It is no secret that most museums are led by visionary art collectors who have made significant donations or even opened museums to exhibit their wide range of art collections. Things are not different in China. The country has many big-name art collectors who have invested their money in the industry. These collectors keep a wide range of art pieces such as paintings, sculptures, art, and cave drawings.
And due to the political freedom and economic boom in China, more and more millionaires are joining the industry. The net worth of collectors, who keep art pieces for public displays and private collections, has exceeded that of those in the United States too. Below are the leading Chinese art collectors you would want to follow.
Qiao Zhibing
Qiao Zhibing is a sound engineer and the owner of three nightclubs in China. One of the nightclubs is in Hainan and the other two are situated in Shanghai and Beijing. He started an art collection in 2015 to decorate his three nightclubs. In fact, he claims that he spent over 1 million pounds on one of his art pieces.
Zhibing’s collection has art pieces from the best artists, such as Zhan Enli and Liu Wei Yang Fudong. The art collector also holds many pieces from international artists like Argentines Villa Rojas. In 2019, he decided to open the Tank Shanghai Complex to display art pieces. Today, the complex stands as one of the best recreational facilities and museums in China.
Adrian Cheng
Adrian Cheng, the owner of K11 Art Malls and the leader of New World Development, strives to promote the Chinese contemporary culture. His success came after he decided to combine his retail services with Chinese contemporary art. The K11 Art Malls allow all Chinese artists to display their work and the K11 Foundation has organized over 60 exhibitions since its launch.
Uli Sigg
Uli Sigg is another influential art collector from China. Even though he chose to donate a large portion of his collections to the M+ Museum, his art pieces are still many and they exceed 1500. They consist of traditional and contemporary works from the leading Chinese artist such as videos, paintings, installations, and photographs.
John Dodelande
If you are looking for a Chinese art collector who focuses on contemporary Chinese art from Mainland China, John Dodelande is the collector to follow. People in Western countries know him as an ambassador of Chinese contemporary art and recently he worked with Adrian Cheng to write a book known as “Chinese Art: The Impossible Collection.” The book has many works from Chinese artists. Furthermore, Dodelande organizes art exhibitions in China and Georgia.
Wang Wei and Liu Yiquan
Liu Yiquan and Wang Wei own two art museums in China, one located in West Bund and the other in Pudong, China. Art collections in the museums range from modern and traditional Chinese calligraphy to contemporary art pieces. One great thing about the art collections is that some of the pieces date back to the Song dynasty. The museums have experienced academic and art pieces advisors.
Buid Tek
Budi Tek is another influential art collector of Chinese art. His art collection has over 1500 contemporary art pieces from China. This founder of Yuz Foundation, an organization that funds, Chinese institutions, and artists, started his career in the food industry and it took him over 10 years to gather his art pieces.
Chinese contemporary art is very different from that originating from other countries. China has harmonized the old techniques and themes with new styles to Change the art and that is evident in the art collections from John Dodelande and other art collectors. Follow the above art collectors to know the emerging trends in China.
