This year, Art Basel Hong Kong’s traditional art fair was cancelled and replaced by online viewing rooms due to the coronavirus pandemic. As the online viewing rooms have just closed today, many are curious to see how art galleries have performed and how art lovers reacted towards this digital alternative. In this article, we have gathered the insights of six different galleries which participated in the show for you, including David Zwirner, Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Lisson Gallery, Perrotin and Tang Contemporary Art.
Editor’s note: order arranged in alphabetical order according to the galleries’ names
Art Basel Hong Kong online viewing room, David Zwirner ｜Courtesy of Art Basel
Marlene Dumas, Like Don Quixote, 2002｜© Marlene Dumas
Liu Ye, Book Painting No. 21, 2018｜© Liu Ye. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner
David Zwirner
How satisfied are your clients with this arrangement? In terms of the design and functions of the online viewing rooms, has it been able to attract more clients to purchase art? Has this arrangement changed your sales strategies?
David Zwirner was the first commercial gallery to introduce an online viewing room in 2017. The online space has become a core element in the gallery’s overall approach to sales and exhibitions. We have also expanded the type of content and context that we are able to present around an online exhibition, using audio, video, archival and scholarly materials. The Art Basel Hong Kong initiative dovetailed with our existing strategies.
Last June, we introduced a new series of online viewing rooms presented in parallel with major moments on the art fair calendar and its success gave us much confidence.
We were delighted to participate in Art Basel’s viewing room, but simultaneously offered an expanded presentation of works on David Zwirner’s own viewing room. We received significantly more directly to David Zwirner Online's own platform, given that Art Basel's platform had technical issues during the opening hour. Clients and visitors have also commented on the design and ease of the gallery's presentation at davidzwriner.com.
American clients specifically got up early for the launch, with Europeans being less active, and Asian clients being very active—with significant credit to Art Basel for effectively promoting this initiative to Asian collectors.
Artworks sold at Art Basel Hong Kong this year:
- Liu Ye, Book Painting No. 21, US$500,000
- Lucas Arruda, Untitled (from the Deserto-Modelo series)，US$100,000 (acquired by an Asian collector)
- Luc Tuymans, Tree, US$2,000,000
- Mamma Andersson, Incantation, US$400,000 (acquired by an Asian collector)
- Marlene Dumas, Like Don Quixote, US$2,600,000 (acquired by an American collector)
- Noah Davis, Man on Couch, US$360,000
Compared to last year, how are your sales at this year’s show?
There was a robust reception to the online fair. However, the gallery typically presents dozens of works at its physical art fair booth, versus a limit of ten works in the Art Basel online viewing room, so it’s impossible to compare the sales of a physical Art Basel presentation and the online.
On the whole, how has the coronavirus pandemic affected your business? What plans does the art gallery have in combating the problems you’ve faced?
At a moment when our physical locations are closed temporarily due to the health crisis, the online viewing room and digital space are more important than ever. In the coming weeks, we will dramatically increase the number of online viewing rooms that we present, transitioning some planned physical exhibitions to the online space. We are also doubling down on the gallery’s digital content offerings, by increasing the frequency with which we release episodes of our podcast of conversations with creative thinkers and by releasing free excerpts from David Zwirner Books’ many publications through the gallery’s website and social media channels.
Art Basel Hong Kong online viewing room, Gagosian｜ Courtesy of Art Basel
Tetsuya Ishida, Derelict Building Worker’s Chair, 1996, 145.6 x 103cm｜© Estate of Tetsuya Ishida. Courtesy Gagosian
Georg Baselitz, Die andere Seite vom Ölfleck, 2019, 300 x 211.9cm｜© Georg Baselitz. Photo: Jochen Littkemann. Courtesy Gagosian
Fanzhi Zeng, Untitled, 2019, 140 x 90cm｜©️ Zeng Fanzhi 2020. Courtesy Gagosian
Gagosian ｜Director, Sam Orlofsky
How satisfied are your clients with this arrangement? In terms of the design and functions of the online viewing rooms, has it been able to attract more clients to purchase art?
On the one hand, we sell art every day via JPEG so there is nothing particularly out of the ordinary. The shift to this medium has been inevitable. That said, the social, political, and economic climate right now is what is uncertain.
Historically, at times of uncertainty in the stock market, people have invested in the art market because of its relative stability. In the face of such a difficult moment, it has been a pleasant surprise to find that people are once again willing to make large commitments investing in art.
Have the coronavirus pandemic and Art Basel Hong Kong’s online viewing arrangement changed your sales strategies?
We have worked diligently to create online experiences for several years that come as close as possible to seeing a work in person. This includes exceptionally high-resolution photography, videos, interviews, market analysis, and access to our experts. We have over 1.8 million followers across our social media platforms, which allows us to reach many more people than we ever could with a physical exhibition, from all over the world.
Artworks sold at Art Basel Hong Kong this year:
A lot of our purchasers were from the Far East. While you never want to extrapolate from a few data points, it appears that China is getting back to business sooner. In other words, the places that were affected first with coronavirus and are now on the downside of the curve, may be returning to some semblance of business sooner.
- Fanzhi Zeng, Untitled, approx. US$450,000
- Jia Aili, Youth and Ultramarine, US$260,000
- Tetsuya Ishida, Derelict Building Worker’s Chair, US$500,000
- Georg Baselitz, Die andere Seite vom Ölfleck, €1,200,000
- Jennifer Guidi, An Instance of Becoming, US$300,000
- Mary Weatherford, Splendor in the Grass, US$750,000
On the whole, how has the coronavirus pandemic affected your business? What plans does the art gallery have in combating the problems you’ve faced?
With physical gallery and fair closures, technology has been more important than ever before. However, we have seen exponential growth in online sales, new contacts, and traffic to our site in the past few weeks.
Art Basel Hong Kong online viewing room, Hauser & Wirth｜Courtesy of Art Basel
Jenny Holzer, XX 8, 2015, 203.2 x 157.5 x 3.8cm｜© (2019) Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Pipilotti Rist, Wasserschatz (Schwarzlicht) Water Treasure (Black Light), 2019, 75 x 44 x 11cm｜© Pipilotti Rist. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Hauser & Wirth ｜President, Iwan Wirth
Overall comments:
I think we've done quite well given the circumstances. We had no presales and only a few enquiries last week. With the opening bell of Art Basel, both seasoned and new collectors from Asia and Europe bought eight works which we're thrilled to announce.
We're seeing more engagement from Asia come through both our own and Art Basel's platforms which leaves me confident for our higher value works. Much is being said about digital: it is just the new norm. We've done it for years and it shows, our clients use it.
We placed works by Josef Albers, Jenny Holzer and Pipilotti Rist and there is strong interest in Paul McCarthy due to his current Hammer Museum exhibition with three works sold this week.
To date, Hauser & Wirth has offered a number of short-term, themed Online Viewing Rooms (OVR). Our new global digital team - a group assembled last year, drawing upon talent from other fields where digital and virtual reality are extremely advanced - is developing a robust new approach to the web as its own space, as another global 'location' of Hauser & Wirth.
We've been expanding our digital content over a period of years. Last year, we created 40 films with our artists with 1 million views. With the COVID-19 crisis, we're accelerating this process in a highly creative way. We're working with our artists to launch online exhibitions, bringing our education programme online by hosting talks virtually. Our full issues of Ursula magazine will be accessible online.
Some artworks sold at Art Basel Hong Kong this year:
- Jenny Holzer, XX 8
- Josef Albers, Study for Homage to the Square: Late Silence
- Pipilotti Rist, Wasserschatz (Schwarzlicht) Water Treasure (Black Light)
Art Basel online viewing room, Lisson Gallery｜Courtesy of Art Basel
Carmen Herrera, Camino Negro, 2017, 152.4 x 152.4cm｜© Carmen Herrera. Courtesy Lisson Gallery
Lisson Gallery｜Director of Lisson Gallery Shanghai, David Tung
How satisfied are your clients with this arrangement? In terms of the design and functions of the online viewing rooms, has it been able to attract more clients to purchase art?
Art Basel’s online viewing rooms accelerated a trend in all industries. While we continue to emphasize the value and need of experiencing artwork in person digital platforms allow broader and faster scale and reach. The current situation has done more to expand the art audience.
Have the coronavirus pandemic and Art Basel Hong Kong’s online viewing arrangement changed your sales strategies?
No. The strategy has always been to bring the best works for clients in Asia and present them in the best manner.
Some artworks sold at Art Basel Hong Kong this year:
-
Carmen Herrera Camino Negro, US$850,000
Compared to last year, how are your sales at this year’s show?
This question is based on the assumption that online and physical art fairs can be compared in a vacuum. However, as we all know, the real world rarely gives us an opportunity to run these comparisons. There is no comparison to be made.
Art Basel Hong Kong online viewing room , Perrotin｜Courtesy of Art Basel
Perrotin
Overall comments:
Perrotin’s presentation in Art Basel’s first iteration of Online Viewing Rooms brings together an international, cross-generational group of artists working across a diverse range of interests and approaches that is representative of the gallery’s program.
Sales confirmed since the preview are of artworks which had not been featured in our room, to existing clients with whom we have very good relationships. While exhibiting in the Online Viewing Rooms has not led to direct or immediate sales, we have started conversations with new connections who contacted us through the platform, and we are grateful to the various media who have included Perrotin’s room as one of the must-see highlights of the fair.
With this being our first digital participation in an art fair without a physical booth, it has been an instructive learning experience which will be taken into consideration as we review our long-term development plans concerning the gallery’s digital strategy and offerings.
Hong Kong Art Basel online viewing room, Tang Contemporary Art｜Courtesy of Art Basel
Tang Contemporary Art’s held their art show “Echo Among Geographies” simultaneously with Art Basel Hong Kong｜Courtesy of Tang Contemporary Art
Zhao Zhao’s work is showcased at both the Tang Contemporary Art gallery and Art Basel online viewing room｜Courtesy of Tang Contemporary Art
Tang Contemporary Art｜Founder, Zheng Lin
How satisfied are your clients with this arrangement? In terms of the design and functions of the online viewing rooms, has it been able to attract more clients to purchase art?
Due to the pandemic, using online platforms to replace the physical exhibition is unavoidable and must have changed the way clients enjoy artworks. However, galleries and collectors are willing to experiment which we really appreciate. As of now, we have received a less enthusiastic reception from the online viewing room compared to the physical show but we will continue to connect with our clients through different channels.
We originally planned to showcase works of Heri Dono, Entang Wiharso, Sakarin Krue-On, Rodel Tapaya, Chen Danqing, Qin Qi and Zhao zhao at Art Basel Hong Kong. These works are now also appearing at our exhibition “Echo Among Geographies” at the Tang Contemporary art gallery which is happening from now until 18 April.
At the moment we have yet to receive many enquiries from clients from the VIP preview but it has given us more opportunities to interact with existing collectors.
Have the coronavirus pandemic and Art Basel Hong Kong’s online viewing arrangement changed your sales strategies?
Tang Contemporary Art has organised for works which would originally be at the physical show of Art Basel to appear at our gallery simultaneously. This can catalyse the interaction between collectors and boost interaction on social media like WeChat which helps in promoting our Art Basel online viewing room.
Some artworks sold at Art Basel Hong Kong this year (up to the end of VIP preview period):
We have sold works by Qin Qi and Zhao zhao. We are currently discussing deals of other works with different collectors.
Compared to last year, how are your sales at this year’s show (up to the end of VIP preview period)?
Compared to last year’s physical fair where all our works were sold, we expect to see a drop in our sales this year. This is due to the fact that many collectors overseas cannot travel to the show and our staff cannot physically interact with clients.
On the whole, how has the coronavirus pandemic affected your business? What plans does the art gallery have in combating the problems you’ve faced?
The negative influence that the pandemic brings to our business, exhibition plans, logistics and transportation is inevitable. In 2020, we will continue to proactively promote our business to fill the gaps and compensate for the losses caused by physical restrictions.