ARTINFO interviews Gagosian HK director

ARTINFO's "Conversations with" series has recently published an interview with Nick Simunovic, the director of Gagosian's newish Asian outpost in Hong Kong. The growing importance of the Asian market and the buying power of collectors in the East cannot be ignored (this blog has followed the trend closely since its launch in September) making the interview not only interesting but also incredibly relevant. In particular, I agree with Nick's view that "to think that every Chinese collector is going to end up collecting Western art is a canard. A small percentage of people will end up doing so, but my guess is that a much larger percentage will stick to what they love and know best: Chinese antiquities and Chinese painting."

Market News

Below are a few links regarding the art market. The second link covers the Lehman Brothers auction in NYC which I had previously decided not to cover in light of the extensive media coverage it received. However, I have included the link below solely because it may say something about which artists the market is currently craving (Chinese art still oh so hot) or, rather more poignantly, which ones it is not (the "atypical 1993 Damien Hirst cabinet" didn't attract a single bid... but nonetheless sold four days later).

• NEW YORK. "Traditional symbols of stability- New England Chippendale furniture, early weathervanes and primitive portraits- struggled to sell at Christie's and Sotheby's Americana sales."
• NEW YORK. Chinese paintings "sold strong," Hirst "drew no bids" and "value deal" on Richard Prince joke painting at Lehman Brothers auction. "It was the sale of unusual suspects," said Gabriela Palmieri, senior specialist in the contemporary art department.  
• LONDON. "Medici "loot" for sale?" The perennial problem of provenance and looting in the antiquities market. 
• HONG KONG. "$52m Sotheby's Sale of Traditional Chinese Paintings Hits Market's Sweet Pot." Traditional Chinese art has undoubtedly cemented its place as this season's darling. Contrast with the results of Sotheby's modern Chinese art sale.
• HONG KONG. The sale of an Imperial vase for $32.4m topped the auctions of Chinese art in HK this week proving that "Chinese collectors will pay almost anything for what they like."