China in the lead: the biggest art market as of March 2011
Just three years ago, Wilbur Ross Jr., a U.S. billionaire and art collector, was asked where he focuses his art buying. His reply? Contemporary art from China and Viet Nam. More recently, Ross has focused on buying contemporary art from Viet Nam.If you’ve visited Two Tigers Gallery recently, we may have spent some time talking about the “hot” Chinese art market. The reason for its impressive growth over the past 20 years is pretty simple: as the entrepreneur class gains wealth and the Chinese middle class expands, they’ve discovered their own culture. Chinese artists are big beneficiaries of China’s new wealth, and this wealth creation is spreading to China’s neighbors. Just this March, ArtPrice—the world leader in art marketing information—named China the largest art market in the world, knocking the United States out of first place. [Is China Number One? New Analysis Puts Chinese Art Market Ahead of U.S. and U.K.]
Even though Vietnam is about fifteen years behind China in its development, its growing wealth is quite visible. I’ve seen it firsthand, having traveled there twice a year since 2007. Just like the United States, China is outsourcing its labor-intensive manufacturing to other countries where it’s cheaper; and Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are prime recipients of this development.
The changes within Vietnam are reflected in their art. A strong foundation from the French influence combined with traditional Vietnamese culture puts Vietnamese art in a class of its own—and the prices have risen consistently since 2000. While nowhere near the valuation that China has reached today, the push into fine art by Vietnam collectors is very strong and active. Collectible fine art in Vietnam can be compared to a young, rapidly growing stock that people have begun to notice.
These are just a few of the factors that have lent to a surge of interest in Vietnamese art. The country itself is rich with artists—so much, I like to say that Vietnam produces artists the way the U.S. produces lawyers. And just like Wilbur Ross Jr. and others with eyes on the art market, the rest of the investment world will soon take notice.
Up next: Two Tigers Gallery as a way to explore the culture and investment opportunities of Vietnamese art.