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“It seems that I have received 100 requests this year alone to introduce works with investment value of around 100 million won. However, that condition is the same as asking’to find an apartment worth 1 billion won in Gangnam with a monthly income of 1 million won’. The supply of good works cannot keep up with the demand.”
This is the words of a representative of a gallery in Seoul that I met on the 5th. Money is rushing to the art market. The increased liquidity in the market focused on the art market as a new investment destination after the real estate and stock markets, and young collectors entered one after another. With the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) growing interest in decorating houses, there is also a prospect that the art market will continue to boom.
○ Gallery Art Festival,’Sold Out’ works before the opening
Heat is detected everywhere. The Gallery Art Festival, which has been held since the 3rd at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, is crowded with visitors every day despite Corona 19. According to the Korea Gallery Association, visitors to the pre-open on the 3rd, where only VIPs invited in advance can enter, increased by 20% from the previous year. On the 4th, RM of BTS, famous for being an art lover, also went to visit.
The purchase of works is also active. All of the works of artist Lee Young-ji, presented by Sun Gallery, were sold before the official opening. The’Donut’ series of artist Kim Jae-yong’s sculptures presented by Hakgojae Gallery also has a red label indicating that most of the series were sold. Koo Ja-yeol, the head of the Trade Association, who visited the exhibition hall on the opening day, also purchased the work of a young artist, Seul-gi Oh.
Usually, in art fairs, transactions are made around items in the range of 1 million to 2 million won. However, at this year’s Hwarang Art Festival, masterpieces are also being traded boringly. In Gallery Park, where the entire booth was decorated with Kim Chang-yeol’s solo exhibition, several’water drops’ exceeding 100 million won met the new owner. On the day of the opening day, the works of artist Jeong Young-joo presented by Sun Gallery were fiercely competitive with buyers. A gallery representative said, “In art fairs, customers usually purchase works on the last day after searching for works for about two days, but this year, purchases are being made from the opening day.”
In the auction market, the focus of money is more evident. At the Seoul Auction major auction held last month, 169 of the 187 entries were successful, recording a 90% successful bid rate. This is the highest record among all major auctions of Seoul Auction. The total successful bid was 11 billion,580.6 million won, recovering to 10 billion won in a year and a half. A total of 17 billion won worth of works will be submitted at the K Auction major auction that will be held next month. This is the largest auction held by K Auction in the last 10 years.
The ransom is also rising rapidly, centering on the works of Blue Chip artists. Kim Chang-yeol’s’Water Drop’ (1977) was auctioned off at auction in Seoul auction last month for 1.04 billion won. Last July, at the K Auction auction, the 1980 film’Water Drops’ exceeded the record of 590 million won, breaking the highest auction price of the artist. The message of the Hwarang community is that Park Seo-bo’s’Mystic Law’ series, which was traded at 200 million won last year, cannot live below 300 million won.
○’Debt investment’ and’young investment’ are prohibited
Art works are counted as three major investment destinations along with real estate and stocks. In recent years, it has been obscured by stocks and real estate, which has not attracted the attention of investors. But this year, the atmosphere has changed. As regulations were tightened in real estate, the tax burden increased, and for stocks, as the KOSPI index reached 3100, it became difficult to expect large profits. A gallery representative said, “There are not a few customers asking for works such as Park Seo-Bo, Lee U-Hwan, and Kim Chang-Yeol.”
Art works are attractive as they can enjoy the enjoyment of appreciation while holding them, while at the same time expecting to increase in value. As with all investment products, excessive investment is prohibited for artworks. A gallery representative said, “Recently, when a customer signed a contract worth 750 million won and paid the balance, they said’I made a loan here and there,’ so I retrieved the work right away.” Said.
If you’re a blue chip writer, you shouldn’t even do’don’t ask investment’ to live under cover. One art dealer said, “Even if a famous artist’s work, which was traded for 200 to 300 million won 10 years ago, is now offered for 20 million won, there are many cases where no one wants to buy it.” Emphasized.
Written by = Jo Soo-young/Photo = Kang Eun-gu, reporter [email protected]
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