News- Classic style in for Chinese art, contemporary out

The market for classical Chinese artists continued to boom in 2009, while Chinese contemporary art sales fell, according to the 2010 Hurun Art List, which ranks China’s top living artists by the total sales of their works at auction. The 89-year-old Zhao Wuji (right) tops the List with total sales of $35 million, followed by 91-year-old Wu Guanzhong (below) with $32 million, and 72-year-old Fan Zeng with $22 million. The number of contemporary artists on the list continued to shrink, with fewer than half the number that made the list in 2008. The top 3 artists in 2008, oil painters Zhang Xiaogang, Yue Minjun and Zeng Fanzhi, all fell from the top 5!

According to the report, China’s entrepreneurs are becoming more and more familiar with the Chinese art market and when it comes to collecting, their passion for collecting classical art is exceeded only by their passion for collecting watches and jewellery. There is a clear preference for classical over contemporary art, with the number of wealthy Chinese collectors choosing to invest in the former 10% higher. The 50 listed artists accrued a gross turnover of USD258 million, which is half of 2008’s turnover.

I wrote this IHT story about Wu Guanzhong’s restrospective exhibition last year at SAM.