In 2012 there were 113 billionaires in the Forbes list of the top 400 richest people in China. And as for the number of millionaires, well that figure is close to a million in itself, most of whom are self-made. These "nouveau-riche", simply meaning newly rich, did not inherit an estate complete with butler, antique furniture or Monet originals lining the corridors. Instead they made their fortunes in the business world. In contrast to this "old money" image, the nouveau-riche are perceived as conspicuous spenders, lacking in taste, culture and class—with collections of sports cars, shopping at Gucci and Cartier, or flying privately to the French Riviera for example. This may be true, but there are also some mega rich Chinese who are making a big impression in the art world, not through brushing oil on canvas, but rather inking checks in auction houses and art galleries throughout China and around the world.

 

Wealthy Chinese become mainstays of art auction houses

China is fast becoming one of the big players when it comes to buying and selling art. According to the 2012 Artprice annual report, China's biggest auction house, Poly International, turned over 56.3 million Euro in contemporary art sales; 4th behind the world's biggest auction house Christie's(244 million Euro). The Artprice report suggests that stereotypical Chinese art investors are primarily investing in the art market as a moneymaking strategy. "Some invest in art as though it were a stock market, with artworks that are virtually split into multiples of dematerialized shares."

But there are also those in China who are investing in art for art's sake, and spending millions of dollars in the process (65 million USD for Qi Baishi's "Eagle Standing on a Pine Tree" (1946), anyone?). What sets these buyers apart is their passion for the art world, their apparent patriotism and devotion to Chinese artists, and for some, their desire to share art's cultural aspects with all of China. A growing number of private collectors are now investing in the construction of state-of-the-art (excuse the pun), architecturally designed museums and galleries where their own private collections can be displayed for the public.

Private collection art museums cropping up in Beijing and Shanghai

Take the recently opened Long Museum in Shanghai's Pudong New Area. At 10,000 sq. m, it's China's largest private museum and was the pet project of millionaire collectors Wang Wei and her husband Liu Yiqian. Liu, who sits at 171st place on the 2012 Forbes rich list and is worth 790 million USD, reportedly spent more than 31 million USD on the museum. The multi-level building houses a range of antique, Mao-era "Red classics" and contemporary Chinese pieces, all collected within the last couple of years. And it doesn't end there; the couple are now looking at opening a second museum solely dedicated to contemporary art.

In Beijing, Su Yan and her husband Li Guochang are also looking to build their own multi-million dollar art gallery; a permanent location for the temporarily located Wall Art Museum that they currently manage. Their passion for art has led to a private collection totaling more than 1,000 pieces and the establishment of the China Contemporary Art Foundation. It's through the foundation that they are able to promote Chinese artworks, art criticism as well as art education. Doing it slightly differently but at the same epic scale of everything that is "modern China", art collector/hoarder Zhang Rui recently opened an art hotel, aptly named Gallery Hotel, in Beijing's Sanlitun neighborhood. His recent focus is on new-media art—things like light instillations, video projections, and interactive digital images. These, along with more traditional artworks such as sculptures and paintings, fill the hotel lobby; so much so that Zhang is now looking to the large empty space in the building next door to house and show off the rest of his collection.

And the list of millionaires and billionaires publicly displaying their personal collections goes on: Budi Tek, an Indonesian-Chinese businessman, plans to open an Asian and contemporary art gallery in Shanghai later this year; Tang Ju is hoping to display some 100 Chinese realist works in a dedicated realism museum; Yang Bin, one of Beijing's biggest car dealers and art collectors, has his fingers in many pies, investing in several Beijing art galleries including his wife's Aye Gallery; Qiao Zhibing's art collection can be viewed in his karaoke palaces in Shanghai and Beijing and while Chan Fo-Kwong prefers his quirky, antique-shop style museum in Hong Kong.

Helping Chinese artists out in the process

These mega wealthy businessmen and women are not just promoting the art culture in China by constructing private museums and galleries. By giving subtle nods in the auction houses they are also helping increase the revenue generated by Chinese artists. In fact, of the top ten record-breaking auction prices set for the 2011-2012 period by contemporary painters, China took six of the spots, with a piece by Yang Feiyun reaching an almost 4 million Euro hammer price (although still 10 million Euro below the top record set by Jean-Michel Basquiat of the US; Artprice Annual Report).

Quite possibly, this newfound interest in domestic art is due to the extortionately high import tax on artworks coming into China (34%). Or perhaps it's the nationalist pride that comes with being Chinese. Either way, China's artists and the art scene are flourishing thanks to the nouveau-riche's révolution culturelle.

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Keywords: China’s nouveau-riche buying art wealthy Chinese and art auction houses Private art museums in China