Lu Yanshao  陸儼少

 

 2011 Rank:12     Auction Revenue:US$99.55 million

2010 Rank:27     Auction Revenue:US$46.2 million

Lu Yanshao (1909-1993), born in Jiading County, Shanghai, was one of the most significant and innovative Chinese landscape painters in the 20th century. Lu excelled at landscapes, featuring overpowering mountains, vast expanses of water and brisk clouds.

Lu formed his unique style of painting by adopting special techniques such as outlining cloud with long and slim lines, large void area, unconventional coloring and ink spots. He received critical acclaim for his fresh and vigorous artworks executed in fine and delicate strokes, and dynamic depiction techniques. Lu was also skilled at calligraphy and classical poetry. For him, painting and seal-carving were inseparable artistic forms.

Lu's best result in 2011 was generated by his 1986 "Spring River and Cloudy Mountain; Seven-Character Couplet in Running Script", which fetched 41.4 million yuan (US$6.5 million) in Nov. 2011 at China Guardian 2011 Autumn Auction. His best-ever record was set by his painting album depicting the artistic conceptions in famous Tang poet Du Fu's poems, which fetched 69.3 million yuan (US$11 million) in 2004.