Premier auction house Christie's is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year. In Asia, the company first held an auction in Hong Kong in 1986, clocking in nearly US$2 million. Twelve years later in 1998, Christie's Auction (Thailand) opened its doors at the then-Peninsula Plaza on Ratchadamri Road.
That was after the crippling financial crisis of 1997 that saw the collapse of several investment institutions and, in the process, a large number of art works released in the market. Christie's Thai consultant Punchalee Phenjati recalled that Christie's came in to assist the sales of those pieces, which proved helpful in shoring up the dire situation, and later the company decided to open its Bangkok office.
Sixteen years later, Christie's has seen a dramatic rise of Thai purchasers in its lots: an increase of over 2,000%. And now the auction house wants to attract more Thai bidders into the gavel-banging arena of Asian art collection.
So how does it work? Christie's holds auctions and facilitates the movement of art pieces, as well as jewellery and luxury products among collectors. It hardly deals directly with galleries or artists, but mainly with collectors -- many of whom remain cloaked in anonymity when big sales are made and the headlines scream world record. In short, it is one of the engines that move the art world and ensure that the currency of sophistication is inseparable from dollars and euros.
In the past few years, the house has witnessed the rise of Asian collections, spearheaded predictably by the vault of new money from China. Some of Christie's biggest sales were snapped up by Asian buyers: last November saw $170.4 million for Modigliani's Nu Couche, setting a world's record for the artist; $67.4 million for Picasso's Buste De Femme; and $36 million for Warhol's Four Marilyns. Not to mention other pieces in the Asian Contemporary Art and Chinese Paintings categories.
In 2008, Asian buyers accounted for 12% of total sales. Last year it was 28%, while old money Europe and the US accounted for 36% each. Thai buyers may not be at the front row of the bidding -- transactions can be done by telephone and online as well -- but our collectors have grown in presence in categories such as luxury watches, jewels, and accessories (Christie's doesn't only do million-dollar sales; some lots start at a few hundred).
Later this year, Christie's will host its first show of luxury watches in Bangkok, in a bid to ramp up interest among Thai buyers prior to its big watch auction in Geneva.
Besides wooing Thai buyers, Christie's is also looking to increase the presence of Thai artists. So far, the only Thai artist who has gained recognition through the auction house is Natee Utarit, whose painting Steamboat Overture fetched HK$1.7 million at a session in Hong Kong last year -- it remains the highest tag for the artist.
Christie's Asian art expert was in Bangkok last week to talk to collectors and scout for rising Thai artists. The house's executive who was also in Bangkok said that their aim is to try to attract more Thai participants in the bidding. Once the political climate is stable, the house believes that the business of art will enjoy a bigger boom.
