Sotheby’s Makes History with First Art Auction in Mainland China
Posted October 2nd, 2012 | by The Update
“Self and Self Shadow” by Wang Huaiqing
Sotheby’s Auction House News
From ArtInfo: Sotheby’s has become the first international fine art auction house to conduct a sale in mainland China since the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949. In a largely symbolic affair Thursday just a single lot was put on the block at the Millennium Hall of the World Art Museum in west Beijing, a sculpture entitled “Self and Self Shadow” by Wang Huaiqing (born 1944), an artist hitherto best known for his bold abstract paintings.
The auction was staged in celebration of Sotheby’s joint venture, signed only last week with the Chinese state-owned Beijing Gehua Art Company, to create Sotheby’s (Beijing) Auction Co., Ltd. It was entering that joint venture that allowed the historic sale to take place, as Chinese regulations still prevent international houses from conducting auctions on their own on the mainland.
The joint venture with Gehua has given Sotheby’s a foothold in the Chinese art market — but more crucially has secured it a partnership with Gehua’s parent company, the GeHua Cultural and Development Group, which is building the Chinese mainland’s first Freeport, which is slated to open within the Tianzhu Free Trade Zonenear Beijing airport by late 2013. Courtesy of its deal with Gehua, Sotheby’s will be the only international house allowed to conduct auctions or selling exhibitions within the Freeport, which will enjoy tax advantages similar to those applying in Hong Kong.
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Sotheby’s Auction House News
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