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Art
Modern Chinese oil painting seeks record pricePosted by Joel Martinsen, February 28, 2008 5:08 PM
How much would you pay for a painting of Master Xu Yun (虚云大师)? The full-page ad at left appears on page 5 of the 25 February issue of Phoenix Weekly (凤凰周刊). Apparently, someone is trying to sell off a "modern Chinese oil painting" of the famous Zen master (also known as Empty Cloud), who died in 1959 at the age of 119. The painting, after this photo of the master in meditation, measures 1.2m by 1.68m. The advertisement states that the "lowest price" is US$18.4 million. Now, a recent Bloomberg article quoted a Sotheby's exec who said that "Chinese art has seen some explosive increases in price in recent years," but somehow this painting still seems overvalued. Prospective buyers don't have to wait for an auction: they can contact the seller at a free Netease email address. UPDATE: Before this post went up, Danwei sent off an email to YuBin, the individual who placed the ad, asking about the decision to place an ad versus auctioning the painting, as well as how the painting was appraised. We received a reply on 1 March, and have been given permission to translate it here:
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Comments on Modern Chinese oil painting seeks record price
I do have an impression of the earlier ads, at least Gone With The Wind. Unfortunately, Danwei does not maintain an archive of all the magazines we receive, so we cannot provide a scan of the page in question.