Want to become Art Dealer in China - good idea?

[Persian]

I'm a 19 year old English university student from the UK, and i'm interested in becoming an art dealer in China. I hope those on this forum could help, i didn't know where else to look.

For a long time, I hoped to do something that meant i could work with art, i could travel, and i could live in China (I love the culture, the art and the country of China a lot. Despite the bad things like pollution, i think it's the most beautiful country in the world. I've been to Sichuan, Yunnan and Chongqing by myself last summer and I loved it). 

However, for the past 2 years, I didn't know which job I wanted to do when I left university. So i picked the wrong high school qualifications (I went the 'business route', thinking that'll get me a good job in China), and today I study a business degree here in the UK.

But recently, whilst thinking about what job i want to do in the future, and assessing my priorities, I realised what I really want to do. 
I want to become someone who travels to different towns and cities in China, purchases some local paintings or embroidery, and then sell these paintings online through my future contacts in english galleries, or sell them locally to my future contacts within China. (That's an art dealer, right?). 

From what I saw, the cost of a typical painting in large cities/tourist areas usually varies between 100RMB and 500RMB (I got a painting from Chongqing for 300RMB).

I'm not sure whether I should focus on these general paintings, or buy contemporary art.

I much prefer Chinese paintings of a traditional theme/style - http://tinyurl.com/petfwmb,

However, chinese contemporary paintings seem much more profitable - http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandreerrera/2014/01/07/chinese-contemporary-art-goes-global-and-for-real/

 

The ideal amount of money i need to receive from this job would be 9,000RMB per month (I hope to live, eat and work full time in China, but i'm unsure which city I want to live in. I'm considering Chengdu though. My friend said she could find me a good apartment there for about 2,000yuan a month).

Any lower than 9,000RMB per month, and my life starts losing its comfort (though things won't actually become 'uncomfortable' until i receive less than 4000RMB per month), and any more than that will be a bit unnecessary in China (though i wouldn't mind receiving more!).

So, considering all of above, what are the steps one would suggest me to take, in order to achieve this job in China? Assuming as well, that I don't have a qualification in history of art.
Because of this, i don't know how to value a painting, i don't know the difference between a good painting or a bad one (other than whether it looks nice), and i don't know anything in-between. I'm sure there will be plenty of people trying to scam me too in the less friendly parts of China, and I won't know how to determine whether a chinese painting is genuine or not.

All i know is how to read/speak chinese quite well (I'm learning HSK level 3 now), and how to paint things. But I know nothing about Chinese paintings. 

 

Thanks for everyone's help

[Ruben von Zwack]

How about learning how to value paintings as a starting point? Needn't be financially, but how to tell good from bad? 

All successful art dealers I've met had that in common: they can put it into words why one is good and the other is bad.

 

So you're based in England. The Thames and Hudson series "World of Art" has got a few books on Asian and Chinese art.

For a very brief introduction on classical Chinese art (seen through the eyes of a Westerner, described for a Western reader) you could read the chapter on "The East" in Ernst Gombrich's "History of Art". It's just a few pages really.

[Persian]

I've applied for an internship at a nearby gallery just now.

 

I'm not sure if they are going to teach me how to value paintings, or just make me shift paintings from and to the basement (probably the latter). 

 

I'm going to get the Thames and Hudson book 'Chinese art' (this is the book, right? - http://www.thamesandhudson.com/Chinese_Art/9780500202999) as it seems quite good for reasonable price. Thanks for the recommendation, i'm not sure if this book will teach me how to value paintings, but i'm sure some knowledge about Chinese art will be invaluable.

 

Thank you Ruben!

[Touchstone57]

I know a few people in this area, and I am married to one myself. 

 

1. Have some type of expertise of specialisation that makes you worthy of being hired

2. Usually a background in Art History is required,

3. Common understanding of artistic concepts, like what is 'good' and' band'

 

'Art Dealers' that you speak of tend to be from wealthy backgrounds and need significant start up capital to build up a good collection over a long period of time (if you are independent). They can then be sold once the market trend is right and once they have found the right buyer. Any that I have met tend to be well educated in specialist areas and have a rich family (not always the case of course)..The alternative that you mentioned was purchasing art from tourist areas. These are most likely to be mass produced (esp in China) so they won't be of much real value to buyers or art institutions.

 

The alternative is get a gig working at a gallery or other art institution. 

 

Specific to China

1. Whilst the art market is a growing area in China (particularly contemporary art) there aren't that many jobs available, particularly for foreigners

2. A lot of foreigners pass through doing unpaid internships or short stints to get "the China experience" but I don't think there are a lot of full time jobs available, especially for 9000RMB PM

3. You should speak good Chinese and know China art history well if you want to be competitive -  I only know one foreigner that was employed for their specialist skills - they had a research degree from abroad as well as second degree art history studied in China in Chinese

[tysond]

I know a Malaysian Chinese lady who ended up working at a successful gallery as art has been her passion, but she worked in China for many years before being able to quit her highly successful corporate job (think that having a strong network was very key to getting the job).  And of course she spoke and read Chinese very well before even leaving Malaysia.  Not sure how much she makes.

 

My person experience was that I started planning to work in China in 2006, and arrived in 2013.  

 

Anyway, I usually give career advice like below for anyone young looking for jobs in China (including Chinese interns):

• Consider that there are literally millions of Chinese people with perfect Chinese, who completed high school and university, who would love to earn a good salary.  Many of them are having trouble finding jobs that meet their expectations.  These are your competition.
• Consider what attributes you have, that they do not (e.g. family connections and money, your mother tongue, etc), especially if they are hard for others to duplicate. 
• Consider your expected salary and the normal experience & responsibility required to get that.  For example, for 10,000 RMB it might be a degree + 5-8 years of experience in the industry and possibly managerial responsibility.  Do real research on this by looking at the professional communities online, interviewing people in the profession, etc.
• Figure out what the gap is between where you are and where you want to be.

Then plan how you will bridge that gap:

 

1. You will gain that experience/those skills and prove you can handle that responsibility

• This could be education, jobs, starting your own business, etc

2. Differentiate yourself further in order to accelerate your career.

• Building a network/public profile.  
• Publishing books.  
• Associating with high quality brands (top name universities, top name companies), etc.
• Could be based on rather rare skills that work in combination (you speak Arabic, Chinese and have a degree in petrochemical engineering?)
• Etc

If you were an intern with me, I'd recommend the following actions as a next step

• Interview 2-3 art dealers and ask them about their background, experience, education and career moves.
• Go to galleries and talk to the staff there about their background, experience, education and career moves
• Go online and find our where the art trade people hang out.  Understand the job landscape, business opportunities, etc in more detail.

You should ask the staff at the gallery what the internship involves.  Don't just submit envelopes into mailboxes, that's a pretty hit and miss way to chase your dream career....

[roddy]

Get a joint degree in Chinese and Art History. You can do this Edinburgh, maybe elsewhere.

 

Edit: Sorry, just realised you're already doing a degree. I'd suggest you finish what you've started then look at a Masters in art history?

[Touchstone57]

Anyway, I usually give career advice like below for anyone young looking for jobs in China (including Chinese interns):

• Consider that there are literally millions of Chinese people with perfect Chinese, who completed high school and university, who would love to earn a good salary.  Many of them are having trouble finding jobs that meet their expectations.  These are your competition.
• Consider what attributes you have, that they do not (e.g. family connections and money, your mother tongue, etc), especially if they are hard for others to duplicate. 
• Consider your expected salary and the normal experience & responsibility required to get that.  For example, for 10,000 RMB it might be a degree + 5-8 years of experience in the industry and possibly managerial responsibility.  Do real research on this by looking at the professional communities online, interviewing people in the profession, etc.

 

•  

I think there is some pretty good advice there from Tysond. 

 

It is an interesting point a lot of people make when the poster is asking about jobs in China – that there are millions of Chinese who can do what you do and speak Chinese, and are willing to work for less.

 

But in most case foreigners are never directly competing for jobs with Chinese people, so I don’t think this applies. It also tends to be that foreigners coming from western countries will have high expectations of salary and job benefits, so I can’t imagine many looking for a local Chinese work contract and competing with local talent (I’ve known a few Indians with good Chinese but working for less than their typical western counterparts would).

 

So in most cases the jobs you will be looking for will not be intended for Chinese people. This does of course mean however that there aren’t a ton of jobs available… But I was given this same advice when asking about IT jobs, but I did manage to find an IT related job in China for a foreign company that was specifically looking for a foreigner, so it is possible, just requires a bit of looking. Good luck in your search!