A new world record price for Chinese contemporary art was set at
the Beijing Poly Auction on Tuesday by an oil painting that sold
for 22 million yuan (US$2.75 million).
The 10 x 3 meter piece made by avant-garde Chinese artist Liu
Xiaodong depicts a panorama of the construction site of the Three
Gorges hydro-power project in central China's Hubei Province.
Liu's work smashed the previous record set by a canvas of
Chinese artist Chen Danqing which was sold for US$1.47 million at
Sotheby's New York three months ago.
Liu started "documenting" the resettlement of people from the
area of the gigantic Three Gorges Project in a series of paintings
in 2003. The auctioned piece New Three Gorges Resettlers
dates from 2004.
Liu's paintings trace the evolution of the construction project,
portraying vivid scenes of people from villages soon to be
submerged by the damming of the reservoir.
The piece was offered at 6.8 million yuan at the Poly Auction. A
woman only known as the owner of a private business finally bought
it for 22 million yuan.
Prices fetched by contemporary Chinese at important auctions in
New York, Hong Kong and Beijing continue to mount. Art works
totally brought in some 1 billion yuan (US$125 million) in auction
transactions in China in the first half year.
(Xinhua News Agency November 24, 2006)
