Asia Week New York achieved $130 million in total sales.
Asia Week New York – the ten-day Asian art extravaganza – which concluded on March 19, 2016 achieved $130 million in total sales.
From the minute the 45 international galleries of Asia Week New York opened their doors on March 10, a whirlwind of activities swept the city. The annual event was celebrated with a magnificent reception co-hosted with the Asian Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on March 14 when Thomas P. Campbell, the director of The Metropolitan Museum, welcomed more than 650 collectors, curators and Asian art specialists. The event ignited excitement that burned for the entire week, and the Asian art world buzzed with exhibitions and auctions that were thronged with international buyers from Mainland China, Taiwan, India, Japan, Korea, Europe and the United States.
“Despite concerns of the Chinese economy affecting Asia Week New York, the galleries saw steady traffic throughout the week, and the four major auction houses including Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, and Sotheby’s saw sales that were robust,” said Lark Mason, chairman of Asia Week New York.
Mason reported that museum curators from all corners of the country and the globe flooded Asia Week New York, including the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and so on so forth.
Chinese specialist Eric Zetterquist of his eponymous Zetterquist Galleries in New York commented: “We have had a very active Asia Week this year, with non-stop traffic throughout the ten days. I am particularly delighted to find that pessimism about the impact of the Chinese economy is completely unwarranted. We saw many Chinese collectors and dealers, who were active buyers. As with most years, I enjoyed visits with museum curators from all over the country, many of whom brought interested patrons. Sales were robust with still more to come, and several new clients are among the purchasers.”
“We are delighted to report high attendance at our exhibition,” said James Lally of J.J. Lally & Co., another Chinese specialist, who reported that 80% of his exhibition was sold before the end of Asia Week. “The subject of our exhibition this year was very esoteric-ancient Chinese jade-but the response was very strong and we had many serious inquiries from American collectors and museums and we received many U.S. collectors and curators, as well as visitors from Asia and around the world.”
Carol Conover, managing director of Kaikodo LLC, specialists in Chinese works of art, reported that over 30 museums, including several European and Asian curators, visited her Upper East Side gallery. “Our experience this year was very gratifying in that Asia Week New York is now well established and we are attracting collectors from all over the world whether they be private or museums. In addition to our sales, we were also happy to see a new generation of young curators attend.”
She Shi 奢仕 