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Kazuo Shiraga – Shuihuzhuan – 1961 Oil on canvas (Japanese Gutai)


New Art from Emerging Markets


Zeng Fanzhi – Mask Series No 14 – 2015 Oil on canvas (Contemporary Beijing)


The recent auction sale of the Salvator Mundi painting, attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci, at Christies in New York for a world record $450.3 million has demonstrated once again that huge returns are possible for investors with a keen interest in the international art market.


By Chris Clifford MA


Director of CCaSM Modern & Contemporary Art - Jersey


The story is even more remarkable given that the painting had previously been in Sir Francis Cook's collection but was sold for just £45 in 1958 by Sotheby's after it was incorrectly attributed to the Italian painter Giovanni Boltraffio.


But with so much scholarly expertise required to authenticate old masters art, serious investors have instead turned to contemporary art from emerging markets where trading art assets has been much more straightforward. Up until twenty years ago it was not uncommon for a collector or dealer from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe or America to be introduced to a community of Beijing artists, dine with them and afterwards visit their studios, often based in an art academy. Within the hour they would have left with half a dozen canvases rolled up under their arm and the artist would have pocketed a small bundle of dollar bills.


“That said collectors are still avidly scouring ”


subscription based online indexes it is now far easier for enthusiasts to value artworks. With the help of an expert art advisor shrewd investors are now realising substantial profits in sectors of the market previously undervalued.


the globe for pockets of the art market that remain undervalued


Today Asian art, in common with Western art, now has a precise monetary value and in addition, anyone, including artists, can see what something or someone is worth. Such a system was an anathema to the conservative and protective Tokyo Arts Club, which since the beginning of the 20th century shielded dealers, artists and even collectors from the market’s inequities.


But with the advent of the internet and the demystification of the art market through the publication of numerous


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An excellent example is the group of post-war Japanese painters known as the Gutai. They were broadly similar to the New York Abstract Expressionists in terms of age and held a similar desire to reject traditionalism. They were however largely overlooked internationally as a consequence of American cultural hegemony.As a result their works only sold inside Japan for modest amounts until a major museum retrospective at the Guggenheim in 2013 elevated their status.


Almost instantaneously Japanese art dealers started heavily promoting Gutai artists by showcasing their paintings at the major international art fairs at relatively modest prices starting at £20,000 and rarely exceeding £100,000. Today’s market for Gutai has skyrocketed with prices for the best works fetching ten times the purchase value within a five year period.


Similarly Indonesia’s market for art was ignited by the Dutch auction house, Glerum, and India’s by an American


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