Art+Auction - March 2016_

ALL IMAGES: SEOUL AUCTION

THE LOCAL MARKET

The Korean art market enjoyed a boom

in 2007, when there was a sudden

and dramatic expansion, but fell into

decline in the aftermath of the inancial

crisis of 2008. Since then, it has been

r e b o u n d i n g a t a f a i r l y s t e a d y r a t e.

This past year, we saw a number of

positive developments as a result of

an increasing international interest in

Dansaekhwa, or monochrome paint-

ing, which embodies a profound and

modern examination of the identity

and unique character of Korean art.

Among the leading practitioners of the

genre is Lee Ufan, whose work has been

exhibited at the Solomon R. Guggen-

h e i m M u s e u m i n N e w Yo r k a n d a t

Versailles. Today he and others, includ-

ing Chung Sang-Hwa and Park Seobo,

are major pillars of the Korean art

market, as are younger artists such as

D o H o S u h , L e e B u l , a n d C h o e U - R a m.

The Korean art market can be

divided into three major categories:

ancient art, modern and contemporary

art, and foreign art, accounting for

20 percent, 50 percent, and 30 percent

of the market, respectively. The modern

and contemporary category is domi-

nated by modern art, especially the

works of artists such as Kim Whan-ki,

Park Soo Keun, and Lee Jung-seop. Of

these artists, demand for works by Kim

has increased signiicantly in Korea and

other countries. Last year, his 19-VII-

71 #209 sold at auction for $HK31 mil-

lion ($4 million), the highest price ever

paid for a domestic work of art.

The 2015 auction sales total in

Korea was KRW188 billion ($156 mil-

l i o n ) , n e a r l y d o u b l e t h a t o f 2 0 1 4.

Seoul Auction and K Auction were

responsible for 93 percent of that

total, bringing in KRW107.1 billion

($89 million) and KRW67.8 billion

($56 million), respectively.

THE COLLECTORS

Korean collectors fall into two categories:

corporate and private. Corporations

purchase artwork for their own muse-

ums while also providing inancial

support to artists for marketing pur-

poses. In the case of Samsung, its art

collection, which has been passed

down from one generation to the next,

has grown to include many artworks

that are also national treasures. The

Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art is one

of the top art institutions in Korea.

Over the past ive years, younger art

collectors, those in their 30s and 40s,

have become more active. While previ-

ous generations of collectors were

focused on ancient and modern Korean

artists, younger collectors are more

interested in contemporary art. They

a l s o t e n d t o v i e w a r t a s a n i n v e s t m e n t.

PUBLIC SUPPORT

In September 2014, the Korean govern-

ment unveiled its “mid- to long-term

plan for the advancement of the arts,”

which involves increasing inancial

support for artists, strategically

cultivating the domestic art market,

and fostering interest in art and cul-

ture among the general public, with

the goal of expanding the size of the

Korean art market to KRW630 billion

($523 million) by 2018. Many of the

government’s market revitalization

policies are based on the establishment

of an online information system for

art transactions (a Korean version

of Artprice) in order to give the public

greater access to sales data.

There are also plans to create more

venues through which artists may

display and sell their work, to provide

funding for galleries to participate

in overseas art fairs, and to finance

experimental and nonproit exhibi-

tions connected to art fairs.

READING THE TEA LEAVES 

If the current market trends continue,

w e e x p e c t o v e r s e a s d e m a n d f o r K o r e a n

artists to increase, which will lead

t o g r o w t h i n o v e r s e a s s a l e s b y d o m e s t i c

auction houses. In the case of Seoul

Auction, 2015 was the irst year that

proits from our Hong Kong sales

exceeded those from our domestic

auctions. Some 65 percent of that sales

total—KRW101.8 billion ($84 mil-

lion)—was generated in Hong Kong.

This year, we are doubling the sales

there from two to four, so we expect

t h a t p e r c e n t a g e t o i n c r e a s e t o r o u g h l y

70 percent over the next ive years.

Youn-Seok Chey, managing director of Seoul Auction,

has spent more than a decade with the house, which

launched in 1998. The debut of its Hong Kong branch

in 2008 was instrumental in expanding the overseas

market for Korean art.

ART+AUCTION MARCH 2016 (^) | BLOUINARTINFO.COM
South Korea
Seoul Auction’s
headquarters,
above, and
the sales room
action during
the house’s
135th Korean
Traditional
Art auction this
past March.
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