“We hope that art can be integrated into people’s lives. so we have established this platform to provide affordable works for ordinary people,” said Peng Wenbin, the Art Director of the 24th Guangzhou International Art Fair (Autumn).

People attend the art fair. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

In order to get locals familiar with a variety of artistic mediums, the organizing committee set up major pavilions featuring classic oil painting, contemporary art and Chinese cultural heritage.

Furthermore, a special public art project ‘Guangzhou Hao’ attracted numerous visitors’ attention during the event. Many visitors and exhibitors took part in this project and added their own creativity to the public project, making it a huge collaborative piece.

People visit the ‘Guangzhou Hao’ art project at the fair. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Mr. Sylvain Pilhion, a French art collector and also an exhibitor at art fair, brought dozens of his exquisite pieces to the fair, including etching works from Picasso, Dali and Zao Wou-Ki as well as Chinese-French handcrafts. The Pilhion family has been engaged in art collecting for many years. This was the fourth time for Mr. Sylvain Pilhion to attend the art fair.

“Zao Wou-Ki was a friend of my family,” Mr. Pilhion explained, “I am so fascinated by the history of the collections and the stories behind them so much. I also notice that many works in my collection originally came out of Guangdong in the 18th or 19th century.”

Mr. Kiselev Sergei's paintings are displayed at the fair. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Mr. Kiselev Sergei, a painter from Russia, exhibited his landscape and abstract works at the fair. He has been creating oil paintings for over 20 years and it was the eighth time for him to participate in the art fair. “My inspiration almost always comes from nature and music,” Mr. Sergei told the reporter, “I enjoyed the fair so much, I’m very satisfied.”

The art fair was held at the Canton Fair Pazhou Complex between November 29th and December 2nd. Hailed as the largest art fair in Asia, it showcased more than 20 thousand art works from about 350 organizations spread across over 30 different countries.

The exhibition covered an area of 30,000 square meters, including a 2000 square meter Russian art themed pavilion. Most of art works were sold during the fair at affordable prices. The gross sales during the first day of the fair was expected to reach 100 million RMB.

Authors: Monica Liu, Wang Yifan

Editor: Simon Haywood