From the International Herald Tribune:
The massive entry of citizens from the People’s Republic of China into the Chinese art market has become a common topic in the media. The focus is nearly always on the financial consequences or the nationalism that supposedly drives the new players.
Whether the Chinese are any more nationalist in buying their own art than the British when buying Wedgwood porcelain or Georgian furniture is a moot question. What truly underlies Chinese acquisitions is a renewed awareness of history that the Maoist Cultural Revolution tried to wipe out and a new eagerness to reconnect with the cultural tokens of the past.
