Another record-breaking year for Art Busan as collectors mature
South Korea’s thriving art market turned its focus to the southwestern port city over the past few days, as Art Busan 2022 kicked off Thursday with a VIP opening session and ran through Sunday.
“As of Sunday morning, we are expecting to see around 60 billion won ($50 million) in sales. It is another sales record,” Chae Seung-min from Art Busan told The Korea Herald.
The art fair announced early Monday morning that it recorded 76 billion won in sales.A total of 102,000 people visited the four-day fair, including 1,2000 visitors during the VIP sessions.
The art fair has grown into the country’s second largest annual art event. Sales hit a record high of 35 billion won last year, behind only Kiaf Seoul, which reported 65 billion won in sales.
“It seems like collecting culture is maturing,” said an official from Gallery Hyundai. “I saw people hesitating before choosing works last year, but now it seems that many collectors know what they want.”
At the entrance to the Gallery Hyundai‘s booth -- the gallery is one of the oldest art galleries in the country with a 52-year history -- was “One Through Zero (The Ten Numbers)” by Robert Indiana, famous for his iconic “LOVE” image. Works by Lee Kun-yong, Kang Ik-joong and German painter Sabine Mortiz were also on display in the booth.
“Abstraktes Bild” by German artist Gerhard Richter and “Tete d‘homme et nu assis” by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, both with price tags of around 5 billion won, stood out at Art Busan.
“I definitely see the difference from last year. We don’t need to explain much to people. They seem to have studied a lot about the artists,” said Youn Yeo-seon who has run Galerie GAIA since 2002 in central Seoul and is a board member of Kiaf SEOUL. “It does not have to be an expensive work. Many young people seem to enjoy collecting works within a one to 2 million won budget.” Read More…
