In a special summer issue of Art+Auction, which will be published in installments on ARTINFO this month, we bring you the information you need to navigate the vast auction market. We’ve assembled the top 250 houses, along with some of their most notable sales, as well as insider takes from 50 CEOs and specialists on the past year and the changes ahead. Below you’ll find Q&As with auction house leaders based in Hong Kong and Beijing. To see other installments from the special issue, click here.
ACKER MERRALL & CONDIT
Hong Kong, China; New York and Chicago, U.S.
ESTABLISHED: 1820
SPECIALTIES: Wine and spirits
CONTACT: ackerwines.com, info@ackerasia.com, +852 2525 0538
John Kapon, CEO
What was your most successful auction in the past year?
I would point to two in particular that set the bar for the entire industry: our January 2015 Hong Kong and February 2015 New York City auctions. Both featured the personal collection of the legendary Martine Saunier. Martine was for decades the U.S. importer of two equally legendary Burgundy winemakers, Henri Jayer and Madame Bize-Leroy. The wines from her collection were beyond rare, and our clients around the world competed for them aggressively.
Which lot was the most exciting or surprising?
You could choose literally any lot from the Martine Saunier Collection and be thrilled as a wine collector and connoisseur. There were so many bottles and magnums directly from her personal cellar that would be incredible to drink. However, just as exciting was a superlot of every wine that Comte Louis-Michel Liger-Belair has made at the Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, which we auctioned in our May 2015 Hong Kong auction. He is making Burgundies as great as any these days.
Is there an artist, market, or medium you think is overlooked right now? Something you’d invest in?
The greatest Burgundies, not unlike the most famous artists, will only become more rare because they are made in such small quantities. And global wealth creation means that more connoisseurs want these wines in their cellars. The same is true for the great vintages of older, more mature Bordeaux from the 1960s to ’90s. Those are extra- ordinary wines to drink and age, and collectors and connoisseurs know that these are much savvier Bordeaux to buy, compared with newer vintages. And don’t ignore the great reds of Piedmont and Tuscany—they’re incredible wines that are being sought after by more and more collectors around the world.
How have online auctions changed the way you do business?
It’s ironic that the Web has, on the one hand, made more information about the greatest wines available to every collector, enabling them to make their own decisions about what to collect, buy, and drink beyond what the most famous critics think and say. Yet it has also reinforced the importance of buying the very best, the best of the best, for your cellar. Because collectors know these unique, famous vineyards cannot be replicated—there is only one Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Pétrus, Latour, Lafite, and so on, to name just a very few of the top 25 or so most collectible wines we auction.
What part of your business saw the most growth in 2014?
For the first time in our long history, auction sales of Burgundy exceeded those of Bordeaux. This is likely a longer-term trend, given how little Burgundy is made comparatively.
Where would you like to take the company in the next several years?
To more people in more countries. We are the best at what we do, and a lot of people still don’t know it.
What one thing do you wish more collectors knew?
That they need to taste religiously.
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KINGSLEY ART AUCTION
Beijing, China; Taipei and Taichung, Taiwan
SPECIALTIES: Chinese contemporary art
CONTACT: kingsleyauction.com, kingsley.auction@hotmail.com, +886 2 2658 5000
Christine Cheng, Vice-General Manager
What was your most successful auction in the past year?
Our 2014 Spring Auction. The turnover number went beyond all our expectations.
Which lot was the most exciting or surprising?
The turnover of Yun Gee’s oil painting Portrait of a Sailor. It sold at the price of NTD6,136,000 ($204,533), which was two million higher than we estimated.
How have online auctions changed the way you do business?
We’ve just began to use an online auction since the 2015 Spring Auction. It’s an undeniable fact that we’ve gained more overseas customers’ attention, but there hasn’t been a big change, because our current lots are mostly Asian artists’ works. However, we still look forward to making more possibilities and opportunities online.
What other trends do you see influencing the market?
Twentieth-century Asian art plays a very important role in Asian auctions. Moreover, since the economy of China is recovering, there will be more collectors attending 20th-century Asian-art auction events.
Where would you like to take the company in the next several years?
Kingsley is just one of the companies in the Asian auction field. In the future, we expect to introduce more and more artists from all around the world.
What one thing do you wish more collectors knew?
In addition to watching and buying, collectors need the patience to research and seek out artworks. Whether artworks are on paper, canvas, or anything else, all of them need to be placed in very safe and thermostatic spaces. Also, every few years, to ensure their value, artworks should be reexamined and repaired to perfection.
Do you have a collecting obsession? If so, what purchase are you most proud of?
Certainly! A Yayoi Kusama yellow pumpkin. I bought that painting in Seoul. It’s not very big, but it’s full of Kusama characteristics, such as pumpkin, dots, and net. The price at which I bought the painting in 2007 was higher than the prevailing market price at the time. But if we assess the painting today, it looks like a really good deal. In the future, the artwork will become more and more valuable.
Have you ever wildly overpaid for something you bought yourself?
See above!
