However, it is not uncommon for conditions to be attached to gifts to art institutions in the West; donations may also involve additional sales and conditions about exhibiting works.
"This practice is fairly common in the West," local artist Wang Yuhong says. "I know collectors who donate works to a certain museum with pre-requisites, such as permanent display of some of the works."
Wang compares the situation to Eastern and Western views about dining. "A foreign friend once said he would treat me to a bottle of red wine at dinner but said we should still go Dutch on the dishes," he said. "Sound odd? Maybe in China people think that if someone offers to pay for a meal that includes everything, but that's not the way in the West."
Pi Li, curator of the yet-to-be-opened M+ Museum, predictably supports Sigg and the museum.
"The Hong Kong government won't carelessly spend their money," says Pi, who is teaching at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. "They have a strict budgeting system. Why must the collector be financially responsible for everything? The expense of insurance, renting a warehouse and transport of the Sigg collection over the past two decades has been daunting. I don't see what's wrong with the collector getting some compensation."
Lars Nittve, executive director of the M+ Museum, says Sigg succeeded in creating unparalleled documentation of Chinese cultural history.
"The period 1979-2009 is a unique moment in art history," he says. "Given the fact that many works, especially from the first 10 years of this period, were destroyed due to lack of interest from collectors and institutions, and the subsequent market boom for these works, it would be impossible to build a collection now similar in depth, scope and quantity."
In fact, Sigg landed in China in 1979 as the representative of Schindler Co, one of the first major joint ventures in China. His first-hand knowledge of China led to his appointment as Swiss ambassador to China in the mid-1980s. Sigg started collecting in 1985, collecting works as far back as 1979, and is said to be the only collector to have witnessed the development of Chinese contemporary art since its infancy.
Strong influences
His influence in the contemporary art community is illustrated by an apocryphal story that artists like to tell. It is said that once when visiting an artist's home, Sigg was bitten by the man's dog, and because of the unfortunate encounter, that painter remained obscure. For the record, Sigg denies anything like that happened, but the point has been made: He can make or break an artist.
"I know what is worthwhile collecting and what is not," Sigg has said. "I decided to collect as an institution would: documenting the art production of China from Day One till today - along the timeline, across all media, rather than according to personal taste as a private collector would. I set out to create that 'document' about Chinese contemporary art that is missing in China, and missing outside as well."
Jimmy Zhang, general manager of a government-affiliated culture company in Shanghai, says he met Sigg when the collector wanted to donate his collection in Shanghai and hoped for an iconic building.
"But it was hard to find an excellent museum named after him in the downtown area. The high cost of building and operating a museum so far has outweighed the attraction of the vast and prestigious collection. Maybe it is not difficult to convince some official leaders about building a museum for Sigg's collection, but then who else except the government could guarantee continuous support in the long run?"
Such contracts in perpetuity cannot be signed, he says.
Source: Shanghai Daily
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