News | June 18, 2012

Painting sold for $46 Million at Beijing Poly Spring Auction

News | June 18, 2012

By Alison Cavatore

Image: Born Rich

A painting titled “Wan Shan Hong Bian” by the late artist Li Keran sold for a record-setting $46 million at the Beijing Poly spring auctions.

Inspired by a poem written by Mao Zedong in 1925 called “I see thousands of hills in crimsoned view, the woods piling up in deep dye”, Li Keran’s “Wan Shan Hong Bian” painting was recently purchased by a Chinese entrepreneur who starting buying art just two years ago.

According to Poly Auction’s Executive Director, Zhao Xu, “The sale tonight shows a stable Chinese art market, which keeps attracting newcomers to auction houses. The high price of Li’s painting will definitely leverage the market of 20^th-century Chinese painting.”

Li painted seven versions of “Wan Shan Hong Bian” of different sizes between 1961 and 1964. One of the paintings remains with the Li family, two are owned by collectors in Taiwan and three are in the National Art Museum of China, Chinese Painting Academy and Rongbaozhai.

Source: Born Rich