Cover “Nature Morte: Vase aux Glaïeuls” by Vincent van Gogh sold for HK$71 million in 2021 (Photo: courtesy of Sotheby’s)
“Nature Morte: Vase aux Glaïeuls” by Vincent van Gogh sold for HK$71 million in 2021 (Photo: courtesy of Sotheby’s)
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The enthusiasm of Asian collectors for Van Gogh’s paintings has caused auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s to sit up, take notice and include more of his works in their Asia auctions
Most of the Van Gogh paintings that have gone under the hammer in the past decade have been acquired by Asian buyers.
Martin Bailey, a specialist in Van Gogh’s work and contributor to The Art Newspaper, estimates that at least three of the seven most expensive Van Gogh paintings ever sold at auctions were purchased by collectors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, all for sums exceeding US$60 million (or approximately HK$470 million).
Nature Morte, Vase aux Marguerites et Coquelicots (“Still Life, Vase with Daisies and Poppies” in English) is one of these artworks. This still life, painted just one month before Van Gogh’s death in Auvers-sur-Oise on July 29, 1890, sold for US$61.8 million [or approximately HK$484 million) at Sotheby’s in 2014. Its buyer was none other than the Chinese billionaire Wang Zhongjun. When he acquired the artwork, he said it would “make [his] home more colourful”, according to The Art Newspaper.
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L'Allée des Alyscamps (“The Avenue of Alyscamps” in English) and Laboureur dans un champ (“Labourer in a Field” in English), two landscapes by Van Gogh from 1888 and 1889 respectively, were also auctioned to Asian collectors.
Taiwanese gallerist Robert Wu bought the former for US$66.3 million (or approximately HK$520 million) at Sotheby’s in 2015, although it is possible that he was acquiring it for one of his clients; while the latter went for US$81.3 million (or approximately HK$637 million) to an anonymous Chinese buyer at Christie’s in 2017.
The enthusiasm of Asian collectors for Van Gogh’s paintings has not gone unnoticed at Sotheby’s. Indeed, the auction house decided to include a painting by the Dutch master, titled Nature Morte: Vase aux Glaïeuls (“Still Life: Vase with Gladioli” in English) in its evening sale dedicated to modern art that took place on October 9, 2021, in Hong Kong.
This was the first time that a work by the artist was offered at an auction in Asia. The still life fetched HK$71 million (or approximately US$9.1 million), compared to an initial estimate of HK$70 to HK$100 million.
For Marie Laureillard, a lecturer in Chinese studies at Université Lumière Lyon 2 in France, Asian buyers’ interest in Van Gogh may be linked to the tumultuous personality of the artist. “His madness, perceived in a positive way, appears to be considered as a sign of this famous creator’s sheer genius”, she told The Art Newspaper.
The dominance of Asian collectors in the Van Gogh market is evidence of the significant arrival of buyers from the region in the global art world. And the proof is in the numbers. Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong togther represent 20% of the world art market, according to the latest The Art Market report from Art Basel and UBS.
China is also the country with the highest proportion of art collectors having spent more than US$1 million (or approximately HK$7.85 million) in 2021 (44%), far ahead of Germany, France and the United States. In fact, the Asian market is evolving at high speed, shifting the region further towards the centre of the art world.
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