More Photos (4)

Even people who are not interested in art know that in recent years the contemporary Asian market has sold beyond all expectations. Take, for instance, the first auction organized by the Sotheby’s newly formed Chinese contemporary art department (which was launched in 2006): sales were projected to be between $6 and $8 million but ended up totaling more than $13 million. “There’s a chain of activity happening on a global scale,” says Xiaoming Zhang, the Shanghai-born specialist who oversees the new department. “It’s really exciting.”

International sales may be an important benchmark from a market perspective—Yue Minjun’s Execution sold for a little under $6million in London in October 2007—but for art lovers, what’s even more important is how the worldwide interest in contemporary Chinese work is affecting the cultural scene in Asia. “A lot of it has to do with public awareness and support,” says Zhang, who came to Sotheby’s from the Guggenheim where she worked as a curator and in exhibition development for such destinations as Shanghai, Beijing and Taiwan. “The private museums and foundations that have opened in China are invaluable in terms of exposure and education. And the fact that so many Western museums are building serious collections and showing works from them is helpful, too.” Indagare spoke to Zhang about the latest developments and about her favorites among the slew of recently opened museums, foundations and galleries. To read the Q&A, click here.

To read an interview with Sotheby’s Latin America expert, click here.