Page 8 - AC-2-2

Arts & Communication 1980s: A turning point in the Chinese art market

modern art market. The early era was the heyday of partnerships and nationalization, reducing the number of
antique stores, serving as the inner cabinet for domestic affluent purchasers. The evolution of China’s art market and
customers and the outer cabinet for international collecting culture was altered by the country’s changing
visitors. Subsequently, the folk art market (spontaneous institutional and political landscape.
art market) emerged, accompanied by smuggling and In the 1950s, socialist industry and trade changes
2
impromptu antiquities trafficking in large towns. As market prompted the transition of state-owned trading in
liberalization progressed, the state-owned mechanisms cultural relics from private to public-private cooperation
eventually waned for marketization. Chinese-inspired or partnership. The government began focusing on
galleries, art organizations, and collecting systems began cultural heritage protection in 1950, whereby the
to emerge during this period, exemplified by institutions Government Administration Council of the Central
like the Beijing International Art Center, representing the People’s Government issued several documents, including
Sino-foreign joint venture organization, and the Yanjing Instructions on the Protection of Ancient Cultural Relics
Calligraphy and Painting Society, a collective art gallery. and Buildings, the Interim Measures for the Prohibition
A significant number of priceless collections have been of the Export of Precious Cultural Relics Books, and the
preserved by the Beijing and Jingfeng hotels that reflect the Interim Measures for the Investigation and Excavation
Chinese art collection system, fostering the acquisition and of Ancient Cultural Sites and Ancient Tombs, among
growth of Chinese art. others. Notably, the Interim Measures for Banning the
1
The Chinese art market formally entered the art auction Export of Precious Cultural Relics Books empowered the
4
era in the 1990s with the auction boom that started in the Foreign Trade Administration to collaborate with the local
second half of 1992. With the rise of auctions, cultural relic committees to evaluate the export declarations of cultural
stores became less prominent. Following the collapse of relics and issue export licenses, which would be recognized
the previous market system, the Chinese art market has by customs and the post office.
adopted a Western model, with auction houses accounting In January 1956, 87 antique stores in Beijing joined
for half of the market. However, comprehensive studies the public-private partnership program and progressively,
on the Chinese art market in the 1980s are scarce in the become joint businesses between the public and private
existing literature. Without delving into the particular sectors. In the 1950s, obtaining foreign exchange was a
element structure, this aims to contextualize this era within major function of the state-run arts and crafts stores.
2
broader historical narratives. Through analyzing policy Artworks and cultural artifacts are typically categorized as
papers, historical records, and other relevant materials, commodities and are used extensively in export commerce.
this paper seeks to categorize the components and logical According to a 1956 State Council decree, cultural relics
structure of the operational mechanism of the Chinese art could only be imported and exported through the ports
market in the 1980s. in Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, resulting

2. The Chinese art market during the People’s in a conflict due to high demand from Macao and Hong
Republic’s establishment (1949 – 1978) Kong. Consequently, Hong Kong has developed into a hub
for the trade of artworks and cultural relics, with Chinese
2.1. System of commercial management for cultural cultural relics being flown to Europe. Despite mainland
artifacts restrictions, cultural relic dealers took risks to transfer
The art market underwent significant changes following the cultural relics to Hong Kong, Macao, and overseas through
establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Antique various channels.
dealers and businesses were liquidated initially, followed In 1957, the Notice of Guangdong Province to Stop the
by stringent legal measures to combat tomb robbers and Export of Ancient Cultural Relics was issued, directing
5
antique traders. Lawsuits involving Bin Yue, Xuegeng that all exports of antiques and cultural relics should be
Zang , and other individuals have led to the closure of discontinued. Guangzhou, previously a key smuggling
3
3
renowned antique stores in Beijing and Shanghai. Private hub for cultural relics, restructured its cooperative stores
antique shops disappeared following public-private selling antique cultural relics into state-owned distribution
enterprises. As a result, a foreign management system
2 Compared with the art market under unified management
and planning by the government, the folk art market 4 The Interim Measures for Banning the Export of Precious
(spontaneous art market) is more free, and it is a trading Cultural Relics Books (Date of publication: January 1, 1970).
environment spontaneously generated by the masses’ supply 5 Guangdong Province issued the “Notice of Guangdong
and demand. Province on Stopping the Export of Antiques and Cultural
3 Antiquities dealers, smuggling and reselling antiquities. Relics” on November 24, 1957.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 2 doi: 10.36922/ac.2028