DOUBTS were cast over a shrimp painting by a contemporary Chinese master which was auctioned for the exceptionally high price of 120 million yuan (US$18.46 million) at the ICIF in Shenzhen during the weekend, Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

    The 4-meter-long painting of 123 shrimps by Qi Baishi was auctioned at the Bantian subvenue of the ICIF on Saturday. It was painted by Qi at the age of 84. The identity of the buyer, however, was not disclosed.

    Doubts over the authenticity of the painting and the nature of the auction were raised, the Daily said.

    Shenzhen Baofuhe Culture and Communications Co., one of the organizers of the auction, denied that the painting was a counterfeit. “It was a real auction in which an art collector had bid 120 million yuan for it,” said Wang Jun, a manger of the Baofuhe company.

    Wang said the shrimp painting has been authenticated by the authority before the auction. “It is absolutely the real work by Qi,” he said, adding that the painting has previously been collected by Xu Bojiao, a Hong Kong financier and art collector. “The painting has record of Xu’s collection and his personal seal.”

    Wang’s guarantee, however, didn’t clear some people’s doubt over the painting.

    Qi Fu, the great granddaughter of Qi Baishi, said she was really surprised at the news. “Honestly, I was totally unaware of the auction of the painting,” said Qi, who was also at the ICIF.

    The Daily said Qi Fu was fairly cautious about commenting on the authenticity of the painting. “I cannot really say anything because I was not present at the auction, nor have I seen the catalog,” she told the paper.

    The paper said, however, the auction organizers stated in an early media release before the ICIF that a painting by a certain artist was likely to fetch “more than 120 million yuan in an auction.”

    In addition, the price of the painting was “ridiculously high,” Ma Cunhong, director of Shenzhen Charity Collection Research Association, said to the paper.

    “It’s impossible to sell a painting at such a high price even though it’s the work of a master artist like Qi Baishi,” said Wang. “Something must be behind the price,” he said without elaborating.

    Wang said he understood the doubts centered on the painting. “Unlike Beijing and Shanghai, it is really rare to have national art treasures auctioned in Shenzhen. So I’m not particularly surprised at people’s doubts,” he said.

    Wang said the art collection market in Shenzhen is at its starting phase compared to Beijing and Shanghai. “It has been the case before that an artwork could fetch about 4 million yuan in Beijing while it could be auctioned for only 2 million yuan in Shenzhen.” (SD News)