K Auction
23 Eonju-ro 172-gil, Gangnam-gu, Korea
223-479-8888
About Auction House
K Auction is an art auction company that offers modern and contemporary Korean art.Auction Previews & News
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Auction Industry2023 First Quarter: Sales Fall Over 10% at Top 3 Auction Companies
Global auction sales by three companies, Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips, fell more than 10% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, a recent report showed. In addition, sales at Korea's two major auction houses (K Auction and Seoul Auction) also shrank by nearly 60 percent during the same period. Some analysts said that the global art market could be worse than it is now depending on the economic situation. According to the Art Market Report 1Q 2023 released by the Korea Art Authentication & Apparel Research Center (KAAARC), global auction sales at Christie’s, Sotheby's, and Phillips were about USD 1.32 billion (including buyer premium), down 13.6% from about $1.52 billion in the first quarter of 2022. The figure is about 9.0% higher than in the first quarter of 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, and about 5% lower than in 2019, before the pandemic. Top: Percentage of increase or decrease in auction sales by city in the first quarter of 2023 Bottom: Total successful bids by city in the first quarter of 2016-2023. Image courtesy of KAAARC. The most noticeable point in the first quarter is the contraction of the London market. During 2023’s first quarter, London auctions were down about 31% from the same period last year. In the previous eight years, London has emerged as a market leader for the top three auction companies. In terms of market share, London's fell sharply from 56.7% last year to 45.2% of total sales. On the other hand, sales in New York and Hong Kong increased. New York's market share increased from 29% last year to 41% this year, and Hong Kong's market share increased from 4% to 8.6%. Auction sales in New York and Hong Kong partially offset London's sales contraction. Post-War and Contemporary art ranked the highest in the auction share by art category, with sales of $439 million in 2023’s first quarter, accounting for about 33.3% of total sales. On the other hand, Impressionist and Modern Art recorded $307.2 million in sales in the first quarter of this year, down about 44.8% from the same…
Auction Industry[Korea News] K-옥션, 쩡 판즈의 ‘초상’ 등 4월 경매 출품
한국에서 열리는 경매에 중국 현대미술 거장 쩡 판즈의 ‘초상’(220x145cm, 2007) 시리즈 두 점이 나온다. 케이옥션이 26일 여는 4월 경매를 통해서다. 이날 경매에는 약 71억 원 규모 79점이 선보인다. 케이옥션은 쩡 판즈 작품을 가장 주목할 만한 출품작으로 꼽았다. ‘초상’은 작가의 삶과 중국 사회를 반영해 각각 정장을 입은 남자와 앞섶을 헤친 여자가 큰 손과 얼굴을 보여주나, 본질은 사라지는 듯한 모습을 담았다. 추정가는 11억 5천만 원~15억 원이다. 왼쪽: 쩡 판즈, 초상, oil on canvas, 2007. 오른쪽: 쩡 판즈, 초상, oil on canvas, 2007 (제공. 케이옥션) 이 작품은 2015년 케이옥션 홍콩 경매에 나왔으나 유찰된 바 있다. 쩡 판즈는 1964년 중국 우한 출생으로 유화를 전공했으며 당시 독일 신표현주의에 영향을 받아 졸업 작품으로 그린 ‘병원’ 시리즈로 주목받았다. 이후 ‘고기’ ‘가면’ 시리즈를 거쳐 ‘초상’ 시리즈를 선보였다. 이날 경매에는 지난해 한국 미술품 경매 시장에서 낙찰총액 7위를 기록한 아야코 록카쿠 작품 5점도 선을 보인다. 이 가운데 2018년작 ‘무제’는 추정가 10억~12억 5천만 원이다. 이외에도 치하루 시오타, 밀로 매튜, 피카 레온, 아키브 빌만사 등 독자적 작품세계를 선보이는 해외 작가 작품들이 다양하게 출품된다. 한국 근현대 미술부문에서는 박수근의 정물화 ‘백합’이 눈에 띈다. 백합은 박 화백이 생전에 좋아했던 꽃이다. 이 작품은 박수근 특유의 거친 표면에 두 송이 백합꽃을 그렸으며, 추정가는 2억~4억 원이다. 또 3미터에 달하는 대작 두 점도 경매에 오른다. 김종학의 '여름 개울'(추정가 2억 7천만~3억 5천만 원)은 할미꽃, 산수유, 개나리, 호박꽃, 수세미 등이 생명력을 뿜어낸다. 이왈종의 '제주생활의 중도'(추정가 9천만~3억 원) 역시 화사하고 생동감 넘치는 에너지를 느낄 수 있다. 박수근, 백합, oil on hardboard. (제공. 케이옥션) 고미술 부문에는 오원 장승업과 기야 이방운, 우현 송영방의 회화를 비롯해 ‘죽제장생문지통’, ‘남한산성반닫이장’ 등 목가구, 그리고 ‘백자청화모란문주자’, ‘분청사기인화문발’, ‘청자음각쌍어문반’ 같은 도자기도 출품된다. 경매 출품작은 4월 26일까지 케이옥션 전시장에서 무료로 관람할 수 있다.
- Auction Industry
K Auction to Offer Portraits by Chinese Artist Zeng Fanzhi This April
Two portrait paintings from a 2007 series by Chinese contemporary art master Zeng Fanzhi will be featured in an upcoming auction in Korea. This is through a sale held by K Auction on April 26, 2023. Around 80 items worth about USD 5.3 million (KRW 7.1 billion) will be presented at the auction. K Auction cited Zeng Fanzhi's work as the most notable entry. Left: Zeng Fanzhi, Portrait, oil on canvas, 2007. Right: Zeng Fanzhi, Portrait, oil on canvas, 2007. Image courtesy of K Auction. The available portrait pair reflects the author's life and Chinese society and shows a man in a suit and a woman with a long head, big hands, and articulated facial features. The paintings are expected to sell for between $860,000 and $1.12 million (KRW 1.15 billion - ₩1.5 billion). The work was last auctioned in 2015 in Hong Kong by K Auction. Zeng Fanzhi was born in Wuhan, China in 1964 and majored in oil painting, drawing attention with a hospital series drawn as a graduation work influenced by German Neo-Expressionism at the time. Afterwards, the Meat and Mask series were introduced, and the Portrait series followed. The auction will also feature five works by Ayako Rokkaku, who ranked seventh in the Korean art auction market last year. Among them, Untitled (2018) is estimated to sell for between $750,000 to $940,000 (KRW 1 billion to ₩1.25 billion). In addition, a variety of overseas artists' works will be exhibited, including Chiharu Shiota, Milo Matthieu, Fika Leon, and Arkiv Vilmansa. In the modern and contemporary art section of the sale, SooKeun Park's still life painting Lilies stands out. Lily is the flower that Park liked during his lifetime. This work depicts two lily flowers on the artist's unique rough surface, and the estimated price is $150,000 to $300,000 (KRW 200 million to ₩400 million). In addition, two masterpieces measuring three meters will be listed. JongHak Kim's Summer Stream (estimated $150,000 to $260,000) is filled with pasqueflower, corni, forsythia, pumpkin flower, and sponge. WalChong Lee's Golden Mean of Jeju Living (estimated $67,000 to $225,000) also offers a bright and…
Auction Industry[Korea News] “작년 4분기 한국 미술 경매시장 낙찰액 61% 감소… 구매자 주도 시장 전환”
한국 미술품 경매시장이 구매자가 가격 협상에 우선권을 쥔 구매자 주도 시장(Buyer’s market)으로 돌아섰다는 분석이 나왔다. 다만 이런 양상에서도 세계적 명성을 지닌 이우환 작가의 작품 수요는 여전한 것으로 나타났다. 한국미술품감정연구센터(Korea Art Authentication & Appraisal Research Center, 이하 KAAAI)이 발표한 ‘2022년 4분기 미술시장 보고서’(Art Market Report 4th Quarter, 2022)에 의하면, 2022년 4분기 미술 경매 시장 낙찰 총액이 250억 2천만 원을 기록했다. 2021년 같은 기간보다 약 61% 줄어든 수치다. 판매 작품 수도 354점으로 앞선 해 같은 기간보다 약 53.5% 감소했다. 이런 양상은 12월 마지막 경매에서도 뚜렷하게 나타났다. 이때는 치열한 경합이나 눈에 띄는 경매 기록도 없었다. 이에 따라 한국의 양대 경매사인 서울옥션과 케이옥션 낙찰액도 전년동기대비 절반이상 줄어드는 등 KAAAI는 미술 경매 시장이 이미 조정기에 들어갔다고 평가했다. 이는 지난해 하반기 세계적인 경기침체와 금리인상 여파가 영향을 준 것으로 풀이된다. 출처: 한국미술품감정연구센터(KAAAI). 구매 심리 악화는 낙찰률 하락으로도 이어졌다. 시장은 이에 구매자 주도로 돌아섰다는 분석을 내놓고 있다. 출품 취소 비율도 2021년 약 2.5%에서 2022년에는 두 배 이상 오른 5.25%를 기록했다. 특히 최저 추정가 10억 원대 출품작 중 약 64%가 경매시작 전 취소됐다. 낙찰된 작품들도 하한가선이나 그보다 낮은 가격선에서 거래가 이뤄졌다. 이런 상황에서 KAAAI는 이우환 작가를 “멈춰 있는 시장을 움직이는 단 하나의 블루칩”으로 꼽았다. KAAAI는 이어 “경매 기록뿐만 아니라 보이지 않는 유통시장, 조각투자와 미술품 신탁펀드 등 새로운 유형의 투자 플랫폼에 이르기까지 다각적으로 확대되어가는 미술시장에서 조정기에 우선적으로 선택할 수 있는 가장 확실한 카드”라고 덧붙였다. 그렇다고 이우환이 지난 4분기 경매시장에서 성적이 좋았던 것은 아니다. 2021년 4분기 이우환 출품작은 34개, 낙찰총액은 53.2억 원이었으나 2022년 4분기에는 16개, 18.81억 원으로 뚝 떨어졌다. 이는 미술품 경매시장이 어려워진 상황을 대변하고 있다. 아울러 이우환 작품은 케이옥션의 새해 첫 경매에 등장한다. 케이옥션은 18일 서울에서 열리는 경매에 이우환의 1977년작 ‘선으로부터 No.77072’(추정가 7~10억 원)을 비롯해 80억 원 규모 작품 84점이 출품된다고 밝혔다. 케이옥션 새해 첫 경매에 출품된 이우환 작가의 ‘선으로부터 No.77072’. 사진 제공: 케이옥션 한국 경매시장에서 해외 작품들의 4분기 성적도 저조했다. 해외 작가 작품은 2022년 4분기 117점이 출품돼 낙찰 건수는 61점(낙찰률 약 58.1%)이었고, 낙찰총액은 약 51.4억 원을 기록했다. KAAAI는 “향후 한국 컬렉터 뿐 아니라 해외 컬렉터들과의 네트워크도 확대해 나가는 노력이 필요하다”고 진단했다. 한편 한국 경매시장과 달리 2022년 4분기 해외 경매시장은 이른바 명가 명품이라는 단일 컬렉션으로 2022년 부진했던 매출을 일부 만회한 것으로 나타났다. 특히 크리스티(Christie’s)가 2022년 11월 열었던 ‘폴 앨런(Paul Allen)…
- Auction Industry
A Buyer’s Market: Total Amount of Successful Bids for Korean Art Auction Market in 4Q 2022 Decreased by 61%, KAAAI Says
Recently, the Korean art auction market has turned to a buyer's market where buyers have priority in price negotiations. However, even in this aspect, the demand for works by Lee Ufan, a world-renowned artist, still remains. According to the Art Market Report 4th Quarter 2022 released by the Korea Art Authentication & Appraisal Research Center (KAAAI), the total amount of successful bids in the art auction market in the fourth quarter of last year was USD 2.3 million (KRW 25.02 billion). The figure is down about 61% from the same period in 2021. The number of works sold was 354, down about 53.5% from the same period in the previous year. This pattern was also evident at the last auction in December. At this time, there were no fierce bidding competitions or noticeable auction records. Image courtesy of KAAAI. As a result, the winning bids for Seoul Auction and K Auction, Korea's two major auction houses, also fell by more than half from the same period in the previous year. KAAAI assessed that the Korean art auction market has already entered a period of adjustment. This is attributed to the global economic downturn and interest rate hikes in the second half of last year. The worsening buying sentiment also led to a drop in the winning bid rate. Analysts say that the market has turned to a buyer’s market. The cancellation rate of entries also more than doubled from about 2.5% in 2021 to 5.25% in 2022. In this adjustment period, the KAAAI cited Lee Ufan as “the only blue chip that moves the stalled market… He is the surest card to choose the adjustment period first in the expanding art market, ranging from invisible distribution markets, partial investment and art trust funds to new types of investment platforms.” This does not mean that Lee Ufan's work performed particularly well in the Korean art auction market in the fourth quarter of 2022. In the fourth quarter of 2021, Lee Ufan had 34 entries and the total winning bid was $4.31 million (KRW 5.32 billion). In the fourth quarter of 2022,…
Auction IndustryKorea News: The Korean MZ Generation Has a Greater Preference for ‘Western Works’ Than Previous Generation
Compared to the previous generation, the Korean MZ generation (Millennials and Generation Z) prefers Western works, and art fairs are ranked higher as places to purchase art. According to a survey of art fair participants and art auction company members held in Korea by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS), the MZ generation had a higher proportion of European and American artists' purchases than Korean, Japanese, and Chinese artists' works. The proportion of Korean artists purchased by members of the MZ generation was 77.5%, more than two percentage points lower than the previous generation (XB generation, 79.8%), and the proportion of Chinese and Japanese artists purchased was 0.2% and 1.7%, respectively, lower than 0.7% and 2.7% of the XB generation. On the other hand, the MZ generation has a high preference for European and American artists' works, with 12.1% and 6.4%, respectively, higher than the 9.9% and 4.9% of the XB generation. Visitors look around at the work at Kiaf Seoul. Image ⓒ Auction Daily. This trend remained the same in the nationality of works desired to be purchased in the future. When asked about the artists they want to buy within three years, the response rate of “Western creators” was 54.9% among MZ generation collectors, more than five percentage points higher than the XB generation's 49.0%. In particular, 76.4% of MZ households who purchased art worth more than USD 75,000 (KRW 100 million) within the past three years said they would buy works by overseas artists. There was also a difference between the MZ generation and the XB generation regarding the place of purchase. The proportion of MZ generation purchases made by domestic galleries was 32.4%, about six percentage points lower than that of the XB generation (38.3%). On the other hand, the proportion of art fair purchases was 30.7% for the MZ generation, which was higher than that of the XB generation (23.7%). In particular, the proportion of direct purchases from artists was 10.1% for the MZ generation, which was higher than that of the XB generation, which recorded 8.9%.…
Auction ResultKorean Cultural Artifacts Fail to Sell at Auction Amid Growing Market Tensions
The world watched this week as two important Korean cultural artifacts headed to auction for the first time. Earlier this month, the Kansong Art Museum in Seoul announced plans to deaccession two ancient works of art from its collection. It hoped that revenues from their sale would provide some much-needed cash. Yet the two cultural artifacts failed to draw any bids, let alone achieve a record price on January 27, 2022. Even though the objects could not legally leave South Korea, The Korea Herald reports that the sale was controversial from the start. National Treasure No. 73, Portable Shrine of Gilt-Bronze Buddha Triad. Image courtesy of K Auction. The offered artifacts are known as the Portable Shrine of Gilt-Bronze Buddha Triad and the Gilt-Bronze Standing Buddha Triad with Inscription of Gyemi Year. The former dates back to the 11th or 12th century, and it had a presale estimate of KRW 28 billion to ₩40 billion (USD 23.6 million - $33.7 million). The latter Standing Buddha Triad may have been carried by 6th-century Buddhist monks for protection. It had an estimate of ₩32 billion to ₩45 billion ($26.6 million - $37.3 million). The relics will return to the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation after failing to sell at auction. Both Korean cultural artifacts are “national treasures,” two of just 350 state-recognized items or places with that classification. Most other national treasures are heritage sites. South Korean law prevents the sale of designated national treasures outside of the country. However, they may be bought and sold within its borders with prior notification to the Cultural Heritage Administration. Although the controversial items were legally eligible for sale, the response from K Auction’s bidders was lackluster. The two relics were nestled in the company’s January auction of Modern, contemporary, and traditional Korean art. Seeing no bids, the auctioneer quickly moved ahead to other lots. Smart Times reports that two decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) organized earlier this month and attempted to purchase the objects. However, they failed to raise the necessary funds in time for the auction. This marks the first time that DAOs in…
