12-18-2010 11:51 BJT
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As the temperature goes down in China, the country's art market is heating up. The record high price for an item of China's contemporary art has been broken again as late master Xu Beihong's work sold under the hammer at 170 million yuan. Let's find out what's behind the trend.
The packed house heated up at an autumn auction last Friday in Beijing.
In just a few minutes, Xu Beihong's 1938 painting featuring southwestern Sichuan heavers loading water, sold at the hammer price of 171 million yuan. It started at a mere 35 million yuan. The sale broke the record for any work by the artist himself and for any Chinese contemporary painting.
Zhang Yunjin, Dep. Gen. Manager, Beijing Hanhai Auction Co., said, "The government has released a series of policies to curb the real estate market and the stock market, you know, it's not a good choice for investors now. So, the art market is not a bad choice. "
The art market is among the hottest industries in China today. Take Poly auction house for example, the company's annual dealing has exceeded 9 billion yuan, triple the number of five years ago. Today, selling a single piece for over 100 million is no longer a surprise as it was in the past.
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