Kevin Ching, who retired as Sotheby’s managing director in Asia in 2021, will join arch-rival Christie’s as the new chairman for Asia, the house announced on Monday. Ching starts on May 24, the first day of Hong Kong’s spring sale week.
The surprising announcement comes as increasingly competitive auctions in Asia expand rapidly. The large Christie’s houses, Sotheby’sAnd Phillips have made ambitious plans to expand their reach in the region, with the three establishing a new regional headquarters in Hong Kong this year or next to accommodate a year-round sales schedule and more customer activity.
The appointment of Ching, the oldest addition to Christie’s, comes about a year before the house opens. new Asia-Pacific headquarters at the Henderson in Hong Kong. Christie’s said sales from its Asia Pacific (Hong Kong and Shanghai) auction houses totaled $833 million last year, the company’s third-highest ever. Asian buyers contributed $1.8 billion (or 26%) to global trade in 2022, half of which is attributable to auctions held outside of Hong Kong.
In Ching, Christie’s has secured an established veteran of the auction circuit. Also a well-known jade collector, Ching served as CEO of Sotheby’s Asia for 15 years, guiding the house’s expansion in the region, particularly in mainland China.
“It’s the perfect match and the perfect fit,” said Francis Belin, president of Christie’s Asia Pacific. “We believe in Asia. We believe in specialized expertise and customer relations. We are very excited.”
Ching, meanwhile, is ready to return to duty after a year and a half away. “Yes, I was retired, and between hiking and Netflix, I started to realize that I still missed the action of the auction and the art world a lot, not just the business but the very interesting and exciting people I’ve met along the way,” he told Artnet News.
Visualization of Henderson, Hong Kong by Zaha Hadid Architects for Henderson Land, where Christie’s will move in 2024. Rendered by Arqui9, courtesy of Christie’s.
Ching resigned from his post at Sotheby’s two years after the house closed acquired by Franco-Israeli collector and entrepreneur Patrick Drah as part of a private sale. Drahi’s son Nathan took over as CEO of Sotheby’s Asia in 2021 and began overseeing the house’s development in the region, where it has a 50-year history.
After Ching’s departure, other Sotheby’s rainmakers, including the former Asia president Patti Wangwho has been with the house for three decades, and ex-head of contemporary art for Asia Yuki Terase also gone.
Before embarking on a new venture with Christie’s, Ching praised the house for “never losing sight of the importance of brand value” in its quest to grow its business in the region. While being adventurous, “you want to stick to what you do best,” he said, emphasizing the importance of conducting business “thoughtfully” without jeopardizing brand integrity. . “A lot of our competitors don’t necessarily place the same importance on that, which I think is very important.”
Even though a growing number of young Asian collectors are buying Western art, auction houses must resist the temptation to chase only trends, lest they forget what they have done best, such as selling Chinese art and other Asian works, Ching warned.
“Just because a particular category is hugely popular doesn’t mean you shouldn’t overlook another category, which is just as good but perhaps less fashionable,” he said. “Fashion comes and goes. Remember that what is happening right now is perhaps the youngest and wealthiest collectors in Asia. But, look at China, for example, there’s a huge untapped market of potential buyers from a different age group and different social background who might want something else.
Despite the uncertainties regarding the business environment in Hong Kong at the moment, Ching said he was very optimistic about the city’s future following the Covid restrictions, referring to Hong Kong’s importance as a that “East-meets-West Center for International Cultural Exchangeas outlined in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan announced in 2021.
The new headquarters will also allow Christie’s to schedule sales throughout the year.
“We don’t believe [the advantages of Hong Kong] will change, otherwise we would not have committed to take full initiative and sign a 10-year lease,” Belin said. “The ecosystem is there.”
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