Robert Chang, art collector (Photo provided to China Daily)
Chang worked as antiques dealer with the support of his family's long-standing clients who had relocated to Hong Kong and abroad. He ran five antiques and curiosity stores at one time.
He first attended an auction in London in the late 1960s, and was impressed by the openness, convenience and inclusiveness of auctions. He began to bid at auctions in Europe and the United States.
And he felt the model should be introduced into Hong Kong, anticipating a time where art auctions would become a major stakeholder in the art market. When Sotheby's staged its first auctions in Hong Kong in the 1970s, he consigned his collections and actively made bids. He also introduced his clients to the auction house.
He shared his knowledge and contacts in auctioning, when the Chinese mainland also considered adopting the model. He was present at the first art auctions held in Shanghai and Beijing in the early 1990s.
Over the past two decades, Chang has been a regular bidder in mainland salesrooms. And he is always easy to spot: He always sits in the front row, wearing a colored suit and a Panama hat. His fashion style reminds people of the laokele, a word in the Shanghai dialect for "old clerk", which refers to people who dress in the neat, stylish manner of the 1920s and'30s.
But the people whom he competes with in the bidding race have changed dramatically. There are now an increasing number of deep-pocketed, homegrown entrepreneurs-turned-collectors who are active players in the market.
