At Auction: Chinese Contemporary Figurative Paintings, Sotheby's, Beijing

When speaking to several American Representational painters who had travelled to Beijing to participate in the opening of the 2012 America China Painting Artists League Exhibit, I learned these artists had been surprised by the reception they were given in China.  They were honored, and there was a genuine interest in their artwork, and many reported feeling like they were treated like "rockstars." In other words, it was a far different level of respect than they were accustomed to in their own country.

I had had an inkling of the status of Representational Art in China before the ACOPAL Show, but it was not until I had spoken to some of the artists who had actually been part of the exchange that I had  learned just how differently our two countries view the genre.  The one story that stood out most to me was from an American artist who had boarded public transportation with a group from the cultural exchange, and had struck up a conversation with a young, Chinese artist (and his interpreter) sitting alongside him.  The young Chinese man was no older than 32, I believe, and he had just sold a work that bested his previous record price:  his latest sale had topped one million dollars.  That figure blew me away – how often do you hear of a piece of American Representational art by a living artist selling for so much? 

Since hearing that story, I occasionally peruse the auctions of Chinese Contemporary Art (of which Representational Art is included) to see how that young Chinese man's sale compares to that of his peers.  Granted, the auctions are re-sales, and the price, if the painting sells at all, goes to the owner, not the artist (though I believe in China, the artist is entitled to a percentage of the re-sale price), it still gives an indication as to the prices at which a living Representational painter might sell their work, and how much more highly evaluated is Representational Art in the East.

I fully acknowledge that this an overly-simple comparison between the two countries attitudes towards Representational Art.  If I were to make a more direct comparison, I might take Wang Yidong's painting A Married Woman in the Mountains – a fine example of China's Rustic Realism movement – and consider it against an American work which similarly celebrates our own country's cultural heritage.  But finding such a work to compare is not easy;  America does not celebrate Nationalism through its art in the same way.  The closest correlation may be between China's Rustic Realism and our country's Western Art, which celebrates our past, both factual and mythical.  In such a case, there are living American artists, such as Howard Terpning (b. 1927), whose works do fetch similar auction prices to that of Yidong.  

Finding a direct comparison between New Generation Artist Liu Xiaodong's scene of modern life (Family Party) with that of an American artist's similar representation of modern life – and in the same price range – seems less likely.

Sotheby's sale of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art will take place at 2:00 PM HKT on June 1st in Beijing.  More details of the sale, as well as the full auction catalog, can be found at the Sotheby's website.