Posts Tagged ‘Contemporary’

Chinese Contemporary Art Ceramics Market Trends Up

January 8th, 2010

During hard times of this financial crisis, the auction market situation become unstable. However, the Chinese contemporary art ceramics gone against the market trend and ascending, which make investors sit up and take notice. Keep Silence as a Perfect Gentlemen when Watching a Chess Game (by Li Jusheng) The colorful gold bell bottle named “Karaoke Map” owned by Zhu Jianxin sold on the 2008 RongBao Autumn auction with a final price 39,200 Yuan;On the China JiadDe 2008 Autumn, a color underglazed porcelain bottle named “Boating on River” owned by Bai Lei was sold on price 78,400 Yuan;On the Beijing HanHai 2008 Autumn, a Zhen Baichong hand-painted color landscape porcelain bottle sold for 89,600 Yuan, at same time, a fine porcelain bottle painted with tiny Wang Zhiwen calligraphy and landscape painting was sold for 224,000 Yuan by the buyer. On the China Guardian 2008 Autumn Auction a ceramic figurine called “I’m pregnant” made by Zhou Guozhen was sold on price 257,600 Yuan; A high temperature color glazed porcelain ware made by Li Jusheng and named “keep silence as a perfect gentlemen when watching a chess game” sold on a highest price as 1,904,000 Yuan. I’m Pregnant (by Zhou Guozhen) As early as on the China Guardian 2007 Spring Auction, the first special auction for “Modern and Contemporary Ceramic Art” in China was launched already, on which the mainly auctioned arts & crafts were came form contemporary artists of industrial arts in JDZ, and there were totally 79 pieces of artworks were sold out and the total mount of sales is 15,784,160 Yuan, with a high transaction rate of 97. 4%. Among them, a high-temperature colored glaze inlay ware named “Teenage Life” produced by LI Jusheng, one of great masters of industrial arts in China was sold for 1. 232 million Yuan, which is the highest price on the auction. Through the Guardian 2007 Spring Auction collectors become to realize the value of Chinese contemporary ceramic art, while on auctions hold on autumn later, Beijing HanHai and RongBao auction also opened its special auction for modern and contemporary art ceramics separately, and both of them has acquired good achievements at this hard times of the auction market caused by the current international financial crisis, and the value of master artworks also show a up trend in the market. Teenage Life (By Li Jusheng) Mr. Chen Linlin, the project manager of China Jia De Porcelain Crafts Department believes that with its unique techniques, strong sense of the times, originality and technicality, Chinese modern and contemporary ceramic arts & crafts have attracted collectors, and as the collecting mentality of collectors become mature gradually, the traditional criteria lines of “Judge a hero via ages and times” is now slowly changing, and they thought the artistic value of the artwork is worthy more attention. In addition, as there are no technique problems in contemporary art ceramics, the art value of a special artwork could be identified easily by collectors, together with the market is still in its infancy, so the average price of which is rather lower and no bubbles in it, so there is a large space for price rising in future. The head of Beijing HeBiXing Ceramic Art Museum Mrs. Wen Li said that she had realized the collection value of contemporary art ceramics since three years ago, she often visited those masters of industrial arts and professors in Ceramic Academies in Jingdezhen, LongQuan, and buy fine artworks once encountered. As artworks she collected more and more, she found the current market had not put enough attention on contemporary art ceramics. Upon that she opened the HeBiXing Ceramic Art Museum, and devoted to create the primary market of art ceramics. After three years of painstaking efforts, she found some improvements in the market finally, and the success of the auction market also has given more confidence to collectors aimed for Chinese contemporary art ceramics.

Indian Contemporary Art

January 6th, 2010

Targeted at Collectors
The Indian contemporary art market has been growing exponentially in the last few years. Not only in India, but even globally, Indian contemporary art is being recognized as amongst the best in the world.
The increasing disposable incomes among the Indian middle class, unattractive conventional investment options, extensive media coverage of art and more organized art galleries are some of the reasons behind this sudden popularity of Indian art even as an investment. Art has a creative appeal as it is a beautiful piece to decorate the house with. It has an appeal for the rationale since it is can be viewed as an investment and not just an extravagant expense.
The profile of the collector of art is also changing. The increase in the upper middle class disposable incomes, high risk taking appetite, more ‘spending than saving’ attitude is bringing more and more non-conventional retail investors (corporate/ salaried people) into its fold. The art collecting fraternity is getting increasingly scattered. So while, one may be a collector of art, not everyone he knows will be one. However, with the advent of the internet, people across the world are coming together to appreciate and buy art through on line art galleries.
Most online art galleries exploit the internet only to show case their extensive art collections for sale to a larger audience. However, when it comes to passing on efficiencies to collectors and artists both, they continue to follow the conventional brick & mortar model, with 33% and above commissions and payment terms ranging up to 60 days. With the advent of the internet and more efficient courier services along with efficient on line banking services there has come a need to make the art market more efficient as well. There is a need to revamp the existing market structure, and that is exactly what IndianArtCollectors has done.
IndianArtCollectors is an on line forum for collectors of art from across the world. The portal allows collectors to post their works to share with others. At the same time collectors of art can contact each other directly and discretely in case they want to transact in the secondary market through the in-built messaging system. IndianArtCollectors already has an extensive art collection with more than 1700 works and 700 odd registered collectors. It is a first of its kind web site, and introduces innovation into an industry that has failed to evolve itself despite the rapid changes in technology and target audience.
IndianArtCollectors offers the following services to collectors free of charge:
1. Share:
Collectors of art can display their art collection, as well as view what other collectors of Indian art across the world are collecting. All they need is a digital image of their artworks and they can post them online to share their works with other. With the fragmenting collector community, this forum is a delight for the lonely collectors to display art and share it with others.
2. Transact:
Most collectors are plagued by the concern of how easy would it be to sell their works in the secondary market. Most galleries charge a commission upwards of 15% on resale of an artwork, and that too can take several months. IndianArtCollectors allows collectors to display art and mark the art collections for sale with a “Willing to Part with” yellow flash. This invites other collectors to contact them through the in built messaging system and they can actually carry out a mutually agreeable transaction discretely without any intermediary costs. Today many collectors are using this option instead of bearing the high transaction cost with conventional galleries.
3. Acquire:
IndianArtCollectors now has artists joining the community and has an extensive art collection for sale. Just like collectors, artists too have membership to this community and can upload their works for sale at their own discretion and convenience. They even set their own prices and edit them from time to time. The prices listed on the website are inclusive of all taxes, shipping and handling charges, posing no hidden costs for the collector. The collector gets the benefit of lowered commissions at IndianArtCollectors and also receives an authenticity certificate signed by the artist himself for every artwork they acquire from the artist.
Through the above ways, IndianArtCollectors is redefining the Indian art market, making it more transparent, bringing people together and using the new economy’s internet, courier and banking services to benefit both the collector and the artist community. IndianArtCollectors has become a one stop destination for all collectors of art, as it satisfies their needs for sharing with each other, transacting with each other and adding to their collection by acquiring artworks directly from the artists. Today IndianArtCollectors has become a vibrant community with one of the largest collections of Indian art on the worldwide web.

Exuberance of the Orient and the Western in Contemporary Art

December 29th, 2009

What is art? There exists not one but hundreds of definitions of art offered by renowned artists, scholars, and philosophers throughout the ages. Considered literally, art refers to any specialized skill, or human activities encompassing a wide range of fields like literature, music, painting, or sculpting. It’s the end but not the means that constitutes the success of art. A lot many artists believe in the cult of art for art’s sake. However, this function of art has been subjected to severe criticism by some of the noted scholars of the late 19th century who believed in the instructional quality of art. To them, art existed not just for aesthetic pleasure but was also associated with the purpose of converting the mind into a particular trend of thought.

Theories abound as to the true purpose of art. Whether didactic or aesthetic, there is no denying that art casts its influence on the observer’s mind. Times have changed and with it, artistry has undergone multiple changes too. If Romanticism and Classicism influenced art works of yester years, it is Realism, Impressionism, Fauvism, Dadaism, and Surrealism that have laid their impact on contemporary art. No wonder, contemporary art is distinctly different from the art works of earlier generations.

The fields encompassing contemporary art remains the same even today but its essence has been infused with modernity. As in earlier times, contemporary art too covers the fields of music, painting, sculpting, literature, to name a few. New styles along with an eagerness for experimentation have found greater expression in contemporary art works. However in case of paintings, there often crops up a dilemma as to symbols represented on the canvas. Contemporary paintings often appear complex to the common eye, a fact often relished by some of the distinguished artists.

Nevertheless, the revival of some of the Asian art forms of China and Vietnam has breathed a fresh lease of life into the contemporary art scenario. Contemporary art exhibitions featuring some of the masterpieces of Oriental art are being widely appreciated by art connoisseurs across the world. The impact of Socialist Realism and the New Culture Movement is pretty evident in the oil paintings by Chinese artists. Not just China, but Vietnam too, has soaked up the western influence of Impressionism into its cultural fabric. A lot many of Vietnamese paintings depict the daily, simple world of the villages as observed through the human eye. The Vietnamese painter, Nguyen Thanh Binh, is renowned for using human element in all his canvases. Nonetheless, the influence of the Romantics does not lag behind. Paintings portraying the beauty of autumn, the green fields, the lotus pool abound.

Notwithstanding the influence of Oriental art on its western counterpart, there can be no denying the impact of the latter on the former. In fact, both these diverse art forms have imbibed features of each other. The French Impressionist and Viennese art nouveau have been chiefly influenced by Japanese prints. The history of Japan post 19th century, has cast an impression not only on visual arts but on European ceramics as well.

This intermingling of existing art traditions has thus given way to further innovations in the contemporary art scenario. Herein crops up avenues for the birth of new art genres with fresh appeal. This would certainly not deter people from admiring the older art forms. As a matter of fact, contemporary art has been and will be constantly inspired by their masters.