Cover Nicolas Chow leads Sotheby's in Asia (Photo: Zed Leets/Tatler Hong Kong)
Nicolas Chow leads Sotheby's in Asia (Photo: Zed Leets/Tatler Hong Kong)
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Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s Asia’s chairman and worldwide head of Asian art, reveals his cultural journey and why it’s important for him to transform the way we collect
What drew you to art?
I was privileged to be surrounded by art growing up. My grandfather was an art dealer and a collector. One of my earliest memories is rolling around on a carpet on the floor of my grandparent’s home in Geneva, looking up at vitrines of brilliant blue, yellow and white porcelain. My father studied painting at L’Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris and both my parents paint. I went to law school, then shifted my interest towards sinology and, after a summer internship at Sotheby’s, I was hooked. My only responsibility that summer was to reorganise and relabel the vast library of Chinese art books. I had an incredible time getting acquainted with all the literature while eavesdropping on all the specialists’ conversations.
The mix of passion, expertise and legacy was exhilarating. I could not imagine a more exciting job and so I moved from Switzerland to London to study archaeology and art history. It took me three years and many, many knocks on Sotheby’s door until I was finally offered a job. It was worth the wait. Jason Tse, who headed the Chinese department at the time, was a great specialist and he became my mentor. We would spend evenings in the warehouse studying pieces—genuine and fakes— and travelling together around the world. Most of my knowledge I acquired thanks to him.
Read more: Sotheby’s Asia Chairman Nicolas Chow on the impact that Chinese collectors have on the Art world
Above Nicolas Chow (Photo: Zed Leets/ Tatler Hong Kong)
Nicolas Chow (Photo: Zed Leets/ Tatler Hong Kong)
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What do you consider the most significant achievement of your tenure?
I am incredibly proud of what our team and I have built over the last couple of decades. We are at the helm of the market in Asia and that is a testament to the passion and expertise of our specialists, the hard work of our colleagues in Hong Kong and the extraordinary team representing us across the region.
Twenty-five years to the day that I joined Sotheby’s, we opened our new maison in the heart of Central. Nathan Drahi, our managing director, and myself, as well as our colleagues have worked on this project tirelessly for the last two years. It has been a labour of love and this marks the beginning of a new era for us. The feedback from our clients and the general public has been hugely rewarding.
How has your approach to collecting and curating evolved?
Your eye changes over time. The more you see, the sharper your eye becomes. That is true especially if you spend all your own hard-earned money on art. Curating is about taking a position, and that translates into cutting everything that is superfluous. Everything from the slight tilting of the camera as you photograph an object to the auction and the scenography of the exhibition has the power to heighten the emotion of the viewer. I love to obsess about each and every detail. You have to be a maniac.
You’ve overseen some record-breaking sales, such as the Ru guanyao brush washer and the Meiyintang “Chicken Cup”. What was it like to be part of those historic moments?
These two objects are perhaps the most mythologised in Chinese art history and certainly the most replicated. Ru ware was made circa 1100 for the last Northern Song dynasty emperor. There are only a handful of Ru wares in private hands today. The so-called “chicken cups” are equally rare and were made during the reign of the Chenghua emperor in the second part of the 15th century. It was a privilege for my team and I to handle such rare objects. I love the opportunity of delivering the impossible for our clients.
Above Nicolas Chow (Photo: Zed Leets/Tatler Hong Kong)
Nicolas Chow (Photo: Zed Leets/Tatler Hong Kong)
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How do you envision the new maison transforming the art experience for visitors?
When Nathan took me to Chater House for the first time, I instantly loved the boldness of his proposition. It was the idea of weaving our vision of art and luxury into the fabric of the city that got me going. For us to be so visible allows the public to see what we do. It breaks some misconceptions of our price points and the breadth of what we offer.
The salons on the first floor are conceived like a cross between a home and a gallery. [Different themes, like] classical European cabinet-making, Ming dynasty furniture and African contemporary design anchor the spaces. Our vision is to share the wonder of art with the greater public and bring them into the extraordinary journey that collecting is. I love seeing families, both young and old, exploring our rooms, enthralled by the storytelling. Everything that you see in our concept store, be it samurai armour, a [ Yayoi] Kusama sculpture, a Song dynasty tea bowl, can be purchased instantly and delivered within days.
Above Nicolas Chow (Photo: Zed Leets/ Tatler Hong Kong)
Nicolas Chow (Photo: Zed Leets/ Tatler Hong Kong)
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How is the art world evolving in terms of collecting practices?
I am passionate about collecting across a wide spectrum: manuscripts, video art, Egyptian pharaonic portraiture, 19th-century symbolist painting, vintage Japanese photobooks, gothic sculpture—I love them all. The most exciting thing for me is living with art and nourishing myself with it.
The synchronicity of art through time has so much potential and it has always been a strong feature of many of the greatest collections assembled in the west throughout the 20th century—and it is growing here, although collecting art in Hong Kong and across the region remains for the most part mono-dimensional. People tend to confine themselves within narrow categories– contemporary art, Chinese porcelain, Southeast Asian art, Chinese classical paintings—but that is slowly changing and we have in Hong Kong today a handful of fabulous cross- collectors acquiring pieces from all geographies and time periods, and building unique, highly personal collections.
Ten years ago, I started putting together yearly auctions called Curiosity [after the cabinets of curiosities that were popular in Renaissance Europe]. There was excitement among our clients to discover material rarely seen here—African art, Roman sculpture, medieval fragments, dinosaurs, old master drawings—mixed in with familiar material like contemporary photography, paintings or Chinese art. We are continuing to expand people’s interest in our concept store by showing how beautifully these strands can hang together in a single space.
How important is education to open people’s eyes to new ways of collecting?
There is sometimes a tendency for people to buy art out of peer pressure. They see an artist’s work in their friends’ homes and then decide that it might be the right thing to buy—without really engaging with it. I myself occasionally fall prey to it, but the key is to make these works part of one’s collecting journey by associating them with personal choices and objects. The most effective way of spreading new ways of collecting in Hong Kong is by showing in our physical space what it might look like and keeping the presentation fresh throughout the year, with an ever-rotating mix of material.
How do you plan to attract the next generation of collectors?
Our first floor salons are designed to make the experience of art as fun, stimulating and approachable as possible. Our new retail proposition makes the entrance into collecting seamless. The offerings are at various price points, which caters to a wider audience. The moment you start collecting outside the market dynamics of the moment, you are opening yourself to a new world. To make our maison experience as pleasant as possible, we have a team of friendly client advisers, who are clad in our signature cream- coloured aprons. Nathan and I, and our staff, don the apron whenever we are at the maison—feel free to approach us!
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Credits
Art Direction: Zoe Yau
Photography Assistant: Carlos Hui and Beryl Yim
As Content Director at Tatler Hong Kong, Tara shapes the brand's editorial vision and reports on Asia's most influential figures — from CEOs and business leaders to designers. In her dual role as Head of VIP, she curates star-studded events and builds the relationships and communities that define the brand. Born and raised in the Middle East, she honed her craft in Dubai, crafting communication strategies for luxury brands across the Gulf. Follow her on Instagram @tarasobti.
