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Arts & Communication The rise and fall of global art worlds

acquisitions, which included a US$45 million 600-year-old purchase price less than a decade ago. The auction
silk wall hanging in 2014 and US$170.4 million Amedeo included works by Rene Magritte and David Hockney,
Modigliani’s painting Nu Couché (1917) in 2015. In the with Sotheby’s estimating the auction would raise between
same year, they spent US$42.8 million on Modigliani’s US$95 and US$135 million. However, the sale fell short of
painting Paulette Jourdain (1919). In A Modern History this estimate. The overall result, including premiums, was
of China’s Art Market (2023), Keija Wu notes that the US$69.5 million, with a sell-through rate of 74% as 10 works
Long Museums “house thousands of artworks in Liu’s were unsold. Sotheby’s guaranteed seven works, including
permanent collection,” although the exact number of Paulette Jourdain, for approximately US$45 million as
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works is not specified. This lack of transparency makes it Sotheby’s narratives amplified perceptions of artistic value,
difficult to assess the depth of the Long Museum’s holdings. the status of collectors, and the public spending of large
However, Liu and Wang are part of a growing group of sums of money on art to attract international buyers.
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entrepreneurial investor-collectors who have benefited Even so, the perception was quite the opposite as many
from China’s economic growth, capturing global attention have argued that the decision to bring the disparate
through their acquisitions of traditional Chinese, modern, works into the market appeared to lack the gravitas often
and contemporary international art. 6 associated with significant sole-owner collections, as
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While Liu and Wang made international headlines with evidenced by the sale of the Olbricht collection discussed
their extravagant purchases, they also attracted attention in the following passages.
when they offered their holdings to Sotheby’s Hong Kong Sotheby’s sale event, “The Now Auction” in New York
on October 5, 2023. The auction featured 39 works of art (November 15, 2023), offered four additional works from
from their collection. Promoted as “the largest from a single Liu and Wang’s holdings, with each work falling below or
owner that the auction house has held in Asia,” the high- meeting the low estimates. This included Marlene Dumas’s
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profile sale was titled “A Long Journey: A Selection from the painting Love Your Neighbor (1994), Kerry James Marshall’s
Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei Collection” (Lots 8501 – 8540). Plunge (1992), and Jenny Saville’s large painting Shift (1996
The title “A Long Journey” not only implied an extensive – 1997). The auction house took a different approach with
collecting history but also referenced the three Long Gerhard Richter’s monumental piece Strip (2015) as they
Museums that Liu and Wang established in Shanghai and were concerned that it would fail to reach an estimate of
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Chongqing since 2012 and the symbolic value associated US$2 – 3 million when they accepted New York art dealer
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with both the collectors and their private museums. Liu Leo Koenig’s low irrevocable bid of US$1 million. Much to
and Wang closed the Long Museum in Shanghai Pudong Koenig’s surprise, Sotheby’s accepted the offer to minimize
in 2023, and remained closed for much of the year and at their financial burden as all works were guaranteed by
the time of writing. Similarly, the museum in Chongqing Sotheby’s. Koenig was clearly taken aback by Sotheby’s
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ceased its exhibition program, leaving only the West Bund eagerness to accept what may have been an unrealistic
site open to the public without interruption. offer, shedding light on Sotheby’s decision to minimize the
Sotheby’s toured the collection to five destinations before negative impact should such a significant work fall short of
returning to Hong Kong. The first exhibition was held at the market’s expectations. Overall, both the New York and
Sotheby’s Shanghai office in late August, before moving Hong Kong sales delivered less-than-satisfactory results
to Beijing, Taipei, and Seoul and concluding at Fong-Yi and failed to meet Sotheby’s expectations.
Art Gallery, Taichung, from September 20 to 21, 2023. It is unclear why Liu and Wang are selling works from
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Sotheby’s heavily invested in marketing the sale on social the Long Museum’s collection amid slow financial markets
media, producing extended videos that featured glowing and somewhat diminished returns. Hence, many were
testimonials about both the artworks and collectors, not surprised to see several pieces being sold below the
and impressive gallery installation views that displayed low estimates. Artnet Price Database reported that the
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the works in the most favorable light. A comprehensive sale of works from Liu and Wang’s holdings was perhaps
catalog included photographs, artist biographies, detailed in line with the overall underperforming market at global
descriptions of each piece, and historical comparisons auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips. This trend
with world-famous artworks to enhance Liu and Wang’s is evidenced by the 22.7% decline in the first half of 2023
holdings and the collection’s provenance and uniqueness. compared to the same period in 2022. Nevertheless,
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As previously noted, in 2015, Liu and Wang paid Sotheby’s sales drew attention to Liu and Wang’s recent
US$42.8 million for Modigliani’s painting Paulette Jourdain acquisition of all 39 works that were brought to market as
(1919); in October 2023, they sold the painting for only they were purchased in the past 5 – 15 years, with many
US$35 million, which was well below the collectors’ contemporary art pieces created in less than a decade.

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 3 doi: 10.36922/ac.2880