The Art Market | Asian Art Sales in New York

The Asian art sales in New York, which concluded after we went to press last week, showed a continuing appetite for Chinese works of art, but marked weakness in other fields, such as Japanese and Korean art. But as the proverb goes, “Trees can’t grow up to the sky”, and while some big prices were set, there was marked resistance at the higher levels, particularly over $1m. The New York market for Chinese art is different from that in Hong Kong: the US is traditionally stronger for Chinese furniture and early works such as Song ceramics or archaic bronzes, whereas in Asia buyers favour the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), with a particular affection for the great Qianlong emperor during whose long reign (1735-96) the dynasty was at the zenith of its power. The ceramics and works of art of this period are colourful and decorative, in contrast to the more sober earlier works. “Buyers in Hong Kong like to ‘see the value’,” says Henry Howard-Sneyd, Sotheby’s vice-chairman of Asian art in New York.

J N O M I C S