2023 Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul Art Fair: The Chinese Art Collectors’ Collecting Motivations and Taste

The number of Chinese visitors to the Frieze Seoul art fair has been increasing in the past two years. The Chinese art collectors have shown great interest in the Korean art market and artists. This has led to the purchase of artworks, impacting on the Korean art market. Based on in-depth interviews, this study analyzes the collecting motivations and taste of 10 Chinese VIP art collectors (from Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) who visited Seoul during the Seoul Art Week from September 6-9, 2023. The collected data were coded using the NVivo 14 and analyzed by Strauss and Corbin’s grounded theory research method. The analysis resulted in 112 concepts and 25 sub-categories, which derived into 12 categories. The core categories of the Chinese art collectors’ motivations in purchasing Korean art included 1) economic investment, 2) aesthetic taste, 3) social leisure, and 4) emotional connection characteristics. The significance of this study is to deeply understand the phenomenon of purchasing artworks by analyzing the collecting behavior and psychological factors of Chinese art collectors during the 2023 Frieze and Kiaf Seoul Art Fair.