We have all seen many paintings that are sold at sky-high prices, whether they are domestic or foreign. Some of them can even reach unimaginable sky-high prices. Although the price cannot fully measure the value of the work, it can also reflect the degree of recognition of the work in the market to a certain extent. So today, let’s appreciate the 10 most expensive Chinese paintings in China.

The 10 most expensive Chinese paintings (ranked by price)
Qi Baishi’s “Twelve Landscape Screens”

Auction time: 2017
Transaction price: RMB 931.5 million
“Twelve Landscape Screens” is Qi Baishi’s most expensive painting. It was created in 1925. It can be said to be the most representative landscape work during his style transformation period. It is also the largest twelve landscape screen currently available in society.
This painting has been collected by Baishi’s female disciple Guo Xiuyi and her husband Huang Qixiang since 1958. In 2017, it started at 450 million yuan at the Beijing Poly Autumn Auction. After nearly 70 rounds of competition, it was finally sold for 810 million yuan. Including commission, it was sold for 931.5 million yuan, becoming the most expensive Chinese artwork in the world and the most expensive ink painting in the world.

Qi Baishi’s “Pine and Cypress Standing Tall·Seal Script Four-Character Couplet”

Auction time: 2011
Transaction price: RMB 425.5 million
“Pine and Cypress Standing Tall·Seal Script Four-Character Couplet” is the largest painting and calligraphy by Qi Baishi ever seen in public or private. The painting is 266 cm long and 100 cm wide. The seal script couplet “Long life, peace in the world” is 264.5 cm long and 65.8 cm wide. The picture is magnificent, with a metaphor of pine and cypress surrounding flowers; the seal script four-character couplet is thick, natural, dignified and grand, and the meaning is excellent: “Long life, peace in the world”, which can be regarded as the spiritual masterpiece of Qi Baishi’s calligraphy and painting.

Su Shi’s “Dead Tree and Strange Rock”

Auction time: 2018
Transaction price: RMB 411.7 million
On November 26, 2018, at Christie’s Hong Kong 2018 Autumn Auction, the “Wood and Stone Picture” (also known as “Dead Tree and Strange Stone Picture”) by the great Song Dynasty writer Su Shi started at HK$300 million and was sold for HK$463.6 million, setting a record for the highest auction price of Su Shi’s works. “Wood and Stone Picture” is a paper-based ink painting created by Su Shi when he was the governor of Xuzhou and went to Shengquan Temple in Xiao County. Around 1937, “Wood and Stone Picture” was purchased by Japanese calligraphy and painting collector Abe Fusajiro for more than 10,000 gold.

Wang Meng’s “Zhichuan Migration Picture”

Auction time: 2011
Sold price: RMB 402.5 million
“Zhichuan Migration” depicts the story of Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty migrating to Luofu Mountain with his family to practice Taoism and make elixirs. The painting contains poems by seven great scholars, painters or poets who were contemporary with or later than Wang Meng, such as Han Xing, Ni Zan, Tao Fuchu, Chen Ze and others. In addition, “Zhichuan Migration” also has nearly 20 collection seals of Xiang Yuanbian, a great collector in the Ming Dynasty, which is extremely rare.

Anonymous “Mother and Child Monkey” from the Northern Song Dynasty

Auction time: 2011
Transaction price: RMB 362 million
The picture depicts a mother monkey sitting sideways with her head tilted, her mouth closed, her nose pursed, her eyes gazing, her expression serene and serious, as if she is looking into the infinite distance, revealing a sense of transcendence and lightness. The baby monkey is running on the mother monkey’s back, tilting its head and looking around, with its right hand trying to touch the mother monkey’s face, while the mother monkey’s right hand tightly grasps the baby monkey’s tail and wraps around the baby monkey’s hand, and the mother monkey’s left hand is bent back as if to support the baby monkey’s buttocks. The unique composition and layout, the fresh and moist fur color, the accurate image portrayal, and the vivid expression of the expression show the painter’s ingenuity and superb skills.

Fang Danian and Emperor Wenzong’s “Wansui Mountain Draft”

Auction time: 2010
Sold price: RMB 334.8 million
A rare art masterpiece at this time. The “Draft of Wansui Mountain” painted by Emperor Wenzong and Fang Danian shows the peaks and ridges, the clouds and water, the pavilions and corridors, the eaves and the intrigues. A giant Taihu stone is painted in the center of the picture.

Li Keran’s “Wanshan Red All Over”

Auction time: 2012
Transaction price: RMB 293.5 million
Created in 1964, “The Mountains Are Red All Over” is a milestone work that established Li Keran’s status in the modern Chinese painting world. The theme of the painting is inspired by Mao Zedong’s poem “Look at the mountains are red all over, and the forests are all red”. Between 1962 and 1964, Li Keran accidentally got half a catty of cinnabar from the Forbidden City, and boldly tried to use cinnabar to write ink-accumulated landscapes, creating the theme of “The Mountains Are Red All Over”. According to research, there are a total of 7 “The Mountains Are Red All Over” paintings in existence.

Pan Tianshou’s “Eagle Rock Mountain Flower Picture”

Auction time: 2015
Sale price: RMB 279.45 million
“Eagle, Rock and Mountain Flowers” was created in the 1960s. It is the pinnacle of Pan Tianshou’s artistic career and the best interpretation of his concept of “keeping Chinese and Western paintings apart”. This painting adopts Pan Tianshou’s original creative pattern of combining landscape with flowers and birds. The content is composed of classic elements such as eagles, rocks, mountain flowers, and weeds in his flower and bird paintings. It abandons the casualness of literati paintings. In the environment of anti-traditional calls at the time, it combines traditional nutrients with the spirit of the times to the maximum extent, and develops a new flower and bird painting creation system.

Xu Beihong “Nine Provinces Have Fun in Farming”

Auction time: 2011
Sold price: RMB 266.8 million
“Nine Provinces Enjoy Farming” is a work on farming. This kind of grand work combining people and animals is extremely rare in Xu Beihong’s creation. The subject matter, composition and modeling of this picture are completely different from any ancient pattern. It starts directly from the objects of life and expresses the reality and typicality of the objects with simple artistic language, so as to present the feelings revealed in ordinary life and contain the inner rhythm of life in nature.

Zhang Daqian’s “Peach Blossom Spring”

Auction time: 2016
Transaction price: RMB 234 million
The whole painting is about seven feet high, and the top is almost full of the painting. It is repeatedly splashed with extremely thick mineral pigments such as azurite and malachite, and stacked layer by layer. From this painting, we can see that Daqian is very skilled in the combination of splashing ink and splashing color. The bottom of the picture is left blank, and near the shore there are several clusters of peach blossoms, bright red and tender, blooming in full bloom, with a refreshing fragrance. There is a fisherman fishing boat next to it, as if entering a paradise, such a scene is also what Zhang Daqian wanted all his life.
Summary: The above is what I shared today. I hope it will be helpful to you. If you have different opinions and suggestions, please leave a message for discussion.