By Chu Zhiying

China Guardian Auction Co. Ltd took the lead in closing the China Guardian 2007 Autumn Auction on November 13th, with 19 special auction sessions totally including Chinese painting and calligraphy, porcelain crafts, oil painting and sculpture, contemporary arts, fine art photography, rare books and manuscripts, stamps and covers, coins and bronze mirrors, etc. And the total transaction value reached over 698 million RMB. As a renowned auction company, China Guardian Auction Co. Ltd's performance does not only bring much influence to the market circumstances of this Autumn Auction, but also demonstrate the overall trends of the artwork auction market in a certain extent, thereby it attracts too much attention.

China Guardian 2007 Autumn Auction has set 3 world records. Firstly, The Red Cliff, a national treasure created by Qiu Ying, a painter in the Ming Dynasty, hit a world auction record for Chinese Paintings at the extremely high transaction price of RMB 79.62 million yuan; secondly, A Set of Ten Colored Ink Sticks with scenes of West Lake, a royal treasure made for the Qianlong Emperor era during the Qing Dynasty, set a world auction record for ancient Chinese stationery at RMB 4.48 million yuan; lastly, a 50-Liang Sycee produced in 6th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty, hit a world auction record for sycee at RMB 1.568 million yuan. In addition, the special auction session of "Zhang in the South and Qi in the North - Excellent Artworks by Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi" and the "Dan Qing Zhu Yan Zhai Collection of Classical Chinese Paintings" garnered 100 percent transaction rates.

Ms. Wang Yannan, Director President of China Guardian Auction Co., Ltd, was quoted as saying, "The success of China Guardian in this Autumn Auction is attributed to our consistent and long-term effort orienting equity, honesty and quality-service. It is worth pointing out that the transaction price of The Red Cliff exceeded 10 million US dollars. This is a symbol that the price of Chinese paintings has achieved a new height in the international art market, predicting a strong momentum and bright future for Chinese arts in the auction market." In this Autumn Auction, Chinese painting and calligraphy maintained a strong momentum with a transaction price of over RMB 400 million yuan. Ms. Hu Yanyan, General Manager of the Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Department at China Guardian, said, "After the adjustment in 2006, the market for Chinese painting and calligraphy has warmed up increasingly in 2007 and is heading in a positive direction with the market prices becoming more reasonable." The industry expressed its recognition at this point and agreed that the success of classical Chinese paintings and calligraphy is attributed to years of accumulation in the classical Chinese painting and calligraphy market, improved knowledge levels of collectors and increasingly identified value of classical painting and calligraphy.

In the classical Chinese painting and calligraphy session, the Red Cliff by Qiu Ying, a painter in the Ming Dynasty, set a world auction record. In addition, another auction artwork in the same session, Red Trees and Green Mountains, by Hua Yan was also auctioned at a high price of RMB 19.60 million. Gong Xian's Landscape, a 4-section screen, was auctioned at a price of RMB 4.928 yuan million. The classical Chinese painting and calligraphy department also held the special session titled the "Dan Qing Zhu Yan Zhai Collection of Classical Calligraphy and Painting in Ming and Qing Dynasties" which sold all of its 13 artworks. In particular, Wang Jian's Tall Pines in Cloudy Ravines was auctioned at a high price of RMB 9.856 million yuan, reflecting the positive trends of classical Chinese paintings and calligraphy. 

The modern and contemporary painting and calligraphy sector continued its warming-up trend from the Spring Auction. Many excellent items performed very well. As one of the focuses in the modern and contemporary painting and calligraphy sector, Pipa Song, a well-known work by Fu Baoshi, incurred highly competitive bidding among buyers inside the room and on the phones, and was auctioned out finally at a price of RMB 7.84 million yuan. New Year's Offerings by Wu Changshuo also reached an auction price of RMB 6.72 million yuan. In the special session entitled "Zhang in the South and Qi in the North - Excellent Artworks by Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi", all 12 of the masterpieces by Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi were auctioned out at a total transaction value of RMB 35.224 million yuan. In particular, the massive work by Qi Baishi, Pine and Eagle, ranked first in the auction session, with a transaction price of RMB 7.92 million yuan. Another highlighted artwork by Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), Eternal Mountains and Rivers, was auctioned at a transaction price of RMB 5.6 million yuan.

In this Autumn Auction, the three sectors of oil painting and sculpture, contemporary arts, and fine art photography achieved a sales value of RMB 190 million yuan. Famous works by established artists scored tremendous auction results. The most striking auction artwork was Wild Grass Bottomland - My Home painted by Chen Shuzhong. Its original estimated price ranged from RMB 180,000 yuan to RMB 220,000 yuan, but the final price reached RMB 4.76 million yuan, which was entirely unexpected. According to experts, the works of Chen Shuzhong have a unique style and popular subject matter; therefore, they are quite popular among collectors. Such a high price also indicates the maturity of the oil painting collection market. In addition to masterpieces of famous painters, excellent works with unique style also caught attention of the collectors.

Beijing Chengxuan 2007 Autumn Auction concluded on 8 November, with 8 sessions and 4 sectors including oil painting and sculpture, Chinese painting and calligraphy, porcelain crafts and stamps and covers and coins, transaction value totaling RMB 220 million yuan. In particular, Music by Yue Minjun, a contemporary oil painter was auctioned out at a price of RMB 11.256 million yuan, the highest price in this auction.

The special sessions for oil painting and sculpture and China Photography of Chengxuan Auction are highly popular, abiding by its prudential attitude in selecting auction artworks and the style of rational valuation. There were 97 lots in oil painting and sculpture session auctioned out at a total transaction value of RMB 49.441 million yuan, while 40 lots in China Photography session achieved a transaction value of RMB 2.947 million yuan and the transaction rate hit 77.2 percent.

This Autumn Auction was the second time for Chengxuan to hold China Photography session. Excellent lots were presented in inchoate Chinese art and photography, on-the-spot photography and contemporary photography sectors, seeing sound market performance.

In China painting and calligraphy sector, over 500 lots achieved a transaction value of RMB 81.38 million yuan, with transaction rates of 94.5 percent and 83.9 percent in two sessions respectively. Masterpieces by famous painters continued to perform well. Morning Glory and Two Cats by Xu Beihong was auctioned at an opening price of RMB 800,000 yuan and the price soared with the final price of RMB 5.7344 million yuan.

Coin session achieved great success. Sycee Kuping 7 qian 2 fen minted in Hubei Province in 1896 was auctioned out at the price of RMB 4.368 million yuan after intensified competition among buyers home and abroad, setting a world auction record in Chinese silver coins. Emerging as a new sector, craft works achieved a high transaction rate, with 75 percent for rhinoceros horn cups, 64 percent for jade wares and even 94 percent for ivory carvings, indicating the increasingly consummate collection auction.