More than 100 art collectors from the Chinese mainland are bidding today in Stuttgart, Germany and Hong Kong for artworks presented by Nagel Auctions, a major European art auctioneer, at its autumn auction.
"At Nagel's spring auction of Asian art this year about 50 collectors from the Chinese mainland appeared in Stuttgart and became important buyers of Chinese art, said Robin Straub of Nagel.
"So we had a bidding room built in Hong Kong this autumn, where bidders can participate in the auction held in Stuttgart," he said.
Chinese collectors are flying to Germany to buy Chinese art because the price of some items, especially of Chinese paintings and calligraphy, in Europe are cheaper than in Beijing and Shanghai, said Straub.
The 180 20th-century Chinese paintings and calligraphy works presented at Nagel's autumn auction include those by big names like Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), Qi Baishi (1863-1957) and Lin Fengmian (1900-1991). They have mainly been consigned by the family of a German businessman who worked in Hong Kong from 1974 to 1989, and a Polish woman who worked at the Polish embassy to China in Beijing in the 1960s.
"The estimated prices that Nagel gave for some of the pieces are about half of those given by Chinese auctioneers. The China Guardian Auction Co would have given three times the estimated price of this piece by Qi Baishi, if it's authentic," said a Beijing-based auctioneer, who refused to give his name when visiting the Nagel's public-viewings held in Beijing last month.
"But risks may come with the low prices. I doubt the authenticity of a few lots -- one must have really sharp eyes to benefit from the price gap," he said.
Highlights at the auction include fabulous Chinese ceramics, bronzeware and jade artifacts consigned by European, mainly German, collectors or their families. Some of the lots have appeared before at auctions of the London-based Christie's and the New York-based Sotheby's.
Eight pieces from the Chinese art collection of the late Bavarian Prince Joseph Clemas (1902-1990) are also going under the hammer.
(CRI.com November 12, 2004)
