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 That price was more than five times higher than the most
expensive Southeast Asian painting sold at Sotheby's first
auction of the region's work in 1996 in Singapore.
At the 1996 auction, Sotheby's achieved S$3.77 million ($2.69
million) of sales - but prices for Southeast Asian art and sales
volumes have since soared, Sotheby's says.
With its Southeast Asian auctions now anchored in Hong Kong, the
world's biggest art market, Sotheby's says its sales have
improved sharply: last year it sold HK$350 million ($45.16
million) of art by the region's artists.
Rival auctioneers Christie's says that in November 2011 it sold
six Singapore art works for a shade over HK$2.7 million, while
at an auction in May of this year it sold 30 works for HK$19.8
million.
"Southeast Asian art is increasingly becoming an
internationalised category and sees increased buying from other
parts of Asia as well as from the West," Kim Chuan Mok, head of
Southeast Asian Paintings at Sotheby's, said in an interview.
Many of the collectors are from the region, and the rise of
Southeast Asian art correlates with increased affluence, namely
in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines,
Mok said.
He declined to give specific information on clients' profiles
but said many of them are drawn to works because of their
diversity.
"You give Southeast Asian artists one theme and they all would
come up with different things because of diverse influences,"
Mok said. "Which is unlike, for example, Chinese artists who
have similar backgrounds and experiences."
Koh Seow Chuan, an architect and avid art collector based in
Singapore, said he has been acquiring Southeast Asian artworks
for the last 50 years because of their unique attributes.
"They reflect the convergence of the great cultures of the world
over the past 200 years", he said.
Ryan Su, a Singapore trainee lawyer and art collector who owns
the largest collection of Andy Warhol Polaroids in Asia, said
collecting Southeast Asian art is a way to go back to one’s
roots and can be a celebration of heritage.
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"I started my art collecting by collecting Western contemporary art.
This was only natural for me as I was living in the West. Upon
returning to Singapore, I feel that the type of SEA Art that
resonates the best with me are works by the Nanyang School artists,”
he said.
Southeast Asian art, compared to art in other regions, is also
relatively affordable, making it a popular entry point for new
collectors, Mok said.
"Collectors can get their hands on a quality Southeast Asian art
piece by a bluechip artist for a fraction of the price paid for an
artwork from the more mature and established categories," Mok said.
It is important for artists in the region to be seen as a cohesive
Southeast Asian brand to garner more international attention, he
added.
Singapore is riding on this need for a collective Southeast Asian
identity by investing heavily in art development with the intent of
becoming the region’s art market hub. The island-city opened the
National Gallery Singapore last week, featuring the largest public
collection of Southeast Asian art.
While Indonesia dominates the region’s art market with a 54 percent
market share based on total auction sales at Sotheby’s and
Christie’s, Singapore provides the necessary infrastructure for an
art market to flourish, Mok said.
The late S. Sudjojono's "Our Soldiers Led Under Prince Diponegoro"
held the record for Southeast Asian artists. The painting by the
Indonesian artist fetched HK$58.36 million ($7.53 million) at a
Sotheby's auction in 2014.
(This version of the story corrects second paragraph to state the
price of the artwork was more than five times higher, not almost 30
times)
(Reporting by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Michael Roddy and Richard
Balmforth)
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