Is the value of Chinese art undervalued?

It is said that the price of foreign artworks is inflated by the Chinese. Many buyers do not collect them, but invest in them. This is the harm of wealth to artworks. What do you think of it?

Zhao Xu: I don't think the price of foreign artworks is inflated by Chinese people. Chinese people don't participate in the auction of foreign artworks very much. Collecting can also be used as a means of profit, and the two are not contradictory. If you enjoy the process of collecting art and transfer it after many years, it is a good thing. There are people who blindly buy art, but most people collect it out of their love for art. Only fools would use investment concepts to buy art, because from a purely investment perspective, the appreciation of art prices is slow, far slower than investing in stocks.

Although Chinese art has high artistic value, the overall auction price is much lower than that of European and American art. Why?

Zhao Xu: The value of artworks increases with the strengthening of national strength and global influence. Before the Qing Dynasty, China was a world power with an economy that surpassed the rest of the world. If it were before the Qing Dynasty, the calligraphy and painting of Dong Qichang in China would definitely be more expensive than those of foreign artists such as Michelangelo. In the following century, China's economy fell behind and the value of Chinese art was also underestimated. With the gradual rise of China, the price of art has increased tenfold since 2009, but it is still much lower than in the West because there is still a certain gap between China's national strength and that of Europe and America. In addition, many European and American artworks are globally renowned, while Chinese artworks are only famous in the Chinese speaking world. But the Chinese speaking world already accounts for one fourth of the world's population. As long as China prospers and the world's recognition of Chinese culture increases, the price of Chinese art will definitely be more popular worldwide than European and American art, and the price will also rise accordingly.

Do you think the current booming art auctions in China are a crazy feast or a normal market behavior?

Zhao Xu: I think it's' crazy and reasonable '. Crazy "means that the art transactions are very crazy, and suddenly there are many people participating in the art auction. 'Reasonable' means that while the trading volume and number of participants continue to increase, the number of artworks is decreasing, and the price is constantly rising, which is reasonable. I think this is a golden age of collecting in Chinese history. As the economy develops, the more affluent entrepreneurs there are, the more people buy art, and the higher the transaction volume. China is different from Europe and America, having also experienced World War I and World War II, but the * system in Europe and America has not changed, and art has been passed down for many generations in European and American families. Nowadays, almost every entrepreneur in China starts from scratch and has not received any inheritance. Their collection is from scratch, and there is a great demand for art collection in China.

Beijing becomes the city with the highest global transaction volume of Chinese art

What is the development level of China's art auction market? What is the position of Poly Auction?

Zhao Xu: The Chinese art market was initially a small circle, with the main auction market being overseas because many Chinese artworks are located overseas. From 1985 to 1995 was the most prosperous period for overseas markets, when the economies of Europe, America, Japan, and the Four Asian Tigers were better than China, and there were many Chinese people. At that time, Chinese artists were proud to settle overseas and hold exhibitions. Since 1995, many economies in Asia have been severely affected, followed by the Asian financial crisis, while China's economy is steadily climbing. The market for Chinese art has gradually shifted from Hong Kong, London, and New York to Beijing, and now Beijing has become the city with the highest global turnover of Chinese art.

What is the difference between Chinese auction houses and international auction houses such as Christie's and Sotheby's?

Zhao Xu: In terms of authenticity and professionalism, we are not inferior to foreign auction companies. If an auction company has no brand or poor reputation, it will immediately go bankrupt. We have strict requirements for the quality and authenticity of auction items, and we take great care of our feathers. In fact, Sotheby's and Christie's lack of knowledge, expertise, and resources in Chinese art auctions is inferior to ours. We have strong resources of domestic experts, artists, and collectors. Poly Auction Company was established in 2005 and has now become the largest auction company in China. Since 2009, the transaction volume has consistently maintained domestic *.

We are only in the Chinese art market. Sotheby's and Christie's are global auction houses, and their turnover in the global art market is at least four times greater than that of Poly Auction. They have a history of 300 years, while professional auction companies only emerged in China in the 1990s. However, by establishing a company in Hong Kong, we have learned many advanced operational methods from them. For example, Christie's and Sotheby's both have customer service departments that attach great importance to service, while Chinese companies generally do not have this department. The original auctions in China did not require services because there were few customers and they relied on things to speak for themselves, forming a professional circle. Nowadays, auctions are a large industry chain with an increasing number of customers. If an entrepreneur wants to buy an artwork, you need to get to know them in a very short time, make them feel safe, and make them like the artwork. This requires a professional and efficient service team. In addition, art finance is currently the most lacking in China's art industry. Buying art at Christie's and Sotheby's can be done through installment payments, as well as prepayments, mortgages, etc. If Chinese auction companies want to catch up with Christie's and Sotheby's comprehensively, let's make a comparison in 10 years.

Art e-commerce is the future trend

There is a saying that there are three major industries in the world that make huge profits: arms, drugs, and art. Why is a painting sometimes more expensive than a building? Where is the value of art reflected?

Zhao Xu: The reason why art is not called a commodity or a craft is because it has * and scarcity. Each piece is *, and art has an additional layer of cultural attributes compared to *. Therefore, art is a rare resource and will become increasingly scarce, which drives its price increase. Perhaps in a few years, someone will offer several times or even 10 times the price and take it from your hands. You may not necessarily sell it, but there will be a sense of achievement. Arms and drugs have huge profits and are restricted industries. Artworks rely on their charm to touch people's hearts, and their spiritual impact on people is difficult to measure by value. As for how to measure the value of an artwork, it is difficult to explain clearly and requires continuous learning to deepen understanding.

Is it possible for the current art market, which is mostly a niche market for the wealthy, to become a mass collection market in the future?

Zhao Xu: Although we have auctioned off national treasures worth hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as several thousand pieces of art such as stamps and letters, Chinese rosewood furniture is also a work of art, and many jewelry pieces are auctioned from an open price. China has a huge public collection group, which is the sum of the global collection groups. Moreover, there are more types of popular art in China than abroad, with hundreds of varieties of stones alone. So, there will be a lot of room for development in the mass collection market. In order to adapt to this trend, we should strengthen the construction of art Internet. I, together with several industry insiders and Internet experts, have created an art e-commerce website and a mobile art dictionary website in China. The recent explosive growth of members has made me feel that the times are developing rapidly. Overseas, Amazon and eBay are the two major e-commerce platforms. Non standardized art trading is a shining gem in e-commerce abroad, which makes me more confident in the development of Chinese art e-commerce.