The Potential of the Vietnam Market
In the previous section, we discussed the trend of holding artworks as a profitable investment. This trend is not only present in Western countries but also becoming increasingly popular in Asia. In the past two decades, major auction houses worldwide have focused more on the Asian market, which accounts for ⅓ of their revenue. In addition to major markets such as China, Hong Kong, and South Korea, Vietnam is also a potential market that has caught the attention of the "bigwigs".
Due to their rich national identity culture, Vietnamese antiques and artwork are in great demand on international auction floors. For instance, in significant international auctions, paintings by well-known artists like Le Pho and Mai Trung Thu sell for more than a million dollars. Alternatively, antiques linked to significant periods in Vietnamese history, such as gold seals, jewelry, watches, and pottery, are sold for billions of dollars on auction floors, demonstrating the market's appeal to both domestic and foreign buyers.
The Growing Interest of International Auctioneers in Vietnam
In addition to its impressive collections and exceptional items, the Vietnamese market also boasts an incredible economic growth rate, allowing more investors to enter the market. With its promising economic potential, major auction houses are exploring the Vietnamese market and developing strategies to enter the market.
Sotheby's was the first auction house to express interest in Vietnam. Sotheby's, the world's largest auction house with over 280 years of history and over $7 billion in revenue, appointed art researcher Ace Lê as Sotheby's Managing Director in the Vietnamese market. Soon after, Sotheby's held two exhibitions, "Timeless Souls: Beyond the Vonyage" and "The Faraway East: of Dreams and Pursuits", in 2022 and 2023 to activate the Vietnamese art market and cause a great sensation.
Following Sotheby's, Christie's also announced the appointment of Crystal Lam as Consultant in Vietnam with the hope of promoting Vietnam's potential and participation in international auctions.
Phillips also promptly appointed Ms. Tran Lan Vy as Consultant - Phillips' representative in Vietnam, marking an important milestone in Phillips' market expansion strategy in Vietnam and Southeast Asia in general.
Game-changers for Vietnam
The positive announcement from global auction houses is expected to benefit and present several prospects for Vietnamese stakeholders.
For the sellers: International auction houses bring in skilled appraisers and curators to correctly determine the worth of artworks and antiques. This helps sellers to get a fair price for their work and also increases liquidity in the market. In addition, this also stimulates collectors to continue to explore and find more valuable works, preserve traditional Vietnamese culture, and enhance the position of the Vietnamese market on the global map.
For the buyers: The arrival of major auction houses in Vietnam provides investors with the opportunity to access a wide variety of artworks and antiques, meeting the need to diversify their investment portfolios. Information about the works, authors, copyright issues, and listed prices will also be made public, ensuring safety and transparency, and limiting the problem of asymmetric information instead of trading on decentralized markets as before. At the same time, auctions also help Vietnamese artifacts to be legally traded to sell to foreigners. Especially, through auctions, foreigners can bring artifacts to Vietnam to sell, from which Vietnamese artifacts are legally repatriated.
For the auction market: The arrival of professional, large-scale international auction houses has created opportunities for domestic auction houses to develop and reorganize their auction models according to international standards, thereby establishing and promoting the development of the domestic auction market. With prices listed through auction floors, the market will also increase liquidity, attracting domestic and foreign investors to participate in the market. The auction market will also be diversified from antiques to artwork, watches, jewelry, cars, and many other unique products bearing the cultural imprint of Vietnam due to the attractiveness of this market.
For the Vietnamese economy: When the auction market is established, the activities of buying and selling artworks and antiques on auction floors will bring in a large source of revenue from taxes, contribute to GDP, attract foreign investment capital... contribute to the development of the Vietnamese economy.
However, investment in art or antique auctions is still new and unpopular in Vietnam. The architectural superstructure and infrastructure in Vietnam are not yet developed, lacking an art appraisal and curation system, and art distribution channels such as galleries, brokers, etc. Furthermore, there is still a lack of legislative frameworks, educational programs teaching art history, educational institutions, or historical museums on the market. As a result, to attract international auction houses, Vietnam must address several difficulties to create a safe and healthy market for both art-loving groups and domestic and foreign investors.
Comments