 22, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OFFICIALS CUTTING RIBBON AT OPENING CEREMONY OF CHRISTIE'S NEW SHANGHAI AUCTION HOUSE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANCOIS CURIEL, CHAIRMAN OF CHRISTIE'S ASIA PACIFIC, SAYING: "This is just a beginning. We are at the beginning of something which is going to be very very big. Chinese collectors are becoming more and mo
- Embargoed: 6th November 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA2WFRE6Q8S9F3EQYU0L2JZL8HD
- Story Text: International auction house Christie's held a media preview on Wednesday (October 22) for its upcoming autumn auction and international exhibition in Shanghai, featuring Asian and Western 20th Century and Contemporary Art.
Christie's also used the occasion to mark the opening of its new Shanghai house on the Bund.
Christie's became the first Western auction house to conduct a sale in mainland China without a local partner last year, and now the company has a permanent home from which to develop its Asian operations even further.
The new space, which covers almost 1,000 square metres, will feature exhibition galleries and offices, and will host everything from international auctions and private sales to exhibitions and lectures.
Francois Curiel, Chairman of Christie's Asia Pacific, expected the company's China sales to double in 10 years.
"This is just a beginning. We are at the beginning of something which is going to be very very big. Chinese collectors are becoming more and more active. I told you that 25 percent of our sales now go to China. I won't be surprised if in 10 years, this figure will be doubled," Curiel told reporters after a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new house.
The auction house will put more than 60 pieces of Asian and Western 20th Century & Contemporary Art under the hammer on Friday (October 24).
Among the pieces on offer are paintings such as Andy Warhol's 'Flower' with an estimated price tag of 1.2-1.8 million yuan ($200,000 to 300,000) and Pablo Picasso's 'Tête d'homme' is estimated to fetch 3-4.9 million yuan ($500,000 to $800,000).
Marc Chagall's 'Les amoureux dans nuit d'hiver' is expected to be reach 7.3-10.5 million yuan ($1.2 to $1.7 million) while Salvador Dali's 'Œil et lèvres' is expected to fetch 700,000 to one million yuan ($110,000 - 160,000).
Curiel said the Shanghai house would bring the auctioneer closer to its vast pool of clients in mainland China.
"Hong Kong is like a free port. You can import anything you want, export anything you want and there are no regulations, so it's a freer market, it is a more open market than China. But in terms of collectors, there are many more collectors in China than there are in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, people come and go. People come for the auction and go after the auction whereby here, they reside either in Shanghai or in Beijing or in other cities in China. And this is why, if you want a reservoir of clients, it's much bigger here than it is in Hong Kong," he said.
China led world auction revenue for arts and collectables in 2012 with 8.9 billion euros ($12.02 billion), according to the French government's Conseil des Ventes art market report.
But the market has been dogged by a range of problems, including a large-scale Chinese customs probe into tax evasion on art imports that has cooled sentiment. Taxes, regulations, widespread fakes and market manipulation are other risks, experts say.
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