HONG KONG, March 20 — Liu Yiqian, a Chinese billionaire who uses his American Express card to buy art at auctions, has just added to his spending spree.
The Shanghai-based collector spent nearly US$19 million (RM71 billion) at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in a series of auctions in New York this week, on top of the US$81 million he spent on historic Chinese treasures last year, earning tens of millions of AmEx points in the process.
On March 19, Liu, who has built a private museum in Shanghai, purchased a 600-year-old album of Chinese scrolls for US$14 million at a Sotheby’s auction, 93 times its high presale estimate. Prices include buyer’s commission and estimates do not.
“In the past year and a half, he has asserted himself as the greatest force in the Chinese art market,” Nicolas Chow, deputy chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, said by phone from Taipei.
Liu joins other Chinese billionaires, including Wang Jinlian, who paid US$28.2 million for a Picasso in New York in November 2013, as emerging influential buyers at art auctions around the world. Sales were also brisk at Art Basel Hong Kong last week, where US$3 billion worth of contemporary art was on display.
Seated yogi
On March 17, Liu picked up a 11th/12th century Tibetan bronze seated yogi at Christie’s for US$4.9 million, an auction record for a Tibetan sculpture, the London-based auction house said.
In November, he bought a 15th century Tibetan embroidered silk thangka for US$45 million. In April last year, he spent US$36 million on a 15th century ceramic known as the Chicken Cup.
His latest purchase — a 39-leaf group of Ming Dynasty Buddhist sutras painted with gold on blue paper — was estimated at US$100,000 to US$150,000 as part of Sotheby’s auction of fine Chinese painting and calligraphy.
The bidding took 31 minutes and attracted 15 clients, Sotheby’s said. Liu, who was in New York, bid by phone through Rongde Zhang, the head of Sotheby’s classical Chinese paintings department in New York.
The result is the record for a Chinese painting outside of Asia, New York-based Sotheby’s said during Asia Week.
Private collection
The Sutras came from a private Japanese collection. After Sotheby’s catalogue went to print, new information came out, identifying the only other known works from the series as being in a noted Chinese collection, according to the auction house, which didn’t have enough time to revise the estimate.
James Hennessy, a Hong Kong-based dealer, said many bidders believe that the texts were commissioned by the 15th century Chinese explorer Zheng He, boosting price expectations.
“There was already a buzz about the piece before the sale,” Hennessy said. “The market does the research and figures it out. His story is legendary and he has an iconic presence in Chinese history.”
Liu paid for the Chicken Cup last year with his American Express Centurion card, collecting millions of points. He earned even more last week when he paid for the US$45 million Thangka in Hong Kong with plastic.
He then used the points to fly his wife and daughter to New York and stay for the week at the St. Regis hotel.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Liu plans to pay with his credit card for his latest acquisition. He didn’t immediately respond to a text message seeking comment. — Bloomberg
