The absence of authenticity affects the old oil painting market

On the afternoon of May 20th, Beijing Xu Haihai’s three Xu Peihong oil paintings collected by the family of Sun Pei-Chang were reliably traded, with 23 million yuan in the “Sun Huijun” in the 1930s and the “Naked Lady” in the 1920s. 63.25 million yuan, 1933, "Samson and da Lila" 11.5 million yuan. The number of Xu Beihong's oil paintings in the private collection is very small.

Beijing Hanhai has made remarkable achievements in auctions of old oil paintings over the years. In the spring of 2006, Xu Beihong made the Yugong Yishan in 1940 for RMB33 million. In the autumn of the same year, the “Yangtze Wanli Map” painting by Wu Guanzhong from 1973 to 1974 made a long scroll with 3795. Ten thousand yuan transactions were made last spring and the painting was shot again at 57.12 million yuan. In autumn 2008, Wu Zuoren made a 4.20 million yuan for Woman Body in the autumn of 1934. The following year's spring auction, Sui Zhilin's classic masterpiece was created from 1959 to 1961. "Nanniwan" was sold for 13.44 million yuan.... Many of the company's old oil paintings produced the artist's highest price record.

After the formation of the oil painting auction market in Hong Kong and Beijing, the old oil painting has been the main auction item. Beijing Hanhai has participated in a special auction of Chinese oil painting since 1999 and has long attached importance to the introduction of old oil paintings. Among the 82 oil paintings that were photographed in the year, there were works by Hu Shanyu, Lin Dachuan, Sha Yu and Wu Guanzhong. The following year's Millennium Auctions expanded the number of old oil paintings, including works by Li Qingping, Wu Zuoren, Xu Beihong, Qin Xuanfu, Guan Liang, Dai Bingxin, Zhou Bichu, and Lin Fengmian. By the third auction of oil painting in the autumn of 2004, the old oil painting shot nearly 70 pieces, accounting for more than half of the special field, Yan Wenliang, Guan Liang, Guan Zilan, Pan Yuliang, Ni Kuide, Chen Baoyi, Zhang Chongren, Chang Yu, Li Tiefu, Yu Ben, Li Dongping, Zhao Be, Zeng Ming, Liang Xihong, Wu Dayu, Liu Haisu, Pang Xunqi, Feng Faqi, Qi Jianhua, Mo Pu, Hua Sanchuan, Li Mubai, Luo Xing, Dong Tianye, Chen Fushan, Xi Dejin, Cheng He and others The list of first- and second-generation oil painters is impressive. Since then, the old oil painting has long played an important role in auctions in Beijing Hanhai Spring and Autumn. It has played an important role in promoting the auction of the old oil paintings on the Beijing market.

Beijing Hanhai has accumulated a wealth of old oil painting auction experience. The experience of Mr. Chai Ning, manager of the Oil Painting and Sculpture Department, will have a positive effect on collectors.

For the definition of the old oil painting, Chai Ning believed that “If it is defined as a painting before 1980, or before the '**', there are many on the racquet, but if it is defined as ** oil painting, the quantity is very small. The concept should not be limited to time. In the market, these types of oil paintings may be called old oil paintings: first, oil paintings of the first, second, and even third generation old painters; The old painter's works created in the 1980s and 1990s in the last century are also called old oil paintings.The so-called old oil paintings refer to classical style oil paintings that are more classical in style.The author's time and author are old oil paintings. Two important factors."

Chai Ning pointed out that "in the 1990s, the Taiwan area set off an upsurge in the collection, exhibition and publication of old oil paintings, but the market for old oil paintings is still immature. The core of immaturity is the identification of authenticity. Professionals and authoritative experts have The absence of an appraisal agency for public credibility has always failed to solve the problem of appraisal of old oil paintings, so the proliferation of fake paintings is a phenomenon that exists in the current market: it is not that people do not recognize the value of old oil paintings, but some Paintings are true paintings, and there are no buyers who dare to use them because of the problems of authenticity."

Before the 1980s, oil paintings had not become the mainstream of Chinese painting. Afterwards, although they have changed, they have also focused on learning Western oil painting and improving the language of oil painting. For academic research on early oil paintings, only a few scholars were at the stage of sorting out the history of Chinese oil painting. Many historical facts have not yet been clarified. The study of old oil painting styles, changes, and artist cases is also obviously inadequate. The authenticity of the old painting works, not to mention the accuracy of the identification of a specific work, is an important reason to hinder the old oil painting market. Chai Ning observed that “the collectors’ willingness to purchase old oil paintings is increasing. After all, the old oil paintings are limited in quantity. Before the ** period until the 1990’s, there was no trading market for oil paintings, and collectors lacked access to purchases. In the market, but the mainstream is traditional Chinese painting. Most oil painters don't use oil painting as a profession, and selling paintings can only rely on Chinese painting. Most of them use books to make a living. They create oil paintings for teaching, research, participation, and publication. According to Chai Ning, “Original painting is not as convenient as traditional Chinese painting. Materials such as canvases, frames, and paints are too expensive and have many procedures. In the era of material scarcity, it is not easy to buy canvas, and it takes a long time for oil painting creation. Even if we have a good picture and no market, we can't have a huge amount of inventory. As far as I know, the early oil painters will not create more than 200 oil paintings throughout their lives. Only about 20% of all auctions."

The old oil paintings forged by the market can be roughly classified into two categories: one is a fake painting that is completely falsified; the other is a painting drawn as an old painting, but it refers to a fake painting with a deer as a horse and a later addition. According to Chai Ning’s analysis, “There was no market for early oil paintings, and the painters did not pay attention to signatures. Many of the paintings were not signed. Now the market is burning, and many owners have come up with a sale. When they do not see the author’s signature, they add the appropriate money according to the style of the screen. To see if it is a later addition, it is mainly to see if the added paint is blended with the painted paint. On the auction scene, the source and source of the publication's publication of the buyer's care - a reliable publication is certainly an important evidence. After all, it's difficult for a fake painting to be exactly the same as an early publication. Second, look at the inheritance and source of the work. For example, the work comes directly from a reliable painter's family or other reliable source.”

The market is changing, and the selection criteria of collectors are changing. Chai Ning said, “If an old oil painting is not published and there is no source available, even if it is painted well and its style is obvious, even if it is authentic, no collector would dare to pay big price. In the past few years, his eyesight was good. The connoisseurs will buy such paintings, but now they are less.The connoisseurs buy them for resale, and when they are ready to resell, they will find out whether the works are recorded or not, and the price gap is very big.The experts buy paintings are ultimately sold to collectors. Now, experts have basically given up the selection criteria and followed the standards of collectors.The same holds true for the Chinese painting market. For example, whether or not the ancient calligraphy and painting is recorded in the “Shiqu Baodi” directly affects the price level, by Qi Gong, Xie Zhiliu, Xu Bangda, Liu Jiuhao, and Yang Renfu. The paintings of Wulao's appraisal were catalogued and checked for convenience, but old oil paintings did not have such a catalogue. Previously, the artists who bought Qi Baishi may try to find the undiscovered works, but now they can only buy and publish them. The role of the eyes is getting smaller and smaller."

Not all publications have a reference value. Chai Ning pointed out that "The best early publications are the sooner the better, and the next is the publication of the artist when he was alive. There is also a certain degree of credibility in the publications edited by family members and reliable institutions. Artists 20 years ago Albums are not an easy task. Some artists may have published one book in their lifetime."

In the 1990s, a large number of old oil paintings purchased by Taiwanese galleries from the Mainland were genuinely adulterated and now returned to the Mainland. How to judge the authenticity of these old oil paintings returning to the Mainland, Chai Ning believes that “to analyze the credibility of galleries, the main direction, etc., some galleries are authoritative in the works of an old oil painter, but in other respects It may be weak and it needs to be treated differently. At that time, the old oil paintings that flowed into the entire Taiwan area were dominated by painters from the south and had certain regional characteristics. Although there are not many collectors of old oil paintings with special scale on the mainland, there are many resources for old oil paintings. After all, there are a lot of old oil paintings in the hands of painters."

The value of old oil paintings is being increasingly valued by collectors. Many artists who have studied oil painting early have studied abroad. The oil painting was a new thing at that time, and the oil painter's creative status was very real and lively. It had no commercial influence and the work had a high historical and artistic value. This is very different from the traditional Chinese paintings of the time. For example, Qi Baishi paintings, which were popular with the market at that time, had a strong commercial atmosphere. Works of repeated themes abound, and there is no such phenomenon in oil painting.

In recent years, the market of old oil paintings has changed dramatically. The number of mainland collectors participating in collections and auctions has soared. The buyers on the auction venues mainly consisted of mainlanders and Taiwanese, which also affected the pattern of auctions of mainland oil paintings. Is growing substantially. However, “the price of clearly illustrated masterpieces is far from being in place.” Chai Ning analyzed, “In an objective sense, the current market price is a reasonable price. There is no such thing as a high or low price. We compare horizontally or vertically, such as horizontal and Chinese painting. In comparison, the price of oil painting is indeed not high. From the perspective of the history of art in the 20th century, the main line of painting is the integration of Chinese and Western art. It is specifically expressed in oil painting and Chinese painting. The status of the two is equally important. It can even be said that oil painting is more important and current The price of oil paintings is far lower than that of traditional Chinese paintings, followed by the fact that there are fewer oil paintings than Chinese paintings, and oil painting artist Xu Beihong, famous for his oil paintings, is only a by-product, but the number is larger than oil paintings and the market price is higher than that of oil paintings. The price is obviously underestimated!"

It is worth noting that the old oil painting collection is small and the market demand is not large. The demand has not expanded. The first collectors will only pay attention to the work of the first-line masters, and the prices of the second and third line oil painters are lagging behind. If demand expands, collectors will naturally pay attention to the works of the second and third line oil painters. Chai Ning frankly stated that “the old oil paintings made by Beijing John Sea were bought by some very professional collectors and connoisseurs, and some of the connoisseurs themselves were the gallerists who operated the oil paintings. He bought old oil paintings purely because of their preferences, and some bought ten. In a few years, it has not been sold. Relatively speaking, due to quantitative restrictions, the phenomenon of speculation in old oil paintings is basically absent. Some old oil painters have only a few or a dozen of paintings on the market. There is no supply, and the market is too small. Hypothesis conditions.” This is also the reason for the slow rise of the old oil painting market. However, a calm observation can be found that the prices of the works of the first-line famous artists have risen considerably, especially the works of Xu Beihong, Chang Yu, Lin Fengmian, Wu Guanzhong, Zhao Wuji, and Zhu Dequn.

The risk of collecting old oil paintings is obviously less than contemporary art. Chai Ning believes that “the risks of collecting old oil paintings are mainly true and false. A large number of old oil paintings have passed the test of time. Oil painters whose works can be collected and auctioned have already established their position and position in the history of art, unlike the contemporary art market. At present, it is difficult to say how many artists of the future will be able to say whether or not they can have a certain status in the history of art but still have time to examine.The limited amount of old oil paintings controls the risk of price speculation, and its price is supplied by the market. Relations determine that there is little possibility of skyrocketing, and the supply-demand relationship for supply less than demand is difficult to change.”