A NUDE attributed to a master painter, was painted in one of their art classes, scholars claim.

    The oil painting, purportedly by renowned artist Xu Beihong, fetched more than 70 million yuan (US$11 million) at auction in Beijing last year. But, according to an open letter signed by 10 alumni at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, the painting was a class exercise painted 30 years after Xu’s death.

    The painting of a naked woman standing was said to be of Xu’s first wife, Jiang Biwei. It was sold for 72.8 million yuan by Jiuge International Auctions last year. Xu (1895-1953) was renowned for his Chinese ink paintings of horses.

    However, the open letter published by the Southern Weekly on Thursday, said the signatories believed the painting, sold at auction as The Portrait of Jiang Biwei, was an exercise by one of their classmates in May 1983.

    One of the signatories, Yang Songlin, a retired professor at the Shandong University of Arts in Jinan, Shandong Province, said Friday they recognized the hairstyle, body proportions and posture of the model and the background.

    Another signatory, Wang Yanqing, director of the Inner Mongolian Grasslands Painting Studio in Hohhot, said one of the signatories came across the painting online, although they could not as yet identify which classmate painted it.

    Wang said it was impossible that Xu could have painted something in that style, so similar to their class exercise.

    “Any oil painting graduate from the Central Academy of Fine Arts is capable of identifying the painting as a class exercise,” he said. “Xu had not painted anything similar. We issued the open letter because there were so many compliments online saying how rare the painting is and how high its artistic value is. It was having a social impact and these comments could deceive future buyers.”

    The open letter also included five paintings of what appeared to be the same woman from different angles — which the signatories said were their own paintings from the same class.

    Yang said they hoped the letter would prompt the authorities to look at the authenticity of the painting and put pressure on auction houses to operate properly.

    However, the signatories and media were perplexed because a photo of Xu Boyang, Xu Beihong’s son, holding the painting was presented on some auction Web sites. He allegedly wrote on the back of the painting in 2007 that it was an authentic work by his father. Wang said it was possible Xu Boyang had been fooled by the owner of the painting.

    An employee at Jiuge International Auctions declined to comment. (SD-Agencies)