In America, at least 1.2 million people sit down with Simon de Pury every week.

They’re tuning in to “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist,” a reality TV show that pits 14 emerging artists against each other in a “Project Runway” kind of setup. Mr. de Pury, a co-founder of auction house Phillips de Pury & Co., is the Tim Gunn voice of reason on the Bravo channel show. The winner of “Work of Art” receives a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum and a US$100,000 cash prize.

Before the show began taping, Mr. de Pury says he had barely watched television. “When I heard about this program, I thought it was a great thing. Art can sometimes be viewed wrongly as something elitist whereas its appeal is universal.”

Simon de Pury

In the art world, Mr. de Pury, is known variously as “the Mick Jagger of art auctions,” and “the man with the golden gavel.” He’s in town this week for Art HK, and he will team up with photographer David LaChapelle at the Intelligence Squared Asia debate – “Art Must Be Beautiful” — Friday. They will argue for the motion; Singapore multimedia artist Ming Wong and Stephen Bayley, former director of London’s Design Museum, will argue against.

Scene Asia spoke with Mr. de Pury by phone shortly before he arrived in Hong Kong.

Q: What are your impressions of Hong Kong’s art scene?

A: Hong Kong is very clearly one of the three most important centers for the international art market along with New York and London. Its importance is growing by the minute. We are planning to hold an inaugural sale in the foreseeable future in Hong Kong. I think it is a must for anybody interested in the arts to follow very closely what’s happening here.

At the end of next year I think there will also be Art Basel Hong Kong, which is a great development. Art Basel and Art Basel Miami are essentially the most important art fairs and so automatically anybody who has not yet gone to the fair will make a point of going there next year at the latest.

Q: You once said that your approach to art is “purely physical” and you often know “within the first split second” if something is a great work. What qualities do you look for in a piece of art?

A: Indeed my approach is physical in the sense that I have an instant reaction but I think that I am not the only person. Everybody has a reaction when they are looking at something or listening to a piece of music.

I am looking for quality first of all. Even the greatest artists have some good days and some less good days. You have to buy with your eyes not your ears. It has to stir up your emotions and it has to have something which is timeless. Sometimes you see art where you think ‘This is so 1980s or 1950s’ whereas the greatest artworks you don’t automatically tie to a period.

Simon de Pury in action at an auction

Q: What advice do you have for young collectors?

A: The most important thing is to see, see and see. The more things you see the better it is so one should visit exhibitions, galleries, art fairs, auction previews and museums. A lot of people are intimidated to get into it because they feel they don’t have the necessary knowledge but in fact we all have our own way of reacting to a work of art which is very subjective. That is precisely what makes it so exciting. Once you familiarize yourself with what is there, you automatically sharpen your eye.

Q: Has your experience as an artist helped you serve as a mentor to the contestants who appear on “Work of Art”?

A: I have seen that many people who are active in the art world like museum directors, curators or gallerists have in fact had some artistic training in their youth. Very often they are quite discreet about it later. I think having some experience in artistic practice can only help in forming your eye.

Now with my very busy life, the only medium I can do is photography since it doesn’t take much time. I take the camera wherever I go. Whenever I see something that intrigues me, I take a photograph.

Q: The global art community has had a lot to say about “Work of Art.” Critics argue that the show borders on melodrama, what is your reaction to such comments?

A: That doesn’t disturb me. When you have a competition with 14 artists, of course you also have the different characters of the artists that are also going to express themselves in real life. It makes it entertaining and fun for the viewer to follow. I think that’s part of it.

Q: You travel constantly across the globe. Are there artists from certain countries that you have your eye on?

A: I am constantly following the latest artists and I have great discussions with my colleagues about which artists have potential going forward. We are very interested in doing this on a global scale so we have organized seminars on Chinese art, Russian art and art from the Arab region. We also organize two BRIC sales [Brazil, Russia, India and China] in London and now we just had an exhibition devoted to Turkish contemporary art in Saatchi Gallery. What is also very interesting is to see where you get the most hits on the Internet. China, Brazil and Turkey are places where there is a very large amount of interest.