Art this year, became something everyone talks about, not just highbrows any more. From the chicken cup to Van Gogh's painting, rich Chinese rich are showing a robust purchasing power on the art market at home and abroad. Let's have a review of the hot art news that happened in 2014.
1. The most expensive tea cup: Doucai Chenghua "chicken cup" (Ming Dynasty)
Chenghua chicken cup at auction [Photo provided to China Daily]
Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian bought the cup at a Sotheby's 2014 Spring Auction on April 8, 2014 for HK$281.24 million ($36 million).
The 8.2-centimeter-wide cup bears the image of a rooster and hen tending to their chicks. An estimated 600 years old, the cup is an example of the peak of ceramic art during the reign of Chenghua (1465-1487).
The cup, which is in pristine condition, was made using the doucai method of fashioning porcelain that began during the Ming Dynasty, and was used for appreciation, not for display. It is commonly known as a "chicken cup" because it is decorated with paintings of chickens.
The cup celebrates the pinnacle of the Chenghua style of porcelain-making from 1465 to 1487 that is renowned for refining the doucai method. Well-preserved examples from that period are rare.
2. The most lavish spending of the Chinese rich in the world art market: Wang Zhongjun's purchase of a Van Gogh painting
Two staff members pose in a gallery with "Still Life, Vase with Daisies, and Poppies" by Vincent Van Gogh from 1890 at Sotheby's auction house in London October 10, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]
Van Gogh's 1890 painting, Nature Morte, Vase aux Marguerites et Coquelicots, fetched $61.8 million, far more than the pre-sale estimate of about $40 million, at a Sotheby's Autumn Evening Sale in New York on Nov 5, 2014.
Created one month before the artist's death, the vibrant painting is considered both a rare masterpiece and a savvy investment.
The buyer was Chinese film mogul Wang Zhongjun, chairman of the high-powered Huayi Brothers film studio. The purchase set off an Internet debate about lavish spending, with experts saying China's high-profile art buying has only just begun.
3. The most expensive Thangka in the world: Imperial embroidered silk Thangka (Emperor Yongle period in the Ming Dynasty)
The imperial embroidered silk Thangka [Photo/Xinhua]
The Thangka was sold for HK$348.4 million (around $45 million) at Christie's 2014 Autumn Auction on Nov 26, 2014.
The precious Thangka, seen as the most expensive Thangka so far, was bought by Chinese collector Liu Yiqian. It is the largest Tibetan embroidered Buddha Thangka from ancient times, with a theme of driving out evil spirits. According to Christie's, there are only three pieces of Yongle Thangkas existing and the other two are both in Jokhang Temple in Tibet.
4. The most expensive Chinese calligraphy: Hand scroll White Dagoba Hill, written by Emperor Qianlong
A set of hand scrolls, White Dagoba Hill, written by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, sold for 116 million yuan ($18.9 million), with commission, included at a Poly's Autumn Auction on the night of Dec 2. It fetches a record high among Chinese painting and calligraphy auctions around the world this year.
The scroll is also the only item that sold for over 100 million yuan (nearly $16.3 million) in the Chinese mainland's auction market this year and the highest price among Emperor Qianlong's works.
It is said that the writings were created after Emperor Qianlong ascended the White Dagoba Hill in Beijingin 1773 and was amazed by the beautiful scenery. The writings can still be seen in Beihai Park now.
5. The most high-profile art buyer: Liu Yiqian
Liu Yiqian drinks tea using the famous "chicken cup" that he purchased for $36 million at a Sotheby's auction in April.
Liu Yiqian, the Shanghai billionaire, is considered "the most high-profile" art buyer this year due to his much-talked about sip when he went to collect his $36 million chicken cup in Hong Kong. Some netizens called him "tuhao" or nouveau riche, and said he was showing off.
Then again, Liu's lavish spending on an embroidered Thangka at a Christie's sale in Hong Kong not long ago has pushed him into the public view again, with his tweeting on Wechat that his purchase is "self-willed".
6. The cheapest opening bid for Picasso's painting: 1 yuan
"Visage" by Pablo Picasso [Photo/taobao.com]
China's Taobao, a big online retailer, was selling works from the great master Picasso for the first time during its Taobao Spring Auction in May this year.
The bidding for the Picasso print "Visage" auctioned started at 1 yuan (16 cents). The painting "Visage" was created by Picasso in his later years in 1963, and the auctioned print bears the painter's signature.
The online auction also included the Spanish artist Salvador Dali's signed and limited edition sculpture, "Profile of Time". Bidding for the Dali piece also started at 1 yuan
7. The most impressive art exhibition: Ten Masterpieces of French Painting
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-French diplomatic relations, 10 artistic masterpieces from France were on display at the National Museum of China for the first time, from April 12 to June 15.
The exhibition, which the Chinese President Xi Jinping and French counterpart Francois Hollande have written a preface for, is no doubt a major one this year. It was also a rare chance for Chinese people to enjoy French masterpieces at home, and has won much acclaim from the public.
The exhibition displayed 10 paintings from five French museums, the hallmarks of French art history, including Hyacinthe Rigaud's most famous work, Louis XIV, from the Palace of Versailles; Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette from the Musee d'Orsay; and Pablo Picasso's Metador from the Musee Picasso Paris.
8. The most controversial piece: Gong Fu Tie
Chinese collector Liu Yiqian bought it back from a Sotheby's auction in New York for $8 million in September 2013.
Then on December 21, however, it was reported by the Xinmin Evening News that three experts from the Shanghai Museum alleged the work was a replica, made during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Therefore, two months after the Shanghai Museum's claim of the piece as a fake, Liu and his Long Museum confirmed the authenticity of the work at a news conference in Beijing in February.
By applying high-definition technology to examine the writing characteristics, the paper itself and the seals found on the work, and inviting different experts to appraise the calligraphy, Huang Jian, the executive curator of the Long Museum, verified its authenticity along with Liu Yiqian.
9. The most expensive Qing Dynasty vase sold in US: A Cimu vase
The vase at a Skinner's auction in Boston. [Photo/Skinner]
A Chinese vase from the Qing Dynasty was sold for $24.72 million at a Skinner's auction in Boston on Sept 17, the highest record so far during this year's Skinner Asian Works of Art Auction, topping all sales of Qing Dynasty vases in the US.
The vase is from a New England collection, and was said to be bought by a Chinese buyer. The vase, a monumental 18th century imperial vase, is made of painted enamel and bronze stands. It is said to be a "Cimu" (mother of porcelain) which refers to the large glazed colored vase made during the reign of Qianlong Emperor in China's Qing Dynasty.
"Cimu" pieces are rarely seen around the world. Before the auction, the one in the Palace Museum of Beijing was the only known vase. The vase at auction this time is of the same size and decoration as the one in Beijing.
10. The sixth highest price among auctions of lost relics from Yuanmingyuan Garden: A pot with relief of dragon designs and lavender grey glaze (Qing Dynasty)
The pot from the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty was auctioned at a Sotheby's autumn sale in Hong Kong. [Photo/Beijing Youth Daily]
A lost cultural relic from China's Yuanmingyuan Imperial Garden was auctioned and sold for over 74 million yuan ($12.06 million) at a Sotheby's autumn sale in Hong Kong on October 8, the sixth highest price among auctions of lost relics from Yuanmingyuan Garden.
The pot with relief of dragon designs and lavender grey glaze from the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, has a Chinese signature on its bottom that translates as "Made in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty".
