Five Drunken Kings Return on Horses, by Ren Renfa (Photo provided to China Daily)
Three Chinese classical paintings grossed 663 million yuan ($96 million) at a Beijing auction Sunday night.
The top lot is Five Drunken Kings Return on Horses by Ren Renfa, a prominent painter of horses and also a high-ranking official in charge of water controls in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).
The 2-meter-long color hand scroll fetched 303 million yuan, claiming the record for the highest paid Chinese artwork at auction this year.
The painting exemplifies Ren's master techniques of portraying animals and figures. It was cataloged in Shi Qu Bao Ji, an inventory of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)'s imperial collections.
It was later transported abroad and acquired by German-born collector Walter Hochstadter (1914-2007). After his death, the Hochstadter family sold it for HK$46 million at a Christie's auction in Hong Kong in 2009.
The painting aroused heated bidding last night in Beijing Poly Auction's autumn sales. The buyer was Suning Real Estate, a company held by the Nanjing-headquartered Suning Commerce Group, a leading Chinese electronic and home-appliance provider.
Another notable sale at the auction was modern master Qi Baishi's Painting Album of Landscapes, which was sold for 195 million yuan to Powerlong Real Estate Holdings.
The album created in 1931 includes 12 leaves, each featuring a landscape inspired by Qi's travels across the country and memories of his native Hunan province.
Zhang Daqian's splash color piece Snow-capped Mountains in Switzerland was sold 164 million yuan. In the 3-meter-long painting, the master applied only ink, blue and green to create a natural scene of splendor and an effect of translucency and luster.
