From San Francisco Chronicle:
When a painting by the early 20th century Chinese artist Xu Beihong(徐悲鸿) fetched 33 million yuan ($4.1 million) at an auction earlier this summer, the news made the front page of the China Daily. It was the highest amount ever paid for a Chinese oil painting. The buyer was an unnamed local private collector.
Sotheby Holding’s auction of contemporary Asian art in New York in March took in $13 million, setting sales records for many of the artists. The local media avidly reported the gobbling up of Chinese art by Westerners, all of a sudden smitten by art from China. [Full Text]
