Hong Kong Art-Show Host, Galleries See `No Cause for Pessimism'
By Le-Min Lim
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong's top art show attracted more galleries this year -- and none dropped out -- a sign Asia's art market can weather the financial slump, the organizer said.

Andy Hei, antique-furniture dealer and organizer of the Hong Kong International Arts and Antiques Fair, said the region's market saw worse during the 1998 Asian crisis and the 2003 SARS virus outbreak. Global stock markets had their worst month in a decade in September as the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sparked a crisis of confidence in global banks and the U.S. headed toward recession.

``People are still going to galleries, still buying, so it's definitely not as bad as in '98 or during SARS,'' said Hei, 40. Seventy galleries signed up to exhibit at the show, seven more than last year. They will display pictures and antiques worth HK$300 million ($39 million).

The four-day fair, which starts tomorrow, is timed to coincide with the city's art-auction season, which begins in late September and features multimillion-dollar sales by Christie's International and Sotheby's.

The top items offered include Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara's ``Night Walker,'' worth an estimated HK$18 million, a Qing Dynasty white-jade dragon vase valued at HK$15 million and a sixth-century bronze Buddha worth HK$14 million.

Galleries represented at the fair include New York-based Carlton Rochell Ltd. and Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Shinseido- Hatanaka Art Gallery and Hong Kong's Hanart TZ Gallery.

``It's true people are buying, but they are also budgeting and would offer less for the top items,'' said Cheung Hin Sin, a Hong Kong-based antiques dealer.

Warhol, Lichtenstein

South Korea's biggest art auctioneer Seoul Auction Co., which is holding its first sale of Western and Asian modern and contemporary art in Hong Kong on Oct. 7, said prices of works by top international artists, such as Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, probably won't be affected by the slump.

At its Hong Kong auction, the company is offering Lichtenstein's ``Still Life with Stretcher, Mirror, Bowl of Fruit,'' which is expected to fetch more than HK$70 million. Also offered is Willem de Kooning's 1982 ``Untitled XVI,'' which may fetch as much as HK$60 million.

The Lichtenstein and de Kooning got ``serious bidders from New York'' even after the financial crisis broke out, suggesting the strength of these works, said Seoul Auction's Managing Director Misung Shim.

Sotheby's Hong Kong auction, which starts tomorrow, will be the first gauge of market sentiment in Asia toward art purchases since the financial meltdown began.

``It's good to be cautious with purchases,'' said Cheung, 45. ``But there's no cause for pessimism.''

To contact the writer on the story: Le-Min Lim in Hong Kong at lmlim@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 3, 2008 04:53 EDT