Chinese painting realizes record 10.7 mln USD at auction
7/11/2007 18:32
A record auction price of 79.52 million yuan (US$10.7 million) was
realized at auction for a single Chinese painting yesterday in Beijing.
The
Red Cliff Handscroll by the Ming Dynasty painter Qiu Ying (1494-1552) was
auctioned to a private buyer from the Chinese mainland at the China Guardian Art
Auction 2007 Autumn.
"The Red Cliff Handscroll is the first Chinese painting
to have been sold at more than US$10 million. It is a fair price for the
masterpiece considering its invaluable artistic and historical worth," said Wang
Yannan, president of China Guardian.
"It marks the status of Chinese painting
in the international market, which has been raised to a new level," Wang
added.
The previous record was set in spring of this year in Hong Kong, when
a painting by renowned Chinese painter Xu Beihong was sold at 76.32 million yuan
(US$9.23 million).
The bidding for Qiu's masterpiece started at 40 million
yuan before reaching the new record.
Qiu, born in Taicang, in east China's
Jiangsu province, was a master of the Wu School. By copying the works of earlier
masters, Qiu incorporated many different techniques and a varied palette to
create his popular paintings. His talent and versatility allowed him to be
regarded as one of the four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty.
Qiu left fewer
than 50 pieces of painting, most of which are in museums. He has created three
pieces of Red Cliff Handscroll, two of which are in the Liaoning Provincial
Museum and Shanghai Museum.
The piece auctioned off yesterday was first
collected by Zhang Xiuyu, one of the greatest art sponsors of the Ming Dynasty,
and was last kept for more than 80 years by a entrepreneur surnamed Zhang from
north China's Tianjin since the early 20th century.
Xinhua
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