A 15th century ink-brush painting marking a lifelong friendship between two artists fetched 148 million yuan ($22 million) at a Beijing auction Monday night.
The 10-meter-long hand scroll A Present to Wu Kuan depicts a magnificent view of changing landscapes. It was produced by Shen Zhou (1427-1509), regarded as one of the four master painters of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
He gave the painting to Wu Kuan, a statesman, poetic and calligrapher whom Shen viewed as a bosom friend throughout his life. It took him three years to complete the painting.
The painting moved to several great collectors and, in the 1950s, entered a Japanese collection.
It went on the block at China Guardian Auctions’ “grand view” evening sale yesterday, which grossed a total of 160 million yuan in revenues.
At the same auction, a 16th-century painting by the versatile Ming artist Xu Wei sold for 127 million yuan. The work titled Sketched of Nature shows Xu’s carefree mastery of ink skills as well as his literary attainment.
