Latest news with #artcollecting
New York Times
8 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Can Art Basel and Treasure House Lure Collectors to Buy as They Once Did?
Eva Dichand belongs to a family of art collectors. Her father-in-law, Hans Dichand, who published Austria's largest-selling tabloid and died in 2010, had a major collection of Viennese art by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. In fact, Klimt's 1907 painting 'Danaë' now belongs to her husband, Christoph. Dichand — who in 2004 founded the free Austrian newspaper Heute — collects, too, and is on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's international council. She buys work by living artists such as the Swiss painter Miriam Cahn and the German painter Daniel Richter. Yet these days, Dichand said in a phone interview, she buys less, and less impulsively. A few decades ago, there was 'a lot of prosperity' in the West, she recalled. 'Everything was growing, and everybody was having good business, making more money,' she said, so people felt as if they could afford it. She went as far as spending millions each on works by Fernand Léger and Alexander Calder. Today, 'I don't make as much cash as I did 10 years ago,' she explained. The world is 'in a very negative mood right now, with all these wars and all these bombs going off in Tel Aviv and Tehran.' As a result, she said, 'you buy less, and think more about it, because you can't spend so much money anymore.' The art market is not what it used to be. First came the Covid pandemic, which paralyzed activity across the planet. Then came Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which sent energy prices soaring, setting off inflation and rising interest rates, and making it more expensive to buy art with borrowed money. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
South China Morning Post
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Discover joy of art collecting at the Affordable Art Fair
If you love your Picassos but live like Van Gogh, the Affordable Art Fair might be your kind of viewing. Returning for its 12th edition from May 22 to 25 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the annual event has never been shy about its mission to democratise the art world. This year's theme, 'I Am an Art Collector', drives that message home with 98 exhibitors from across the globe, all showing artworks priced under HK$100,000. With representation from Australia, Britain, France, South Korea, South Africa, the United States and more, there's a world of relatively wallet-friendly art to tickle your visual fancy. Hong Kong's own scene is well represented, with the likes of Oi Ling Gallery's contemporary ink artists who blend tradition and modernity, and Laurence Lai Gallery's art photography that so aptly captures the city's urban pulse. Beyond the gallery booths, the fair's Special Projects section features six units exploring themes of connection, identity and the fusion of tradition with modernity. Among the highlights is Li Shudan's Fruit Market, an installation featuring 365 hand-carved wooden fruits that visitors can 'adopt' for HK$1,000, blending playful market vibes with thoughtful symbolism. Angel Hui's Auntie Angel Store is a homage to Hong Kong's beloved tuck shops. Photo: The Affordable Art Fair Meanwhile, The ATM Project, by Jackie Case, features a cheeky take on art and commerce, where visitors purchase a 'credit card' for HK$300, write a drawing idea on the back, insert the card into the 'ATM' and receive a live sketch from the artist, who is hidden inside the installation. One of the fair's stand-outs will be the Auntie Angel Store, a nostalgic homage to Hong Kong's beloved '士多 (si do)' tuck shops . Artist Angel Hui Hoi-kiu assumes the role of shopkeeper, transforming the elements that form a familiar neighbourhood hub into an all-encompassing ceramic art experience. Continuing its tradition as a British-born enterprise, the fair will partner with the British consulate to present the GREAT Art zone. Curated by local artist Wong Ka-ying, this section celebrates British creativity with a selection from the British Council's 9,000-piece art collection. And amid the recent hubbub around the new Kai Tak Stadium , the Hong Kong Design Institute will present an exhibition, titled 'Century of Glory – Kai Tak', bringing together 20 artworks by teachers and students from its higher diploma in illustration design programme, to cast a new light on one of Hong Kong's most endearing urban legacies.
