FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Art Basel HK trumpets quality, maturity amid global slump

Art Basel HK trumpets quality, maturity amid global slump

“Less is more” is the new mantra for Art Basel’s global art fairs

Fewer grandiose installations were at the show which was launched on Tuesday ahead of its public opening.
Art Basel director Marc Spiegler described it as “less is more, but higher quality” - with more than 600 galleries applying for 239 coveted spaces.
The show, which Spiegler said the world’s “most global, world-class fair”, opened amid a slowdown in the mainland economy and flat growth internationally. Art sales have been trending down from record levels last year.
Spiegler said that while sales at auctions, the market’s most transparent indicator, were down, business at galleries remained robust. This is due to the strong support of loyal collectors – a trend helped by his show's promotion of regional galleries and the artists’ discounts and personal service which come with a better-connected clientele.
Art Basel head of Asia Adeline Ooi remains optimistic, saying: “The art world has lived through this, it’s not the first time. There was 2008 and here we are again.”
Show lead sponsor UBS’ President of Wealth Management Jurg Zeltner said art as an asset class remained popular. It offered growing and liquid returns beyond what the market had to offer.
Yet Spiegler said those who profited most historically bought art out of appreciation - rather than as an investment.
The exhibition was less crowded with visitors on the first day compared to previous years, White Cube's sales executive Georgina Wimbush said.
David Zwirner partner Julia Joern said it was the best first day in its six year history of being in Hong Kong.
“Our focused presentation on figurative painters, including Luc Tuymans, Marlene Dumas, Neo Rauch, and Micha๋l Borremans — who made five new paintings for the fair — was well received," she said. 
Local Galerie Du Monde only managed to sell a handful of small pieces in the first few hours. This was very different from Art Basel 2014 when their entire stock sold out in two hours, gallery managing director Kelvin Yang said.
There may be no return to the boom times of years past but business had slowed - not stopped, ShanghART’s Lillian Wu said.
Business remained brisk at a few anchor galleries at the fair’s main floor. But they did not elaborate on exact details.
A noticeable increase in Southeast Asian patrons is expected to buffer any declines in volume in mainland purchases. A greater showing of masterpieces by Western galleries suited still evolving mainland tastes, explained Wu.
The Sotheby's art auction the week after Art Basel ends will be a telling indicator of the markets trajectory, according to Shanghai gallery Longman Director Jeffrey Lee.
Lee spent nearly a decade up to 2010 in the Chinese art auction field before moving into his family's 30-year-old gallery business.
Whether or not pessimism prevails in the market, volatile Chinese buying sentiment will occur at the region's auctions. On the other hand, private collectors do their best purchases during downturns as it is easier to negotiate on price, he said.
There are more than 80 art and cultural events at the art fair. It has commandeered the facade of Hong Kong’s highest building for a 490-meter-high public light installation by Tatsuo Miyajima called Time Waterfall.
 
 
 
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