Week In Review: July 25-29

Jing Daily’s Top Posts for the Week In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of July 25-29: Will Art Financing Make Its Way To China’s New Collectors? Driven by inflation fears, the appreciation of the Chinese yuan, a volatile property market, few outside investment options and a desire for the signifiers of sophistication, the strong buying of China’s new generation of art, wine and antique collectors is proving a critical factor in the resurgence of Chinese contemporary art, traditional ink paintings, and even vintage bottles of baijiu. However, not all of China’s aspiring new collectors can afford to drop millions at auction on a Zeng Fanzhi painting, and in response to growing demand we’ve seen new art funds, and pilot programs like Tianjin’s art “stock market,” offer investors of more modest means a chance to get involved in the art world. So as China’s new collector class matures, along with the Chinese art market as a whole, what other investment options could we see emerging? From Hong Kong Fashion Blogger To Media Powerhouse: POPBEE’s Janice Lee (Interview) With readers around the world and tens of thousands of Facebook and Sina Weibo fans, Hong Kong’s POPBEE wields substantial influence in the Greater China fashion world. Going beyond its original focus as a fashion blog, POPBEE, run by a team led by founder Janice Lee, is now an established fashion “soul center” for women in Hong Kong, mainland China, and beyond. An interactive and democratic user-based community, POPBEE shares timely fashion trends, addresses style concerns, and consults with readers on a range of fashion and lifestyle issues. In return, POPBEE has secured a loyal readership and transformed the world of Chinese-language fashion blogging. Tina Liu of Jing Daily recently sat down for an interview with POPBEE’s charming founder, Janice Lee. Chinese Auction House Beijing Poly Primed For IPO? This week, Skate’s Market Notes writes that the Beijing-based auction house Poly International Auction may soon go public, noting that a Poly IPO would make it the world’s second-largest publicly traded art company, trailing only Sotheby’s. Over the past few years, business has been good for Poly, with the house’s contemporary and traditional Chinese art, antiques, wine and baijiu auctions making it to the third-largest auction house in the world, in terms of sales, according to the latest report by the Conseil des Ventes. As a look at the Skate’s Top 5,000 shows, Poly has sold 137 works of art, coming to a grand total of nearly $712 million, about half of the grand total from Christie’s sale of 2,196 works ($13.5 billion) and Sotheby’s sale of 2,332 pieces ($13.8 billion). Big-ticket items, it seems, are Poly’s bread and butter in China. Artist Cai Guo-Qiang Planning $186 Million Quanzhou Museum Of Contemporary Art As China’s museum- and gallery-building spree continues to gain strength, with public and private institutions starting to crop up around the country, buzz is starting to build about one project in particular — the Quanzhou Museum of Contemporary Art (泉州当代艺术馆) in Fujian province. While the name Quanzhou may not ring many bells internationally, one of its most famous hometown boys, the contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang, is one of China’s most well-known contemporary artists both at home and abroad. Currently, Cai is busy at work as the lead planner on the project, which has an estimated budget of 1.2-1.3 billion yuan (US$186-202 million). This week, Artwhile (艺术时间) writes that Cai and his team have signed off on renowned American architect Frank Gehry’s designs for the museum, while making headway on its organizational structure. Ultra-Luxury Carmakers Set Sights On “Red” Chongqing With more top luxury brands putting a greater emphasis on southwestern China, where consumers are still at a relatively early stage of high-end consumption, booming Chongqing — with a population of nearly 30 million — is fast becoming a critical market. As Jing Daily wrote earlier this year, over the course of 2011 a number of luxury brands have, or are soon to, open locations in the massive municipality, including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada and Cartier. But as quickly as fashion labels are entering the Chongqing market, the auto market appears to be developing at an equally impressive rate. This year, Lamborghini and Brabus have opened dealerships in Chongqing, following the lead of relative “early adopters” such as Ferrari and Maserati. In the months ahead, Chongqing’s auto-obsessed elite is set to get their first Aston Martin dealership, and next month, Rolls-Royce will make its debut there.

Week In Review: July 25-29

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Published July 29, 2011

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Week In Review: July 25-29