A PAINTING by late Cantonese artist Li Xiongcai was recently sold by Beijing-based Rombon Auction for 89.6 million yuan (US$14.4 million), a record high for contemporary Lingnan-school paintings.

    The high auction price was nearly 10 times more than the painting’s appraised value and unexpected by the public, Rombon Auction marketing director Lu Hongmei said.

    Li’s work, titled “Evergreen Pine,” measures 142 cm by 747 cm. Li painted it in 1984.

    Li lived from 1910 to 2002 and remains a well-known master of traditional Chinese painting. He specialized in grand landscapes, flowers, birds and small animals, and was famous for his magnificent composition and unique style.

    The sky-high auction price has raised heated discussion in art circles across the country, as many experts thought the auctioned price might inflate prices of other Lingnan-school painters’ works.

    However, some art experts thought it might be too early to talk about the bright future of the Lingnan school of painting after just this auction, but said prices of Lingnan-school works could increase steadily in coming years as their current prices are too low.

    “I think this is an isolated case. Li has been known as a great master for a long time, and this is a huge painting, so it is not very expensive for such a large painting from such a famous painter,” said Chen Xiangbo, president of Guan Shanyue Art Museum.

    Although Chen agreed that the auction would increase other Lingnan-school paintings’ prices, he cared more about the concept of the Lingnan school.

    The old Lingnan school was formed by three masters born in Guangdong Province: Gao Jianfu, Gao Qifeng and Chen Shuren.

    “This school was formed in the last century under the background of social transformation. It focuses on realistic themes with strong visual impacts and has more modern factors than traditional Chinese painting,” Chen said. “However, the social environment has changed and regional differences have become smaller, so it is not fair to label the new-generation painters as belonging to the Lingnan school, as their styles are quite different from the original Lingnan-school style.”

    Chen said artists from the Guangdong area were “quieter” than those from northern China.

    “Northern artists’ works have higher prices because they are better at marketing and promotion. Those in Guangdong are more practical, but it is not a strange thing that Li’s work sold at such a price,” Chen said.

    Xu Qinsong, vice chairman of China Artists’ Association and chairman of Guangdong Artists’ Association, agreed with Chen.

    “This painting was not the best of Li’s works, so there must have been some accidental factors,” Xu said. “However, it also has the necessity factor, as prices of Lingnan-school artists have remained low for years.

    “Over the past decades, traditional factors have been valued in art circles, so Lingnan-school painters have not been as popular as those in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces,” Xu continued. “However, with our continuous promotion, more people are starting to pay attention to works by Lingnan-school artists and the concept of the Lingnan school has gradually been accepted, so more investors are expected to be attracted to the market due to its underrated prices.”

    Major auction companies and art companies also have high hopes for the future development of Lingnan-school works.

    “Prices of these works have increased steadily in recent years. For example, works by Zhao Shao’ang now sell for about 500,000 yuan per square foot, 400,000 yuan more than prices a few years ago,” said Ma Xuedong, research director of the AMRC, a company that tracks and analyzes art markets.

    (Wang Yuanyuan)