by Martina Fuchs
LONDON, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Art is an essential tool to build bridges between cultures and people while China is playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of the auction landscape, said Swiss auctioneer, art dealer and curator Simon de Pury.
"I believe that at a time when there is great polarization in the world, art is more important than ever because it is so hard to get to know other cultures and other people that we are less familiar with," said de Pury, a leading figure in the art world, also known as the "Mick Jagger of auctions," who is famous for his legendary performance on the auction podium.
"Art builds bridges and is absolutely essential to get a better understanding of people from all over the world. Art has a very, very important role to play now more than ever," he said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in London.
The 71-year-old art veteran was born in Basel, Switzerland, to an attorney and pharmaceutical executive father and a mother who was an expert in Ikebana, the centuries-old Japanese art of arranging flowers.
De Pury started his career in the world of art with the auction house Sotheby's and then Phillips, before he founded his own contemporary culture company. It is estimated that he has raised several billion U.S. dollars for a number of charities and cultural institutions over the course of his career.
Asked about the impact of COVID-19 on the contemporary art world and auction sales, de Pury commented: "The pandemic has shown that the art market could function very, very well thanks to technology and now it has really caught up with technology and has made big strides forward."
CHINA'S AUCTION SPOT
According to a report published by the Statista Research Department in July, the combined auction sales of Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips worldwide declined by roughly 18 percent year-on-year to around 5.8 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2023.
De Pury said the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong will remain "hugely important" for the global art market. "First of all, Hong Kong is with New York the most important auction place anywhere in the world. This is an absolutely key place for top-end auctions."
"Then you have every year Art Basel Hong Kong, which is one of the most important art fairs in the world, and a must for anybody interested in following art. Then, the depth of collectors in China's mainland is huge," he noted.
He continued: "All the auctions that have taken place, regardless of whether they took place in New York or in Europe, the Chinese participation has been substantial. In some auctions, it has been up to 40 percent of the buying or bidding that came from Asia."
FOR A GOOD CAUSE
De Pury also stressed that he will continue his primary market live auction series, a business model aiming to ensure that artists and their representing galleries receive the proceeds directly from the sales.
The auctions also designate a fixed percentage of the hammer price to be donated to a public or not-for-profit cultural institution or charity.
"The proceeds go directly to the artists and to the galleries that represent them. It's great to give galleries and artists access to the auction world as well."
"It's an avatar of myself who conducts these auctions which makes it more fun, because usually when you have an online auction, you just see the fingers going up. But if you see a little caricature of an auctioneer conducting it, it makes it more lively." ■
