A SPECTACULAR ink-wash painting from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and works by Qi Baishi and Chen Yifei are among the highlights of the upcoming Beijing spring auction season this month and in June.

    A painting by Wang Meng (1308-1385), signed by seven other artists and scholars, is expected to fetch around 200 million yuan (US$30.7 million) during the sale by Poly International Auction Co. from June 2-4 in Beijing, according to an auction spokeswoman. That would set an auction record for ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy.

    The major spring auctions of ancient paintings, antiques and contemporary art are being held by Guardian, Council and Poly International.

    Guardian

    The auction season gets underway with the Guardian Spring Auction from May 21-25 at the Beijing International Hotel Convention Center. Classical painting and calligraphy, porcelain, oil painting and sculpture, ancient books and other items will be auctioned.

    The highlight of the 350-piece classical Chinese painting and calligraphy section is an ink-wash work by famed artist Qi Baishi (1864-1957), painted in 1946 when he was in his 80s. Picturing a falcon on a pine branch, and titled “A Long Life, a Peaceful World,” it was a 60th birthday present to Chiang Kai-shek, late leader of the Kuomintang. It measures almost 500 centimeters by 166 centimeters.

    Guardian’s classical painting and calligraphy section is divided into five parts, including classical Chinese paintings and calligraphy; Young Marshall’s Literary Pursuits: Paintings and Calligraphy From the Family Collection of Chang Hsueh-liang; Treasures From the Four Seas.

    Other highlights include a blue and white, flower-patterned, octagonal candlestick from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and a 1,200-year-old guqin (zither) from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), from the collection of Beijing-based scholar and collector Wang Shixiang.

    Council

    Following Guardian, Council Auction House will hold a series of auctions for ancient paintings and calligraphy, porcelain, furniture, contemporary oils and modern porcelain.

    According to auction spokesman Ge Shiheng, the highlight will be calligraphy by Li Shutong (1880-1942), a renowned Buddhist monk, artist and art teacher.

    Li was widely known by his Buddhist name, Hong Yi. The calligraphy to be auctioned was written when Li was 50; it contains the lyrics for a song with Zen ideas, urging people to subsume material desire to achieve a higher spiritual level.

    Poly

    The two big auction houses in China are Guardian and Poly, which compete in offering the most precious Chinese art and antiques. Poly’s highlight is the ink-wash by Wang Meng of the Yuan Dynasty.

    “The rarity of painting and calligraphy from the Yuan Dynasty is one factor in the value, to say nothing of the fact that it contains poems and signatures of seven other famous scholars and artists of the same period,” says Zhang Qing, spokeswoman of the Poly. (SD-Agencies)