Wang Jianlin on a Western (art) conquest

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Chinese collectors are more present than ever on the international art scene. Wang Jianlin, head of the DalianWanda Group, was China’s second richest man in 2014 with a fortune of $18 billion.

Whilst his interest for art is nothing new, it is only recently that he has started collecting art by Western artists. His first major purchase of Western art took place in 2013, acquiring Picasso’s Claude et Paloma (1950) for $28.2 million, three times the low estimate, considerably boosting the artist’s value.


A Chinese success story

Born in 1954, Wang Jianlin is a veritable success story in true Chinese style. As a member of the communist party, he served the People’s Liberation Army before taking charge of the commercial group Wanda in 1989.  The group began specializing in the construction of real estate in China, before diversifying itself and moving into the entertainment business.  In 2012, the group acquired AMC Entertainment Holdings, becoming the largest chain of cinemas in the world.  Today, Wang Jianlin’s empire includes 98 commercial centers, 57 five-star hotels and in the next ten years, intends to compete with Disneyland with around ten attraction parks across China. Guo Qingxiang, in charge of the company’s art collection spoke with the Wall Street Journal following the sale of Picasso in 2013 “the prices of the western art market are relatively low, so it was a great opportunity”. The Dalian Wanda Group was apparently ready to spend $50 million for this particular work by Picasso, admitted Guo Qingxiang later. During this same sale, the group also acquired Nu appuyé (femme étendue) (1908) by Picasso for $2.7 million.

Although the collection initially began with Chinese art, the group has been collecting for the past 30 years. It includes works by modern artist Wu Guanzhong and artist Shi Qi, whose work graced the walls of the Louvre in 2012. However the idea of delving into Western art has been a long-term plan for the group. With this in mind, a committee uniting 40 specialists in Western art established a list of appropriate pieces for the collection. “The Dalian Wanda Group is ready to pay heavy prices for works which enter into history”, confided Guo Qingxiang to China Daily. In May 2014, the group’s collection further expanded with the acquisition of Monet’s L’escalier (1878) for $3.5 million and Pissarro’s Le lavoir de Bazincourt (1884) for $2.5 million. With a global estimate of more than $1.6 billion, the collection will eventually be exhibited in a museum within the group’s Shanghai office.

 
Thumbnails: Wang Jianlin at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, 2009.
Image via Wiki Commons