China Influences Christie's

David Barboza recently ran an interesting article in the NY Times on Christie's dealings with the Chinese.  The article states that since the YSL and the dispute over proper ownership of several items (bronze animal heads from a 19th century calendar - see image) in the sale, Christie's has been working to polish its relationship with China.  Barboza points out that Christie's has been financing Chinese cultural ministry exhibitions, and this leads to issues of promoting artists backed only by the government that can be overbearing and controlling.

It is an interesting article to read. It shows how China is using its new found economic and political power to influence the arts.

Barboza reports

As part of the partnership, Christie’s is considering financing a series of exhibitions with Chinese institutions like the Ministry of Culture’s Center of International Cultural Exchange; the recent Asian Art Week show would be just the first. For that show, Christie’s paid to transport the art, publish the exhibition catalog and even paid travel expenses for staff of the culture ministry’s subsidiary.

In an e-mail, a spokesman for Christie’s said he couldn’t cite a similar effort by the auction house, though it does work regularly with quasi-governmental organizations to promote art. He also declined to say how much Christie’s is spending on the planned shows. The agreement has already drawn sharp criticism from some art experts, who say Christie’s decision to promote artists the Chinese government selects alters the role of the auction house and could undermine its credibility with collectors.

They also worry that Christie’s has bowed under pressure from a government that often tries to silence critics and artists it dislikes. Beijing, for instance, strongly protested the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, even summoning the Norwegian ambassador to make its point. (The Peace Prize is administered there.)

And it has repeatedly taken action against Ai Wei Wei, one of the most prominent Chinese artists internationally, for what he says are his political statements against the government.

To read the full NY Times article, click HERE.