An oil painting that depicts the Chinese proverb, "Silly Old Man Moves a Mountain" or "Yu Gong Yi Shan" in Chinese, was bought at an auction for 33 million yuan (US$4.12 million) in Beijing on Sunday, a record for a Chinese oil painting.

The artwork, painted by master artist Xu Beihong (1895-1953) in 1939 while he was living in Singapore, was snapped up by an unnamed mainland collector.

The previous record was 28.12 million yuan (US$3.5 million) for a painting of lotus flowers by Paris-based Chinese artist San Yu, which was sold at a Christie's auction in Hong Kong in April.

"The Silly Old Man" is based on a millennia-old Chinese fable of an old man who devoted his life to digging away a mountain which blocked his family's access to the outside world. His firm belief that he, his sons, grandsons and even great-great grandsons would one day clear the mountain so touched the gods that they had the mountain removed.

The late Chairman Mao Zedong often cited the fable in his works to illustrate the importance of perseverance and revolutionary resolve, which made Yu Gong the "Silly Old Man" a household name.

Xu hid the artwork in a dry well at a school in Singapore before he returned to China in 1941, on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack, according to Xu Qingping, president of the Xu Beihong Art School at Renmin University in Beijing, and son of the master artist.

Ten years later, the school's headmaster found the painting and wrote Xu a letter about returning it, but Xu wrote back to say that he was giving it to the headmaster as a gift.

The painting appeared in the art market on the Chinese mainland and Taiwan several times from the 1980s before a Taiwanese collector bought it for 2.5 million yuan (US$312,500) at an online auction on www.guaweb.com.

When the collector consigned it to Beijing Hanhai Art Auction Co Ltd this month, the starting bid price was set at 15 million yuan (US$1.87 million). Its hammer price reached 30 million yuan (US$3.75 million), and the final price included a 10 per cent premium.

"The record-breaking price can be explained by the rarity of Xu's large-sized artworks in the market and also by his indisputable genuineness as is reflected in the piece," said Zhang Yuejin, vice-president of the auction house.

(China Daily June 27, 2006)