Push up prices, abandon goods
Ms. Charlotte Agutte - Reynier, Deputy Director of Aguttes Auction House (France), said that in her conversations with people who want to sell Indochina paintings, she always mentions that the price of paintings cannot "fly up to the clouds in a moment". "From 2014 until now, collectors who want to sell paintings initially set a low starting price, but now that they realize the value of Indochina paintings, they set a very high price", she said.
Portrait of Miss Phuong by painter Mai Trung Thu is priced at 3.1 million USD.
That is why, according to Ms. Charlotte Agutte - Reynier, current auction houses are facing two difficulties at the same time, especially in the last 2 years. That is, the sellers set prices so high that many people are afraid to ask to buy, and the buyers who won the auction with high prices did not pay. "In 2023, those who brought paintings to sell pushed the prices too high, making it difficult for buyers to access and not buy anymore. For about 10 years now, Vietnamese collectors always pay immediately when buying paintings, the failure to pay has only happened recently. However, we are also looking for solutions. For example, French collectors will have to understand that they cannot push the prices so high but need to offer a suitable price. We also think about insurance and deposits to avoid not buying paintings anymore," said Ms. Charlotte Agutte - Reynier.
Regarding buyers of Indochina paintings, Ms. Charlotte Agutte - Reynier said that this is a market associated with Vietnamese collectors. This market has fluctuated a lot in recent years. The transaction price of Indochina paintings was pushed up in 2022, and then started to decrease in 2023... "It is normal for prices to be pushed up and then down when collectors create a market. Sometimes collectors do not fully understand the periods of the author's creation, so they buy paintings that are well-known. Meanwhile, there are valuable works but are in a period of scarce information, so collectors do not understand, leading to not buying," she said.
Aguttes auction catalogue cover of March 14, 2022
TL OF RESEARCHER ACE LE
Charlotte Agutte - Reynier's market survey shows that the average annual growth rate in selling price of paintings by artists Vu Cao Dam, Le Pho and Mai Trung Thu was 21%, 21% and 26% respectively from 2000 to 2022. During the period from 2000 to 2014, the growth rate was limited. Since 2014, the growth rate has increased and by 2022 the total transaction value of the consignments of these 3 artists is more than 38.3 million euros. This amount in 2014 was only 4.2 million euros.
Market favors and traps
Despite the growth in numbers, Charlotte Agutte-Reynier also acknowledged the risks to collectors when fake paintings are floating around the auction market. Her auction house itself is not immune to setbacks, although in the past 10 years Aguttes has sold about 1,000 Asian paintings, including 150 works by Le Pho.
"Sometimes there are paintings that we doubt and have to withdraw and correct information. For example, we once included a work in the printed catalogue, but when it was printed, we found some doubts and stopped. It was a work by an artist from the Indochina fine arts period. At first, the work was named by the artist Tran Binh Loc, but after searching for information, it was the less famous artist Tran Tan Loc. Later, we changed the name. This information was found thanks to Vietnamese art history researchers," said Ms. Charlotte Agutte - Reynier.
The work "Figure in the Garden" by artist Le Pho is priced at 2.3 million USD.
In addition, the incident of the painting with the name of the author Tran Binh Loc - Tran Tan Loc has also been reported by Thanh Nien . Accordingly, based on the image published for the auction by the auction house Aguttes, art researcher Kevin Vuong said that the work had been mistaken for the author. Specifically, the information given by Aguttes said that the work Co gai combing hair (1932) was by the author Tran Binh Loc (1914 - 1941), former valedictorian of the Indochina College of Fine Arts. However, according to Mr. Kevin Vuong, the signature on the painting is that of the artist Tran Tan Loc. According to Mr. Vuong's research, Mr. Tran Tan Loc is a famous artist in Hanoi, who once opened the Tan Loc studio specializing in advertising.
Along with the attraction of Indochina paintings, the auction house Sotheby's (USA) when entering the Vietnamese market also exhibited works of this period. Not only displaying for collectors - a potential source of customers, Sotheby's in Ho Chi Minh City also opened its doors to non-collectors, including art students.
In addition, the book Modern Indochina Fine Arts published in France has just had its debut in Hanoi , attracting many interested attendees. These moves show that Vietnamese customers are being targeted and pampered by foreign auction houses.
Ms. Charlotte Agutte - Reynier said: "I see that there are still many works by Indochinese artists in France, and the people who keep the works also have the need to sell." However, with a market where there is not much research and limited information, the risk of buying a painting that is not worth the money spent is real. This is a real challenge for collectors.
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