Wu Guanzhong Set New Auction Record for Chinese Oil Painting

An oil painting by Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010) was sold last night (Apr 4, 2016) by Poly Auction Hong Kong for 236 million HKD (about 30 million USD), setting the new auction record for Chinese oil painting.

The painting, titled The Zhou Village, depicts the water town scenery of the popular tourist site in east China’s Suzhou city. Measuring 148 by 297 cm, it was done by Wu Guanzhong in 1997 at the age of 78. Wu Guanzhong also did an ink and color version of this painting in 1986.