life CHINA DAILY CHINADAILY.COM.CN/LIFE FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2012 | PAGE 18 Li Keran bucks market trend The artist has become a favorite at auction and his works are fetching record prices. But overall, the Chinese contemporary art market has cooled, Lin Qi reports in Beijing. i Keran (1907-89) took center and how representative the work is, in addi- stage at the spring sales with tion to the art publications and catalogues it two historic works both cross- has appeared in.” ing the 100 million yuan ($16 Though a record was set by Wan Shan million) threshold. Hong Bian, two other important paintings by His 1974 painting of former Li were unsold, which came as no surprise for Lchairman Mao Zedong’s residence in Sha- art collectors like Yan An. oshan, the revolutionary holy land in Hunan “Both big players and new buyers are bid- province, fetched 124 million yuan at China ding for the best works of the blue-chip art- Guardian, in May. ists, while the market can’t provide as many Th ree weeks later his large-scale blockbust- top-notch artworks and provide the reduced er of 1964, Wan Shan Hong Bian (Th ousands risks that people expect. of Hills in a Crimsoned View), was sold for a “Th is is because in the face of an unclear personal record of 293 million yuan at Poly market, cautious owners would rather keep International Auction. those items, which achieved skyscraping Li, a prominent figure in 20th-century prices, rather than fl ip them at auction,” Yan Chinese art, is recognized for innovating the says. mountain-and-water painting genre after It has become a tug of war between owners the founding of New China in 1949. He is and buyers, he adds. also remembered for breathing new life into Th ere is some reassurance for art dealers, art education. collectors and analysts, however, and that is Figures from the Beijing-based Art Mar- the category of modern masters in the 20th ket Monitor of Artron (AMMA) show the century will continue to serve as a powerful price per 0.11 square meter of Li’s works has engine, because of its immense stock and increased 175 percent, rising from 1.35 mil- wide price ranges — and acknowledgement lion yuan aft er the autumn sales in 2011 to of its artistic value among buyers. 3.72 million yuan at the end of June. Traditional painting and calligraphy have This great leap makes Li an exception, been pillars of the Chinese art market. Th e compared with other modern masters such category accounted for nearly 60 percent of as Qi Baishi (1864-1957), Zhang Daqian China’s art market share in 2011. (1899-1983) and Xu Beihong (1895-1953), The prices of Chinese modern painting whose works haven’t generated the stagger- and calligraphy have kept surging up over ing prices seen in the spring boom of 2011. the past fi ve years, and reached a climax in Th e phenomenon is seen as a continuation the spring sales of 2012. of the market slowing down since the autumn “Although the market fell in 2011’s autumn sales, infl uenced by the credit squeeze policy sales, the price is still on a high level com- and macroeconomic control. pared to other categories,” Guan says. For instance, Zhang Daqian grossed an AMMA’s statistics show that by June 21, auction turnover of nearly $555 million in Chinese modern paintings took up fi ve posi- 2011, and replaced Pablo Picasso as top in tions in the spring sales’ top 10 artworks, in the global artist ranking by auction revenue, terms of auction price. according to the French art market informa- “We are optimistic that the market for tion provider Artprice.com. Chinese modern paintings will continue to His Lotus and Mandarin Ducks sold for a grow, while newer buyers will mature as they personal best when it went under the ham- expand their collection and gain experience mer for $24 million at Sotheby’s 2011 spring in the market,” International Specialist Head sales in Hong Kong. of Christie’s Chinese Paintings Department Meanwhile, his best performance in spring Ben Kong says. at the “Big Four” auction houses — Christie’s, He stresses that it is important to have a Sotheby’s, China Guardian and Poly Interna- normalized and healthy market for Chinese tional — was 29 million yuan ($4.62 million) paintings. for a re-creation of Song Dynasty (960-1279) Guan says although several modern mas- artist Li Gonglin’s painting. ters have ascended to the 100 million yuan “Most record-setting works by Qi Baishi club, fueled by huge influxes of capital in and Zhang Daqian in previous auction sea- previous auction seasons, records are diffi cult sons had formerly been owned by celebrated to break. Th e market tends to seek break- collectors or were the fl agship creations of a throughs in terms of works by more artists certain period. Th ose paintings quickly sold of diff erent genres. out in a booming market,” AMMA’s director Kong says investment should possibly Guan Yu says. be secondary when looking at a painting, Th e market, however, cooled in the latter because “there is always a certain degree of half of 2011 and there was little confi dence in risk in any investment activity”. spring 2012 because of an uncertain econom- “Th e primary focus for collecting is still the ic prospect. Guan says buyers have become love and appreciation that one experiences or more rational. gradually learns,” he says. “Many elements are taken into consider- ation when deciding the value of an artwork, Contact the writer at PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY which include the artist’s status, the hierarchy [email protected]. Wan Shan Hong Bian, by Li Keran. China’s largest military art show of all time By ZHU LINYONG “These works offer the general um says, the exhibition “reflects a Before the Song (960-1279) and [email protected] public a glimpse of life and the inner great step forward in China’s military Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties, the world of military personnel,” says Wu art which holds a very long tradition”. favorite genre for military-themed Th e National Art Museum of China Changjiang, vice-chairman of the “Th e show is the climax in terms artworks was ink paintings on rice is hosting a military art exhibition — Chinese Artists Association. of the range of subjects, genres and paper or silk scrolls. the largest ever — to commemorate Bai Zhiqiang, a visitor from Liaon- styles,” Yan says. Since Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the nation’s Army Day, which fell on ing province, says he was most attract- Cangyuan rock paintings, found wood-block prints have been a widely Aug 1. ed to the ink depictions of young Red in January 1965 in the Cangyuan used genre depicting battles, heroes Th e exhibition also celebrates the Army soldiers in the 1930s, as well Wa autonomous county, Yunnan and wartime romances. People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) as sculptures of Eighth Route Army province, is widely believed to be For example, some New Year 85th birthday. soldiers and offi cers fi ghting Japanese the oldest military-themed painting wood-block prints produced in Yang- “It encompasses the best military- invaders from 1937-45. He also likes in China. liuqing township of Tianjin in the late themed artworks Chinese artists have the oil portrayals of Chinese military Painted on a rock 10 meters above Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) portray created over the past fi ve years,” says officers in peace-keeping missions ground, the recovered sections of the peasant-turned-soldiers scenes dur- Li Xiang, the exhibition’s chief cura- and the Chinese Navy’s convoy mis- painting illustrate scenes of people on ing the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. tor and deputy director of the Artistic sions at the Gulf of Aden. battlegrounds about 4,000 years ago. Since early last century, military- Creation Institute of PLA. “For me, the art exhibition is like The battle motifs resemble those themed artworks have evolved and Th e exhibition is co-organized by a vivid, intensive course about the found on the surface of a variety of became an integral part of main- the Ministry of Culture, the Artistic development of the Chinese army bronze wares, excavated in diff erent stream Chinese art amid the nation’s Creation Institute and the Chinese over the past decades,” Bai says. parts of the country over the past cen- tumultuous history, laden with civil Artists Association. JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY These artworks not only present tury. wars and wars against foreign aggres- Over the past six months, a Kids enjoy the military art exhibition at the National Art Museum of China, soldiers and offi cers on duty but also But the best-known military- sion, says Li Yonglin, an art historian 60-member jury has conducted three in Beijing. moments in their daily lives. For themed ancient artworks are the Ter- with Art Academy of PLA. rounds of selections. example, there are some which depict racotta Warriors, discovered in the “Today, military-themed artworks A total of 568 works, including ink other types of experimental artworks, according to genres. the romance between PLA officers Mausoleum of the First Emperor of focus on depicting the rise of China’s paintings, oils, prints, watercolors, have been singled out from more than Viewers will be able to learn about the and offi ce girls. Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) in Xi’an, military power as an essential force posters, picture-story illustrations, 12,000 entries for the grand show.