Slave and Lion, a painting by famous Chinese artist Xu
Beihong, was auctioned in Hong Kong Sunday at HK$53.9 million
(US$6.9 million), a record high price compared with prices fetched
by Chinese artists' paintings worldwide.
The price far exceeded the HK$32 million (US$4.1 million)
estimate by Christie's Hong Kong in October.
According to the auction company, Slave and Lion is one
of Xu's early works, painted with realistic technique combining a
Western sense of form and a Chinese lines.
The painting depicts the story of a slave and a lion in the
Roman Empire. The slave having brought succor to a lion with a
thorn in its paw later meets the same lion in the bloody surrounds
of a Roman amphitheater. The emperor was moved by the touching
reunion and thus gave the slave his freedom.
(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2006)
