Asia’s art revolution: family offices and the future of collecting – Financial Times

Asia’s family offices and high-net-worth individuals are transforming today’s global art world

Affluent Asian families are passionate about art. Some view it as an investment that will continue to accrue value amid volatility in traditional markets, others as a philanthropic endeavour to preserve cultural heritage. Still others regard collecting as a source of intellectual and spiritual nourishment that will help them create a legacy for future generations.

This passion helps explain why, in a global art market that has become sluggish in recent years, the outlook for the Asian art market remains bright. Optimism is supported by impressive sales and well-attended fairs in Hong Kong and Singapore.

“Asia has been making its mark in the global art market with some force over the past decade,” confirms Simon Stock, Sotheby’s Senior Specialist in Impressionist and Modern Art for Europe and Asia. “Many are building on holdings of historic, modern and contemporary Asian art, and their pursuit of top-tier Western names has also weathered the macroeconomic climate.” Stock adds that he is seeing a rise in interest in digital art among younger collectors in the region.

New research by DBS Private Bank explores why Asian collectors are not only investing in paintings by Western masters but are also championing new and established Asian artists that reflect the region’s history and rapidly changing present. In so doing, many find that engaging with artists is giving them new perspectives on themselves and putting their life experiences in context.

Linking art, business and technology

Hong Kong-based enthusiast Alan Lau believes there is a connection between the artists whose work he collects, such as Asian conceptualists Lyota Yagi and Tozer Pak, and his own career in technology and innovation. Lau says his fruitful personal relationships with artists are a reminder that businesses and investors have much to gain from adopting a more creative mindset. “Breakthrough opportunities in business come from mixing ideas together,” Lau explains. “Artists and curators do that on a daily basis.”

Koh Seow Chuan, whose architectural vision helped define Singapore’s contemporary skyline, holds a similar view, born of decades of collecting late Singaporean masters such as Cheong Soo Pieng and Lim Tze Peng.

“My personal connections with Singapore’s artists have reinforced my belief that reaching into one’s heart and finding new ways of creating ensures greater success in one’s professional work, even though a particular project may be challenging,” he says. “It uplifts one’s spirit and inspires like-minded friends around you.”

Collectors in Asia frequently feel compelled to share their personal passions with a wider audience, to offer others that same sense of enrichment from the works that have inspired them. It is another way in which collectors can exert a positive influence on artists’ careers, beyond simply purchasing their work. 

This is how technology entrepreneur Tony Gu feels about his collection. “Supporting artists is partly about opening doors for them,” he says. “I introduce artists to important contacts and invite friends to their exhibitions. I appreciate art, I connect with it, and I want others to see its value too.”

Making art available for everyone

For many families, the desire to share their collections with the public is an extension of the philanthropic activity that brings the generations together in a long-term, shared endeavour. Few have done this as spectacularly in recent years as India’s Nadar family. 

Kiran Nadar, who started collecting in the early 1990s, opened the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) in New Delhi in 2010 after becoming personally acquainted with MF Husain, Manjit Bawa and other influential 20th-century Indian artists. “You develop a different perspective when you engage directly with artists and understand how they see the world,” she says.

Her museum now houses over 15,000 pieces from her collection, which is growing fast. “In India, there is limited understanding of the role that art plays in education and cultural enrichment,” she says. “I wanted to change that by making art accessible to everyone, not just those who are already collectors or connoisseurs.”

Nadar describes her sense of responsibility to ensure the collection is preserved for future enjoyment and education. She reveals a long-term vision that is evident in many of the collectors interviewed for DBS’ research. Above all, it is this passion for art to unite the community as well as future generations of the family that drives serious art collecting in Asia today. 

“Neither the supreme emperor nor a folk collector can have these collections forever,” says Chan Kok Hua, the founder of Qiu Zhai Art Studio in Singapore. “You can hold a collection for up to 40 to 50 years and then let others continue it. This is the essence of art collecting.”