第九届艺术北京博览会开幕
From contemporary art to classic art
从当代艺术到经典艺术
第九届艺术北京博览会聚集了国内外大量艺术品和买家。
All things art were on display at the 9th Art Beijing Art Fair, which brings together galleries and buyers from all over the world. CCTV's reporter Fei Ye was there and spoke to gallery owners about the evolution among Chinese artists throughout the years.
The opening day of the fair, was filled with art lovers, buyers, and art dealers at the Agricultural Exhibition museum in Beijing.
about 150 art galleries and art institutions from all across the globe attended the event. The galleries comprised of contemporary art, traditional Chinese ink, folk art design and classical oil paintings. The fair's director, Dong Mengyang believes as the demand for Chinese art increases, events like this will hold greater importance.
9th Art Beijing Art Fair
"The Fair's commercial value is becoming very vital to artists. All of the pieces displayed at the event can be purchased. Also the participants are gallery owners and not individual artists. Before, China didn't really have a well developed management system for artists, but with this event you can see that is changing." said Dong Mengyang, Director, Art Beijing.
After years of exploring the Western art market, Chinese contemporary art now is gaining interest globally. Since the major auction houses in the US, UK and Europe began dedicating entire auctions to the sale of Chinese contemporary art a few years ago, an increasing number of Chinese artists have been turning heads as prices for their work continues to increase.
"Artists like Wang Yuping, has contributed great works for China. He focuses on paintings of life, with subjects ranging from scenes of old Beijing to trivial objects such as books, jars, typwriters and corks. This kind of work can be very emotional and soulful." said Emily Li Chao, Executive Director, Eslite Gallery.
9th Art Beijing Art Fair
In 2011 Art Beijing held contemporary sections which have been a milestone for art fairs in China. In 2014, Art Beijing is presenting more thematic exhibitions focusing on art history.
Jennifer Zhou has been importing 19th century European oil paintings for nine years, and says Chinese buyers are slowly developing an appetite toward Western oil paintings.
"Oil painting in China has only been around for 100 years, but as people travel and see more of the world, their interests broaden. The number of mainland Chinese bidding for non-Chinese works in Sotheby's auctions had risen by 54 percent since 2010 with 378 million dollars spent." said Jennifer Zhou, Chairwoman, Classic Gallery.
No matter what type of art Chinese people are creating, what is certain is that never have so many influential eyes of the art world been focused on China, and that provides a fantastic opportunity to everyone involved with the gala. Art Beijing will be held until May 3rd.