Christie’s Art Auction in Bangkok: Important Thai Paintings (14 August 1999)

The international auction firm, Christie’s of London, recently opened an office in Bangkok, Thailand. The first auction covering contemporary Thai art: Important Thai Paintings, was held on 8th August, 1999 in the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, comprising a lot of 146 items by 51 artists. Most of the art works were paintings; oil on canvas, acrylic on canvas and watercolours. There were also a few prints and one sculpture included. The auction was attended by around 250 persons, including a few foreigners.

Expectations for the auction ran high, being the first of its kind in Thailand by an international auction house. There was one local auction in Bangkok last year which objective was to sell Thai art owned by some of the large companies that underwent restructuring due to the economic crisis in East/South-East Asia. The general impression from that auction was that many of the works were sold at artificially high prices. Inflated prices, since similar works of the same artists could be purchased at galleries in Bangkok at a fraction of the price paid at the auction.

The total revenue from the auction at Christie’s was US$ 791,000. 124 lots out of 146 offered for sale were sold, most items fetched close to the price estimate by Christie’s or below. A few paintings were sold at a price considerably higher than the estimate. Several factors were probably at stake. The vast majority of buyers were Thais, and a small number of buyers purchased most of the paintings. Price was not a concern for several of the buyers, such as the Chinese-Thai billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra who took an active role.

The selling prices ranged from US$ 800 (excluded commission, VAT ++) as the lowest price, up to US$ 60,000 as the highest. Prices up to US$ 46,000 were paid for deceased artists Fua Haripitak (1910 – 1993), and Tawee Nandakwang (1925 – 1991). A ‘Nude’ by Tawee fetched the highest price. Living Thai artists who commended the highest prices were well known artists such as Thawan Duchanee (b. 1939) and Prateung Emjaroen (b. 1935). However, the price of US$ 48,650 paid for ‘Cockfighting’ by Thawan, which was triple the estimate, might have been strongly influenced by the fact that the painting once belonged to a former Prime Minister, Chatchai Choonhavan and therefore commenced a higher price than it normally would have achieved. Works by young and promising artists such as Netikorn Chinyo (b. 1962) and Chatchai Puipia (b. 1964) were sold for around $ 2,500. This is a ‘normal’ price for other paintings by the same artists that are offered for sale at galleries in Bangkok.

A common trend seemed to be that the name of the artist in many instances was more important than the quality of the art. This is a common trend in Asia where status and patronage are very important factors at play. The overall impression is that the auction was first of all a Thai auction - not an international auction. Very few foreigners were involved in bidding and buying, and several of the paintings would probably not have been sold at the reserve price if the auction had been held abroad.

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