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New Shanghai Art Fair Wows Critics, Dealers
Western traders are panicked, but in China the market's booming
By Jason Farago
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Posted Sep 12, 07 5:45 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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Western art dealers are jittery about the coming month's fairs in London and Paris, but at Shanghai's first international contemporary art fair the mood was buy, buy, buy. The Telegraph traveled to ShContemporary, a fair that assembled galleries from Asia, Europe and the US. Censorship might reign in the People's Republic, but inside the fair the mood was transgressive and fashionable.
ShContemporary was founded by a Swiss art dealer after he failed to get the famous Art Basel fair to expand to China. At first glance the lower end of the market—photographs and editions—seemed to be doing best. But as the fair wore on booths were selling out of more expensive works by both Chinese and Western artists.