Chinese Import Restrictions Have Desired Effect-- For Chinese Auction Houses!

China Guardian Auction House (http://www.cguardian.com/english/index.php) has announced a Chinese Fine Art Appraisal visit to Los Angeles next month. This visit is part of an expanding campaign by mainland Chinese auctioneers seeking to increase their dominance of the international market for Chinese art by sourcing property for sale from all around the world, including the United States.

Last year (2008) was the highest sales volume ever recorded by China Guardian in Beijing—1.8 billion Yuan (approx. US$270 million). That sales total for Chinese art sold by a single Chinese auction house in Beijing alone is three times more than all the Chinese art sales by US auctioneers in America last year.

Import restrictions on Chinese art do not preclude exports of Chinese art from the United States. Indeed, if anything, they encourage collectors to send their art to be auctioned abroad where auction houses have a free rein to put together the best auctions possible. The US embargo on Chinese art entering the US will have a chilling effect on the US market. The opposite is true in China, where the market continues to expand rapidly.

Here is the press release:

China Guardian Fine Art Appraisal in LA


Event Arrangement
Date: July 4-5, 2009
Time: 9:30am-12:00am, 1:30-5:00pm
Location: Hilton Hotel, 55 Universal Hollywood Drive, Universal City, Los Angeles, CA
Appraisal Items: Chinese paintings and calligraphy, Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain and works of art, Chinese paintings and sculptures, stamps, coins, and bronze mirrors
For reservations call: 1-626-281-7700, richard@cguardian.com

After its first Chinese Fine Art appraisal in Feb. 2009, the leading art auction house in mainland China, China Guardian Auctions will be holding the second Chinese Fine Art Appraisal in the USA at the Hilton Hotel, Universal City, Los Angeles on July 4 &5, 2009.

All the Chinese art collectors are welcome to bring their treasures, including classical to contemporary Chinese paintings and calligraphy, oil paintings and sculptures, porcelain and works of art, stamps and coins, etc. China Guardian will offer free consultation and appraisal for the treasures.

Significant Achievements
In 2008, China Guardian’s total amount of auction items exceeded 24,000 items this year, with a total transaction volume of 1.8 billion yuan, which is the highest annual volume in the past fifteen years. China Guardian continued to maintain the position as Mainland China’s largest auction house. Among all the proudest achievements, the sections of Chinese calligraphy and painting had a total turnover of 990 million yuan this year, making China Guardian the world's top auction house in this category, the volume in this category had already achieved half of the total from the world’s top-five auction houses in this category.

In 2008, China Guardian acted as the exclusive auction partner for major Beijing institutions, including becoming the first to hold a dedicated special auction for the Olympic Games, in cooperation with the Beijing Olympic Expo. At the same time, China Guardian was also granted exclusive rights to hold an auction for the 2009 World Stamp Exhibition. This is the second time such an event has taken place, and in 1999, China Guardian also held a similar event. In 2008, Guardian also held two charitable events, first for children with leukemia and the second for disaster relief to help the earthquake-stricken area in Sichuan, which together raised nearly 64million yuan, funds which were all donated to charity.

Additionally, this year China Guardian also hosted a grand-scale exhibition of classical Chinese furniture and international symposium, and co-hosted the event, "Through Six Generations: The Weng Collection of Chinese Paintings and Calligraphic Works” with the Beijing World Art Museum. Together, this has been an abundant year of activity and academic interest for all interested in Chinese art.

American archaeologists pressed for the US State Department to impose import restrictions on Chinese archaeological artifacts for "moral reasons" and to provide a "good example" to the Chinese. See: http://www.accg.us/issues/news/american-bar-association-international-cultural-property-committee-examines-collecting-chinese-art-and-antiquities/?searchterm=ABA

At a minimum, this now looks extremely naive.