"Snowy Mountain in Switzerland," a Chinese painting by Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), fetched a stunning 52.64 million yuan (US$7.72 million) at Beijing Council International's autumn auction, setting a new world record for the artist.

The painting was inspired by Zhang's 1965 trip to Switzerland and created later at his mansion in Brazil. It has been exhibited in many countries, such as the United States and Canada, but never appeared on the Chinese mainland until this auction.

The previous record for a Zhang work was set by the "splashed color" (pocai) style Red Lotus on a Golden Folding Screen that fetched HK$20 million (US$2.58 million) at Sotheby's 2002 Hong Kong auction.

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