CHINESE ART

I've just discovered a cache of letters to an artist friend who is interested in Chinese art. I'll post them up here, despite the fact they have nothing whatsoever to do with travel.

2006 

OK, here's what I now know about Chinese Art that I didn't know before: Early Ming Dynasty in Art is known as Yongle and the ceramics of this period are considered the apogee of the potters art. The latter fact I already knew because I could see it for myself at the Chinese Ceramics Exhibition in Sydney in 2000, but it's nice to have one's personal opinion confirmed by experts.

Quonglong - aka qianlong - is the Middle Qing Dynasty in Art and its ceramics aren't considered highly, but its chinnoswhateverit'scalled - the mixing of coloured metal pieces into interesting patterns - is considered the best ever done. Feeling quite chuffed because I was highly impressed with the Quonglong pieces of chinnoswhateverit'scalled I saw in the show before the auction.

See, this is what I like about traditional art and why I value it more than modern art: in trad. art there is a definite co-relation between what your own eye tells you and the value placed on the piece. In modern art there is absolutely no relationship between the value of the object and the price of the object. "Awful" is valued at zillions of dollars and stuff that your body responds to is given short shift. In fact, pricing of Modern Art always feels like someone's playing a game.

Oh, and the scroll you like that sold for US$18 million on Monday - the one of the deer foraging - isn't actually Chinese. Although the style and materials are Chinese it's actually by a famous Italian painter called Castigiliani who was working in Qing Dynasty China in the 18th century at the behest of the Emperor himself. I'm so disappointed because I thought it was the best thing ever done by a Chinese artist. Not so!!!

Obviously that's the reason why China let it go so easily, and did you know that the European Museum that got it was Italian? Guess I don't mind that. Italy has a right to it. And I'd love to see it hanging alongside the regular Italianate art. AND I really like that it has eight Qing Emperors seals on it meaning that eight - EIGHT!!! - Emperors thought this was the very best painting they'd ever seen. That is just so cool.

Gotta go. Late. Am off to watch "The Battle of the Unbonkable Boyfriends" at Sotheby's "Important Jewellery Auction". Pieces once owned by famous people! I'm just longing to see Helena Rubinstein's pearls. She designed the most fabulous necklaces for herself.

2004

OK, quick bit of investment advice: race out and buy any paintings by any of the three Liu brothers from Mainland China. They're very Pop Art and post-Maoist-tongue-in-cheek and interesting AND their paintings are surprisingly good. But buy them soon because you don't have a lot of time if you want to make a killing.

Welcome to the World of Famous Brand

by

One of the Liu Brothers

I'm just daily more amazed at how good I am at this predicting next-big-thing in art; whenever I fall in love with the work of any Chinese artist, within six months they go MEGA. Like, the artist Yue Minjun, right? (See picture below) 

Jesters

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Yue Minjun

When I first arrived, I could have bought any of his big works for US$4,000. only last year I didn't have the money so put it off. Sotheby's discovers him recently, auctions his paintings in Europe, European art market goes crazy for him. Now his paintings cost about US$400,000.

(2008 - and now they're selling for about US$18 million. And I could have easily bought several of them at Schonelli's Gallery when I first fell arrived! Curses!)

Then there's Lin Fengmian. Old guy who died in poverty several decades back? Could have bought his sketches for a few thousand only six months ago. His work now sells for over a million US$ a painting. Sanyu? Another old dead guy? His paintings are selling for about four million US$. Young guy, still alive, Zhang Huan? Could have got him for pocket change last year, but can't buy him today for less than US$80,000. and that's going to be nothing, they say, considering what his paintings will be worth in the future.

But it isn't just the art. There was all this Chinese graffitti that suddenly went up on the doors of old electrical boxes in Mong Kok and environs last year. I fell in love with it, it was so beautiful. Tried to get the guys to steal one of the doors for me so I could hang it on my wall. They refused saying it was just junk. Turns out it was done by an old Mainland calligrapher from the Maoist era, formerly famous in China but discredited for some political reason, and this graffitti turned out to be a letter he was writing to Queen Elizabeth asking her to intervene on his behalf: he wanted to return to China but was being refused.

Well, Sothebys is auctioning off these pieces right now and each small metal door is selling for around US$55,000. Naturally everyone is cursing me for not bullying them harder to steal them because if I had we'd have some of it.

So, I'm currently loving the Liu brothers ... which means we've all got less than six months to get ourself a piece or two before they explode internationallly. Actually, you probably don't even have that long. Rumour has it that Christies Auction House is looking to get into the Chinese art market because Sothebys is making such a killing ... but Sotherbys has already signed up so many of the still-living artists ... so they'll most likely be after the Lau brothers any day now. So, go out and BUY! BUY! BUY! 

(2008 - too late. They're now the third highest priced artists in Mainland China.)

2008

The latest guy I'm currently loving is Korean Eun Jin Kim, but I think you may be too late to take advantage of this snippet:

Beautiful Figure #2

by

Eun Jin Kim