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Chinese hammer art auctions
From CNN Correspondent Kyoko Altman
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- When one thinks of the great auction houses and their legions of elite, free-spending buyers, his or her mind usually goes to New York, London or Tokyo. But now a new set of buyers are getting in on the action in Hong Kong and around the world. Rich collectors from China's mainland are using newfound wealth to snap up treasures old and new, especially Chinese art. "As Chinese people become richer and richer, what we want to buy first is the very best, the cream of Chinese culture," said Tina Xin, a private art collector. Beijing native Xin has just bought a portrait by Ren Yi, the Rembrandt of Chinese art. To secure it, she paid $135,000 -- twice the expected amount. Ten years ago, it was unthinkable that bidders from mainland China might be key players in the art world. China was too poor. And Mao's communists deplored collecting fine art as an act of bourgeois depravity. Many of the Chinese masterpieces survived because Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek spirited them to Taiwan when he fled the Communist takeover in 1949. But now economic reforms launched by Mao's successors have spawned a new generation of mainlanders with money. And increasingly, China's new rich are willing to spend their fortunes to reclaim pieces of China's heritage.
"You tend to find the most dramatic prices in auction when you have people not from mainland China having a good old battle with people who are from China," said Henry Howard-Sneyd, managing director at Sotheby's China and Southeast Asia. The new trend results in frenzied competition and soaring prices. At Stheby's auction in Hong Kong, some imperial seals from the 1700s were sold for a staggering $3.7 million. At Christies', an exquisite vase, also from the Qing dynasty, was sold for a record $1.7 million -- ten times the expected price. Overall, auction sales in Hong Kong topped $100 million last year -- double the turnover a decade ago. And as China's economic boom continues, art experts project that figure will keep on heading higher.
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