Transformation of the Chinese Art Market (1949-2019)

Over the past 70 years, the art market in China has achieved remarkable growth. This rapid development has brought China to the spotlight of the international art world. Initially, state-owned antique stores played a key role in acquiring works of art. It wasn’t until the 1980s that professional art galleries began to be opened, and the first auction houses did not appear until the early 1990s. The two largest auction houses: China Guardian (founded in 1993) and Poly Auctions (founded in 2005) occupy the third and fourth place in size of auction houses after Christie and Sotheby’s. Currently, Chinese art market has become the second largest in the world. Chinese paintings and works of art are the dominant selling category, and the largest group of buyers are Chinese collectors who perceive art as a way to locate their capital in the country. Due to the active acquisitions of artworks in both domestic and international art markets, Chinese art collectors have gained worldwide attention.