A huge oil painting, named Battlefield Chrysanthemum All the More Fragrant, by noted Chinese painter Wu Zuoren fetched an international record price of 3.52 million yuan (US$425,634) at an auction in Beijing on Saturday.
The previous record for a Wu oil painting was set at an auction in Hong Kong last year when one of his works, Big Fire in Chongqing, fetched more than HK$1.7 million, said Gao Yuan, an official with China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd.
The painting, which is 175.5 centimeters long and 118 centimeters wide, was painted in 1977 in memory of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong who passed away one year before. The painting was also named after a poem by Mao.
In recent years, Wu's works had been well received in overseas markets, and such a large painting was rare among Wu's works, said Gao.
Wu Zuoren was born in 1908 and died in 1997. He studied painting in Paris in 1929 and in 1935 graduated from Belgium's Royal Institute of Fine Arts, honored with Laureate Student. He opened painting exhibitions in Britain, France, and Switzerland in 1947. His Grazing on Tibetan Grassland in traditional style of brush work won Gold Medal at Paris Grand Palace Exhibition in 1982.He won a French literary and art order of honor in 1985, and in 1988 he was honored with a top level Belgian royal honorary order.
He served as president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts of China. His masterpieces include Foziling Reservoir, Portrait of Qi Baishi, Sanmen Gorge on Yellow River, among others.
(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2003)
