FURNISHING THE SOUL THROUGH ART

When Jonathan Crockett first thought of pursuing formal studies in Chinese contemporary art, in the late 1990s, he found it was a market that didn’t really even exist.

“Artists at that time were selling artworks for a minuscule fraction of what they’re selling for today. There just wasn’t the demand,” recounts the Chinese art specialist. “It was Western collectors in Asia buying Chinese contemporary art that really kicked off that market.”

So Crockett ended up furthering his education by studying Chinese language at SOAS University of London from 1997 and then Chinese Studies at Oxford from 2001 – and he watched with growing interest as the Chinese contemporary art market