When art becomes smart

When art becomes smart

Thailand aims to straddle commercial success and creative integrity as insiders grow the local market

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
When art becomes smart

In 2011 the royal family of Qatar, the world’s richest nation, bought Cezanne’s The Card Players at more than $250 million (8 billion baht). The purchase marked the highest price ever paid for a piece of art.

A painting by Chatchai Puipia in the exhibition ‘‘Chatchai is dead. If not he should be" from 2011. Chatchai is another established Thai artist in the international art market.

At a Christie’s auction last year in New York, Francis Bacon’s triptych Three Studies Of Lucien Freud sold for a whopping $142 million. With the prices of art — both famous works and those by emerging artists — skyrocketing worldwide, art has become a profitable and reasonable place for the rich to park their money. Artwork has become an acceptable form of financial asset.

“Buying art is an investment. It’s like buying stock or buying gold,” said Subhashok Angkasuwansiri, long-time art collector and president of the Adler Subhashok Gallery, a collaboration between the internationally-renowned Adler gallery and Subhashok.

At this lucrative junction where art and commerce intersect, where do Thai artists, collectors and galleries fit in? With the local art scene fairly healthy given a slew of exhibitions and activities, can enthusiasm be translated into value and international recognition?

At the recent grand opening of Adler Subhashok Gallery, collectors, curators, gallerists and artists discussed ways to expand the Thai art market, which is full of potential but remains behind the rest of Asia.

A photograph from the Blue series by Manich Sriwanichpoom.

In the past decade, Asia’s art market has seen significant growth. China has thrown an incredible sum of money into constructing museums and galleries, mostly as a result growing wealth within the country. According to artprice.com, an online database which gives a comprehensive overview of the art market based on sales at auctions worldwide, Chinese artists such as Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong have in recent years joined the ranks of Matisse, Picasso, Warhol and Mondrian as the world’s most sought-after artists.

In the art circle, it is known that works of established Thai masters such as Thawan Dachanee, Prasong Luemuang and Chatchai Puipia are the most expensive. Thawan’s Mythical Figures, a work of gold on a wooden pyramid structure, was sold for $101,610 at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong, according to findartinfo.com. Many of the art transactions are confidential, though one of the widely circulated rumours is how a foreign collector gave Thawan a blank check in exchange for his work. But these are titans of Thai art who’ve been around for decades — the real challenge is to initiate an atmosphere and infrastructure of an art market that’s sustainable and beneficial to both new and established artists.

“China is an exemplary model in the contemporary art world. The Chinese government saw an opportunity in the art market. It has created a demand and increased the value of Chinese artworks to billions within a decade,” Subhashok said. “A new group of millionaires has emerged from the growing economy in China. When people begin to have the time and money for leisure and luxury, art starts to play a bigger role in their lives. Rich people indulge in art, they turn to collecting art, collecting antiques.”

To give an extreme perspective, porcelain sunflower seeds created by China’s most famous contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei, fetched $782,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in 2012.

The example in China underscores the fact that for an impactful transformation, change must occur at all levels, from state support to the art dealers to the private sphere. In this regard, Singapore seems to have acquired the pole position as the regional leader in capitalising on market-driven growth in the arts.

“The Thai contemporary art market is at an earlier stage in its evolution compared with Hong Kong and Singapore, but linkages across geographic markets, galleries and events are contributing to growth into a broader, more connected Asian art market,” observed Nuchanart Saensa-Neh, manager of 100 Tonson Gallery, which has participated in international art fairs such as Art Basel.

“The collectors in Thailand make up a small, limited circle. You always see the same faces,” said photographer and owner of Kathmandu Photo Gallery Manit Sriwanichpoom.

Nuchanart, on the other hand, sees a marked growth in the number of younger collectors.

“There is a much greater demand for contemporary art among young collectors and older, more established collectors. We continue to see increasing numbers of galleries and art events, which will fuel further market growth,” she said.

It is these contemporary works that would first break into the international market, Subhashok believes, as it doesn’t require an explanation of what it means to be Thai and is relatable elsewhere.

The Glassland by Yuree Kensaku, one of the rising contemporary Thai artists with an international profile.

Still, Thailand lags behind in the Asean market. Indonesia, for instance, usually sends as many as 50 works to each auction in Hong Kong.

“At these auctions, there are usually only three or four Thai pieces, which would usually cost around [$13,000],” said Subhashok. Within the last decade, sales of art in Hong Kong grew from accounting for 1% of the Asian market to 38%, in no small part to Chinese participants.

Thailand, however, lacks the necessary infrastructure for expansion of the art market.

“All my life, I’ve fought for myself. I’ve sold my art and I’ve achieved a certain level of success, but only nationally,” said Chalermchai Kositpipat, one of Thailand’s most famous artists, whose works have been exhibited internationally. “The slow growth in Thailand is partly because Thai artists do not understand how the system of art dealing works and often do not see the need to follow the regulations.”

He said artists sometimes stop relying on art dealers once their names become known, ultimately harming both parties.

It may seem preposterous at times to relate art to business, to assign a monetary or investment value to pieces of art — to capitalise on it. But the reality is, art makes money and patronage in the arts does indeed create more opportunities for artists, as demonstrated in Singapore.

“The business aspects of contemporary art have little influence on artists’ creative pursuits. Generally, the artists with whom I spoke said they create simply to create and express themselves, with little thought in those moments of the business side of things. That all being said, I do think that a growing market will afford opportunities for more talented artists to support themselves financially and devote themselves fully to their craft without having to worry about having day jobs to support themselves and their families,” said Nuchanart.

Jorn Middelborg, managing director of Thavibu Gallery, adds that being vetted by museums, biennales, galleries and auctions builds “value” for an artist by giving credibility to his or her art.

For Manit, “creating a market in Thailand is very crucial. As in China, a growing number of collectors drive the growth of artists and vice versa. I see it as a test for artists to keep producing works that are true to themselves, both before and after they are picked up by the market”.

This test is indeed critical and imperative. Just imagine if Cezanne, Gauguin, Pissarro and other modern painters hadn’t rejected the rigid and traditional views of the Paris Salon, if they had given in to what the institution wanted. What would have become of their art? Who would buy it today? For Thai artists and collectors, the results of the test will resonate for a long while.

A painting by Thawan Duchanee, whose works have fetched seven-digit price tags for decades.

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