How Beijing’s art market is being transformed by young collectors, helping city step out of Shanghai’s shadow
- Beijing’s art market has long played second fiddle to Shanghai’s, but in the capital’s recent spring auctions, young collectors emerged as a force for change
- One auction house used WeChat videos to attract young people to the art market, which is in recovery after being affected by China’s economic woes
On May 10, the young and ambitious Chinese auction house Cuppar began Beijing’s spring auction season with 89.7 million yuan (US$12.4 million) in sales from its combined 20th-century and contemporary art evening auctions.
The following evening China Guardian, one of the country’s top auction houses, achieved total sales of 227.1 million yuan from its evening auctions also for 20th-century and contemporary art.
These numbers are by no means impressive. While Cuppar’s sales were a 12 per cent improvement over 2023 thanks in part to its boutique approach, China Guardian’s were 44 per cent lower than it achieved in the spring auctions in 2023.
And only seven lots were valued at more than 10 million yuan, all consigned to China Guardian.
With China’s economic woes continuing and the global art market depressed, collectors are less willing to part with their best pieces right now.
