Britain’s Charles Saatchi, one of the world’s most influential collectors, has set up a Chinese-language version of a successful Web site on which artists showcase their work.

Two leading Indian collectors are opening a gallery in London on Friday which will specialize in contemporary Asian and Indian art, while Christie’s auctioneer holds its first London auction dedicated solely to India in May.

“I would say that in the last year or so we’ve sensed a real increase in interest among non-Indian buyers, especially for younger contemporary (Indian) artists we will show in this space,” said Prajit Dutta, co-founder of the Aicon Gallery.

“There were some Western collectors who had got into contemporary Chinese art which has seen a gigantic runup in the last year or two.

“Some were saying ‘What’s next?’, and contemporary Indian art seems to represent a certain value opportunity and creatively a certain strength,” he said.

Asian art’s ascendancy in recent years has been spectacular, with contemporary artists seeing prices for their work soar.

China has led the way with artists like Zhang Xiaogang, Wang Guangyi and Yue Minjun catching the eye of wealthy buyers, including Saatchi who has bought works by all three.

Zhang’s painting “Tiananmen Square”, for example, fetched a record $2.3 million at auction last year.

India also has its rising stars. A Tyeb Mehta painting sold for $1.6 million in 2005, the first painting from the country to top the $1 million mark.

“It’s not just a correlation with their economy,” said Pilar Ordovas, head of post war and contemporary art at Christie’s, London. “They have something that appeals to the world outside.”

Asian buyers are also paying fortunes for coveted works on the international markets. Hong Kong property tycoon Joseph Lau set a record for Andy Warhol when he paid $17.4 million for a portrait of Mao Zedong in New York last year.

Saatchi said his interest in promoting Chinese art was not commercial.

He set up a Web site (www.saatchigallery.com/yourgallery), which he says is the largest interactive art gallery in the world, and noticed Chinese artists were trying to join but faced language difficulties.

One was student Liu Yang, who posted a message on his home page half in English and half in Mandarin.

“I can’t speak alot of English,” it read. “Sorry. But I love art. I admit that my knowledge of art is limited at present. However, I am sure I can learn quite a bit from your Web site.”

Kieran McCann, a developer of the site, said: “By creating a site in Mandarin we aim to break down the cultural and language barriers that might prevent artists from doing it.”

With much of the site already live on Google China, the gallery is aware the issue of censorship could arise.

Last year Google agreed to block politically sensitive terms on its China site, bowing to conditions set by Beijing in return for access to the market.

A gallery spokeswoman said it did not expect to clash with China, but would only censor material that was pornographic.

“We have always stood our ground, and that is what we do plan to do if a situation arises with our Chinese site,” she said, adding: “We are anxious to avoid any confrontation and are keen to work with the country that hosts our site.”

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