Auction house Phillips expects Chinese buyers to drive art sales as market proves resilient to Covid-19 pandemic

Phillips is hopeful of setting a record for its upcoming fall contemporary art auction with Beijing-based partner Poly Auction

China, the world’s third-largest art market worth US$11.7 billion in 2019, will continue to fuel growth of auction sales despite travel restrictions

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Phillips is a leading auction house for art, design and watches. Photo: Handout

Published: 4:30pm, 4 Oct 2020Updated: 4:31pm, 5 Oct 2020

Even as the coronavirus pandemic wrecks havoc on the global economy, a handful of businesses such as art auctioneers have proven resilient and even thrived, clocking record sales as they bolster their limited physical auctions with a much larger online presence and strategic partnerships.

Against this backdrop, auction house Phillips and Poly Auction, a unit of Hong Kong-listed Poly Culture Group, will jointly conduct the upcoming fall auction, hoping to keep the momentum going, said Jonathan Crockett, chairman of Phillips Asia. The two auction houses are hammering out new ways to market art, both online and offline, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Crockett expects the 20th Century & Contemporary Art sale, featuring paintings, sculptures, and other works of art produced by both internationally recognised and emerging artists, to set another record for the company in Asia, following the record US$35 million that Phillips collected from the spring sale in July. Because of the pandemic, auction houses such as Phillips and Sotheby’s had to postpone their spring sales, usually held in April in Hong Kong, to July.

The record was achieved despite 60 per cent fewer attendees compared to last November because of travel restrictions and social distancing measures imposed by the government.

Similarly for the upcoming fall auction in December, rooms packed with bidders that are a regular feature of art auctions in the city can be ruled out, as Phillips will have to abide by rules imposed by government on large gatherings to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The pandemic has largely been in control since the outbreak of the “third wave” in late July.

“So far for 2020 our Asian business has remained largely resilient to the global pandemic,” said Crockett, adding that Chinese buyers will continue to drive growth of their auction sales this year and next.