Investing in Thai art
By Jon Fernquest |
One could easily mistake it for a museum of Thai art.
The headquarters of Asia Plus Securities in Bangkok, Thailand's third largest brokerage, is home to a large art collection.
Over two decades the CEO of the firm, Dr. Kongkiat Opaswongkarn, now 52 years old, has collected Thai art.
Entering the building a statue of Ganesha, Hindu elephant god and patron saint of business and art, greets visitors (See Photo above).
Paintings and sculptures are to be found everywhere as one walks through the offices, conference rooms, and corridors of the building.
Passing the serene face of the Buddha sculpted in gold and silver, one soon comes across female bronze dancing figurines.
Only a few Thai artists are well-known outside of Thailand such as Chiang Rai's Thawan Dachanee or Chatchai Puipia and Natee Utarit.
See photo of Tawan Dachanee at home in his native Chiang Rai below.
(See two works by Tawan Dachanee: ink drawing #1 and ink drawing #2, and a sample of many other Thai artists)
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The works of most Thai artists are only exhibited in Bangkok galleries and bought and sold by collectors in Southeast Asia.
An abstract work by Thawan Dachanee from the 1960s purchased for three million baht is the most expensive piece of artwork in Dr. Kongkiat's collection.
Two-thirds of his collection, 100 out of 150 works, consist of Thai artists.
Works by contemporary Thai artists Kamol Tassananchalee and Thawan Praman are also part of his collection.
As a wealthy banker Dr. Kongkiat also houses parts of his collection in a condo at Hua Hin and his house in Chiang Mai.
Recently Dr. Kongkiat participated in an exhibition of Thai paintings at Bangkok's Queen's Gallery with other collectors.
Most are exhibited in Bangkok galleries and bought by collectors in Southeast Asia. Dr Kongkiat's most expensive Thai art purchase was a three-million-baht abstract piece from the 1960s by Thawan.
Southeast Asian artwork is quickly catching up with China and India in terms of popularity.
The aution house Sotheby's sold $9.74 million of Southeast Asian artworks at its Hong Kong auction house in April, almost double the expected sales.
Buying fine art and watching it appreciate slowly but steadily in value over time is a lot like buying blue chip stocks, but it also brings beauty into the investor's life before these gains are realised.
(Source: Bangkok Post, 23-04-08, page B5, from Reuters, Shanthy Nambiar, temporary-link)
Vocabulary:
mistake X for Y - wrongly think that X is Y
headquarters, company headquarters - the main offices of a company, where the president and higher management work and make important decisions
Asia Plus Securities - Thailand's third largest stock brokerage (See website)
a brokerage - a firm that sells stocks for commission
commission - the percentage of a sale paid to a sales person as a reward for making the sale
a patron saint - a holy person believed to give a group protection and help
conference rooms - large rooms for meetings, people sit around a long table
corridors - hallways connecting the rooms and offices on each floor of a building
serene - calm and quiet
comes across - meets
figurines - small models of people, used for as artwork or decoration
Ganesha - Indian elephant god (See Wikipedia)
Thawan Dachanee - one of the most famous contemporary Thai artists, known for his ink sketches, from Chiang Rai where he has a compound open to the public with his artwork (See biography and ink sketch)
native - the place you were born
one piece, two pieces, three pieces,... - the way that art is counted
artwork - high quality art: paintings, sculpture, ink drawings, etc
works - a creative production, such as a book or painting
X houses Y - X is the building where Y is located
Queen's Gallery - a well-known art gallery in Bangkok
collecting - the often profitable hobby of purchasing some kind of object like artwork, books, stamps, or coins over a long period of time (See Wikipedia)
collectors - people who have the hobby of collecting
abstract art - art that is not a picture of an actual thing in the real world (See Wikipedia)
catching up with - reach someone in front of you by going fast
blue chip stocks - safe and profitable stock investments in large and long established companies (See Wikipedia)
