Cui Ruzhuo, 75, Top Chinese Artist Alive with Sales last year of US$132m

Zhou Chunya sales up 67%, second; Fan Zeng sales up 48%, back into Top 3

Average sales have risen for two years, up 20% from last year

Beijing is the absolute king, half of artists living there

Female artist Mi Qiaoming, 33, is again the youngest on the Hurun Art List

257 artists have made the list in the past 12 years, led by 15, who have been on it every year

Leading authority on wealth in China releases 12^nd anniversary of Hurun Art List

l  Cui Ruzhuo, 75, tops the Hurun Art List for the five consecutive year, with sales down 15% to US$132m. A 2017 piece by Cui became the most expensive Chinese work of art sold at public auction last year, selling for US$23m. In fact, seven in Top 10 most expensive Chinese work by artists alive today sold at public auction last year are by Cui Ruzhuo.

l  Zhou Chunya, 64, was second with up 67% to US$46m and ranked 1 place up. A 1992 piece and a 1993 piece by Zhou rounded out the top two most expensive oil paintings by living artists last year, with China Guardian selling them for US$6.6m and US$6.4m respectively.

l  Fan Zeng, 81, returned to the top three from last year, up 48% from last year to US$35m.

l  Jin Shangyi, 85, was 18^th from 99^th place with up 921% to US$8m. The biggest gainer on the list this year, half of his total volume came from one of the most expensive pieces: The painter monk Kuncan painted in 1999. It was sold by China Guardian for US$4m.

l  12 years of the Hurun Art List.  257 artists have made the list in the past 12 years. Of these 17 have since died and 15 have been on the list every year. 15 artists made the list for the first time this year. Rupert Hoogewerf said, “The consistency of the auction prices achieved by artist on the Hurun Art List is noteworthy. Many an artist can ‘get lucky’ with a high auction price one year, but to be consistently achieving high auction prices is another story.”

l  The average sales have increased for two consecutive years. After increasing by 9% last year, it rose by 20% to US$6.8m this year, but it is still down by 50% from the peak in 2012. The threshold rose 32% from last year to US$1m, but is down more than 60% from its peak four years ago. 77 sales were up, including 31 new entrants, and 23 were down. There are 8 artists who have sold over 100 million Chinese Yuan, 3 more than last year.

l  Chinese ink painters make up 61% of the list, 5 more than last year with 64. Oil painters made up 36% of the list with 38, down 4. Huang Jiannan, Zhu Yaokui, Ai Xuan and Liu Guosong dabble in both Chinese ink and oil.

l  2 sculptors made the list both from Taiwan: Zhu Ming, 81, ranked 34^th with sales of US$4.5m, down 20 places and the sales down 43% from last year; Li Zhen, 56, ranked 41^st with sales of US$3.7m, down nine places but sales up 10% from last year. Only 7 sculptors have made the Hurun Art List over the past decade.

l  Liu Wei, 47, from Beijing with US$2.35m of sales after two years is back again on the Hurun Art List.

l  15 new faces, led by Li Qimao, 94, who made the list for the first time with a total turnover of US$13m ranked 9^th.

l  Youngest artists. 6 under the age of 50, 1 less than last year, fell for the fourth year in a row. Oil painter Mi Qiaoming, 33, remains the youngest artist on the list, dropping 28 places from last year to 87^th, with turnover down 31% to US$1.29m. Three young artists made the top 50, respectively: Chen Zhongzhou, 41, the only post-70s artist in the top 20; Ren Zhong, 43, ranked 23; and Liu Guang, 50, who made his debut on the Hurun Art List with US$6.5m, ranked 26^th.

l  4 above 90 years, 2 more than last year, led by Sun Qifeng aged 99, sales with US$7.2m ranks 22. The other three are Li Qimao, 94, ranks 9^th; Huang Yongyu, 95, ranks 14^th; and Chen Peiqiu, 97, ranks 45^th. Among them, Chen Peiqiu is the highest ranked female artist.

l  The average age has risen three years in a row, to 68 this year, 2 years older than last year.

l  For 12 years, Beijing has been the city where the most artists were born and live. Of the 100 artists on the list, Beijing now has 51 artists, 4 fewer than last year. Guangdong remained in 2^nd place, with an increase of 1 with 10 people over last year. Jiangsu added 2 people to take 3^rd place with 8. Shanghai, which was third last year, lost 2 to take 4^th place with 5. Tianjin added 1 to keep the 5^th with 4. Liaoning, Guangxi, Jilin and Hebei are the new entrants, with 1 each.

l  Place of birth. Beijing ranks top spot with 13 artists, 2 less than last year. Jiangsu up 1 with 9 in top 2^nd. Guangdong ranks 3^rd with 9. Shanghai, which came in 2^nd last year, saw the biggest drop, with 7 people in 4^th place, down 3. Guizhou and Guangxi are new to the list, with 1 each.

l  Female artists. 3 of the Top 100 are female, as same as last year, led by Chen Peiqiu, 97, ranks 45 with sales of US$3.25m. The others are Xu Lele, 64, ranks 47 with sales of US$3.15m, and Mi Qiaoming, 33, ranks 87 with US$1.29m. Over the past 12 years, 12 female artists have been on the Hurun Art List.

l  The China Central Academy of Fine Arts has maintained its status as China's top art institution for 12 years in a row. Of the artists on this year's list, 21 have graduated or studied there, although 2 fewer than last year. Next came the China Academy of Fine Arts, with 8 artists on the list. Again, The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts has 6 artists on the list.

l  Auction houses. China Guardian had 5 of the Top 10 most expensive works of art, followed by Council and Poly Auction Hong Kong with 4 and 1 respectively.

l  51 artists have made the list seven times or more in the past 12 years, led by 15, who have been on it every year: Zhou Chunya, Fan Zeng, Zeng Fanzhi, Zhang Xiaogang, He Jiaying, Liu Ye, Huang Yongyu, Jin Shangyi, Ai Xuan, Luo Zhongli, Wang Mingming, Zhu Ming, Chen Peiqiu, Wang Yidong and Fang Lijun. Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher, said: “Artists, who regularly make the Hurun Art List, are closest to the equivalent of ‘a blue-chip’.

l  31 artists dropped off, missing this year’s cut-off of the Top 100 in terms of turnover, including Yang Feiyun (who had been on the list 11 times).

l  Of the Hurun Best-Selling Chinese Artists, a list of the Top 100 artists from Chinese history (featuring both living and dead Chinese artists), Zhang Daqian's turnover increased by 27%, surpassing Qi Baishi as the "best-selling Chinese artist" with US$436m. Qi Baishi's turnover dropped 6% to take second place with US$339m. The Chinese ink painter Qian Weicheng saw the biggest increase of transaction amount, with a growth of 265%, followed by Zhu Da (a Chinese ink painter with a growth of 221%), Li Kuchan (a Chinese painter with a growth of 175%), and Zhu Dequn (an oil painter with a growth of 161%). The number of oil painting artists on the list rose to 22 from a record low of 19 last year. The top 24 living national treasure artists in the 2019 Hurun Art List are among the Top 100 best-selling Chinese artists, three more than last year.

l  China has many families now with the ability to collect. According to the latest Hurun Wealth Report, by the end of 2017, the number of "ultra-high net worth families" with assets of 100 million yuan in mainland China reached 110,000, among which the number of "ultra-high net worth families" with investable assets of 100 million yuan reached 65,000. According to the latest Hurun Rich List, 1,893 Chinese entrepreneurs with wealth of over 2 billion yuan have made it onto the list. Add in the invisible rich, there should be more than 6,000 people on the Chinese mainland with wealth of over 2 billion yuan. Greater China leads the US for the fourth year in a row with 658 billionaires, according to the latest Hurun Global Rich List. Of these, 542 are from the Chinese mainland, 69 from Hong Kong and 47 from Taiwan. For the fourth year in a row, Beijing has overtaken New York as the "billionaire capital of the world".

(28 March 2019, Hong Kong) The Hurun Research Institute today launched the Hurun Most Successful Chinese Artists Alive Today 2019, a ranking of the top 100 Chinese artists alive today based on the sales of their works at public auction in the year ending 31 December 2018. Artron, China’s largest compiler of art statistics, provided the data. This is the twelfth consecutive year of the Hurun Art List.

“Top Chinese artist continue to command higher prices,” said Hoogewerf. On the Hurun Art List 2019, the total transaction amount, average transaction amount, entry threshold and the number of artists whose annual transaction amount exceeds 100 million have all increased.

Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said, "The Hurun Art List is targeted at those who have the ability to collect but don’t know where to start. Despite it being a difficult year for Chinese entrepreneurs, driven mainly by a sharp downturn in the stock markets, top Chinese artists continue to command higher prices. It shows that the ‘brand value’ of these artists is becoming accepted.”

This is an English language summary of the full Chinese press release which can be found at www.hurun.net. Please note percentage changes of the sales totals is using the Chinese Yuan figures comparing this year and last. For media inquiries please contact our public relations team whose contact details can be found at the end of this report.

Hurun Most Successful Chinese Artists Alive Today 2019

3 new entrants, including national painter Li Qimao, 94, lives in Taiwan. He made his debut on the list and was ninth with US$13m. The top 10 rose an average of 43%. The average age is 69, 1 year older than the total, and 5 years older than the average age of the top 10 last year. There are 7 national painters in the top 10. Seven of the top 10 live in Beijing, while the other three live in Sichuan, Taiwan and Shaanxi respectively.

Table: Hurun Art List 2018– Top 10

Source: Hurun Research Institute with data provided by Artron

↑ Rank increase yoy  ↓ Rank decrease yoy  - No Rank change yoy  * New to Top 10

Cui Ruzhuo, 75, topped the Hurun Art List for the 5^th year in a row with a turnover of US$132m. Although the sales dropped by 15% compared with last year, it was still US$86m higher than the second place. A 2017 piece by Cui became the most expensive Chinese work of art sold by China Guardian last year, selling for US$23m. In fact, of the top 10 most expensive works by a living artist, seven are by Cui Ruzhuo. Cui Ruzhuo has been listed on the Hurun Art List for 10 consecutive years, and has remained in the top 10 for seven years.

Zhou Chunya, 64, was second with up 67% to US$46m and up 1 place from last year. His total turnover of more than 40% from the three pieces of the most expensive: Rock Figure painted in 1992 and Chinese Scenery painted in 1993, sold by China Guardian with US$6.6m and US$6.4m respectively; Taihu Lake Stone painted in 2000, sold by Poly Auction Beijing with US$4.1m; and Series of Trees painted in 1993, sold by CHRISTIE’S with US$4m. Zhou topped the list in 2013.

Fan Zeng, 81, returned to the top 3 from 4th last year, up 48% from last year to US$35m. Fan has been listed on the Hurun Art List for 12 consecutive years and topped the list in 2011 and 2012.

Huang Jiannan, 67, saw his turnover rise 38% from last year to nearly US$29m, one place up from last year to the 4^th. Huang Jiannan has been listed on the Hurun Art List for 6 consecutive years.

Zeng Fanzhi, 55, sales dropped 12% from last year to US$25m, falling three places to fifth. His total turnover of more than 50% from the three pieces of the most expensive: Meat series 3: giving too much blood painted in 1992, sold by China Guardian with US$5.4m; Mask painted in 1999, sold by Poly Auction Beijing with US$4.4m; and I/we painted in 2004, sold by Christie’s for US$3.6m. Zeng has been listed on the Hurun Art List for 12 consecutive years, having topped the list in 2014.

Zhang Xiaogang, 61, saw a 56% increase in sales, ranking sixth with US$20m, up 1 place from last year. One of the most expensive works last year was Blood ties: big family 1 painted in 1996, sold by China Guardian. Zhang Xiaogang has been listed on the Hurun Art List for 12 consecutive years, having topped the list in 2009.

Jiang Guohua, 65, ranked 7^th with US$19m, up 41% from last year, 1 place lower than last year. Jiang Guohua has been listed on the Hurun Art List for five consecutive years.

Chen Zhongzhou, 41, up 118% from last year to 8^th place with US$17m, up from 15^th last year. This year is the second consecutive year Chen Zhongzhou has made the Hurun Art List.

Li Qimao, 94, made the list for the first time, ranking ninth with a total turnover of US$13m. His sales came mainly from three works sold by Hong Kong's Pyramid International Auction: NiuTong for US$8.8m, Ten-Thousand Horses Running for US$2.2m and MuNiuTu for US$1.8m.

Liu Wenxi, 86, up 261% to rank 10th with US$12.1m, rise 23 places from last year. Liu Wenxi has been listed on the Hurun Art List for 11 consecutive years.

Top Ten Most Expensive Living Artists

Among the top 10 most expensive living artists, seven are Cui Ruzhuo’s works, while the other 3 are from Zhou Chunya and 1 is from Zhang Xiaogang.

Two works of living artists were sold for over 100 million yuan last year. Among them, A 2017 piece by Cui became the most expensive Chinese work of art sold by China Guardian, selling for US$23m. The most expensive work on last year's list was also created by Cui: a 2017 piece became the most expensive Chinese work of art sold by Poly Auction Beijing last year, selling for US$38m.

In the auction house that sold the top ten most expensive works by living artists, China Guardian was the biggest winner, with five of them, followed by Council and Poly Auction Hong Kong with 4 and 1 respectively.

Of the top 10 most expensive works by living artists, seven are traditional Chinese paintings and three are oil paintings.

Table: Youngest artists of the Hurun Art List 2018

Source: Hurun Research Institute with data provided by Artron.

Beijing is the city where most artists were born and live 

Source: Hurun Research

↑ Rank increase yoy  ↓ Rank decrease yoy * New Entry - No Rank change yoy

Table: Fastest-Growing Artists from the Hurun Art List 2017

Source: Hurun Research Institute with data provided by Artron.

Source: Hurun Research Institute with data provided by Artron

↑ Rank increase yoy   ↓ Rank decrease yoy   - No Rank change yoy   * New to Top 10

51 artists have made the list seven times or more in the past 12 years, led by 15, who have been on it every year: Zhou Chunya, Fan Zeng, Zeng Fanzhi, Zhang Xiaogang, He Jiaying, Liu Ye, Huang Yongyu, Jin Shangyi, Ai Xuan, Luo Zhongli, Wang Mingming, Zhu Ming, Chen Peiqiu, Wang Yidong and Fang Lijun. Another 36 artists listed 7 times in half (including 7 times): Liu Wenxi, Liu Wei, Yue Minjun, Liu Xiaodong, Lin Tang, Wang Guangyi, Yang Yunfei, Cui Ruzhuo, Liu Dawei, Shi Guoliang, Wang Huaiqing, Wang Ziwu, Jia Youfu, Fang Chuxiong, Zhou Yansheng, Shen Peng, Wang Xijing, Li Shan, Sun Qifeng, Huo Chunyang, Xu Lele, Shang Yang, He Duoling, Shi Qi, Tian Liming, Feng Yuan, Fan Yang, Xu Bing, Chen Danqing, Leng Jun, Xu Qinsong, Ren Zhong, Xue Liang, Jiang Hongwei, Cai Guoqiang and Ding Li.

Hurun Art List annual list data changes

Source: Hurun Research

Hurun Art List 2018, Best-Selling Chinese Artists Alive Today

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Market Data Report- Reviewing Economic and Industrial Situation and Analyzing Market Changes

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It has collected the image and text information about more than 6,400,000 auction lots in more than 28,000 special auctions held by more than 1,000 auction institutions since 1993 and has contained sufficient data of 68,000 artists, more than 15,000 art institutions, 8,200 galleries and other relevant art segments.

About Hurun Report Inc.

Nobody Knows China’s Rich Better!

Established in 1999 by British accountant Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Inc. has grown into a leading research platform based in Shanghai and Mumbai, best-known for its China and India rich lists, and with 150 employees today. Hurun Report Inc. has four main divisions.

Hurun Research Institute ‘World’s Largest Rich List Provider’

2019 marks the 20^th anniversary of Hurun Report, highlighting the fastest wealth creating period in the history of the world.

The Hurun Richest Self-Made Women in the World has been highlighting for over ten years the fact that over 70% of the world’s most successful women in business herald from China, ie Chinese are completely dominant in the world of women in business. This has changed the way the world looks at Chinese women in business.

The Hurun China Philanthropy List ranks the most generous individuals in China and is now in its 15th anniversary.  With no inheritance tax, Chinese give much more generously than many have previously understood. 

Two recent lists with an impact include the Hurun China Unicorn Index, ranking the most dynamic businesses with a valuation of US$1bn or more in China; and the Hurun Most Successful University Alumni.

In India, Hurun Research has launched the Hurun India Rich List for the seventh time last year, and has an active events business there.

‘World Authority on the Chinese High Net Worth Individual’

Recent research partners include financial institutions (PingAn, Bank of China, Taikang Life, Minsheng, Citic), local government (Shanghai, Changbaishan) and Global 500 multinationals (Marriott, Country Garden, Agile, Audi, Volvo).

Three breakthrough lists this past year: Hurun Good Doctors’ List, a ranking of the 9500 most respected doctors in China, broken down by region and speciality; Hurun Best International Schools List; and Hurun Creative Works Intellectual Property List, in Search of the Harry Potter of China, ranking those online novels with the most valuable IPs.

The Hurun Art List ranks the top artists alive today in China for the 12th year and has become a household name amongst artists.

Media and Events ‘The Hurun brand gets 200 million views a month in China’

The Hurun brand has become one of the few non-Chinese media brands to become a household name across China.

Hurun Media monetizes 1 million views a month in China, through its wechat, weibo, website and legacy magazine.

Recent themed events include blockchain, fintech and 30 under 30, with industry-respected awards. We deliver 100+ events a year in China, with 200 entrepreneurs from the Hurun China Rich List attending.

Hurun Report kicked off the world's largest Chinese New Year dinner series in Shanghai on January 16, and is going to 8 cities across 4 continents. Toronto on Jan 20, New York Jan 23, LA Jan 25, London Jan 28, Istanbul Jan 29, Luxembourg Jan 31 and ending up in Sydney on Feb 18. Hurun Report’s mission is to create the world's largest platform of China gatekeepers.

Investments

Hurun Investments has a portfolio of 20 companies with a market value of US$50 million, with investments into tech, media, design, education as well as a vintage car race and a tailor.

The number "20" is integrated into the Chinese character ‘谊’ pronounced 'yi', meaning 'friendship', symbolizing how building friendships is at the core of how Hurun Report does business with its partners.

For further information, see www.hurun.net

Download:

Hurun Art List CHN&ENG 20190328.xlsx

Press Release-Hurun Art List 20190328.docx

新闻稿：《2019胡润艺术榜》190328.docx