In the evening on June 3, increasing number of people came into spring auction evening sale scene of Poly, with the wistfulness to witness who would get one national treasure level artwork. The Pillar Ming, a running and regular script hand scroll in big Chinese character by Huang Tingjian, was purchased at RMB390 million yuan (plus 12 percent commission, the total hammer price is RMB436.8 million yuan), while its starting price is RMB80 million yuan. It is of no exaggeration to say that this is a historical moment when China greeted and hugged a world record of Chinese works of art in auction.

A hundred million yuan is no longer a "myth"

2010 spring auction is still running, and excellent works of high hammer price one after another dazzled people. Compared with the spring auction of last year when there was no one auction works whose hammer price was over RMB100 million yuan, but one year later, records are constantly being broken.

As shown by "Schedule of China artworks valuing more than RMB100 million yuan"??there have had 12 pieces of China artworks with each hammer price of more than RMB100 million yuan. Collection and analysis of information of the 12 pieces of works reflect the status quo and trend of the market from several indirect sources.

Firstly, let's study their transaction time. Four among the 12 pieces were purchased in 2005 and 2006 respectively, and other eight ones were in the autumn auction of last year and the spring auction of this year. Each one in the eight works was purchased at the price of over RMB100 million yuan in less than one year, which reflects the current China artworks market is becoming booming day by day.

As far as transaction place is concerned, all recent purchased eight works were reached in China. To be specific, their latest prices were born in Beijing and other four ones were reached in London and Hong Kong respectively, which show that the development speed of China artwork market has been world-leading, and the pricing right and right of speech are returning.

If we observe and study their categories and dynasties, it is obvious that the most expensive China artworks concentrate in two fields: Chinese ancient painting and calligraphy and Chinese ancient porcelain. In the past, the value judgments of auction market to China artworks are more inclined to Chinese porcelain. Prior to June 3, auction records of China artworks are always held by Chinese porcelain??and most of several China artworks which were purchased at a high price in the international market are porcelain.

However, starting from autumn auction of last year, the new high prices of Chinese ancient painting and calligraphy in China market dazzled people, much more, the record of porcelain is left far behind by the new world auction record set by Huang Tingjian's Pillar Ming.

The reasons why such situation occurs are no more than three: the scarcity of ancient fine porcelains in China market; due to different cultural traditions, most of the lovers of Chinese ancient painting and calligraphy are in China; a reflection to the return of value of cultural relics. Actually, the cultural relic value of ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy shall be higher than that of porcelain.

Finally, let's focus on which auction companies the 12 pieces of works of art were purchased in. The initial four artworks were released by Christie's and Sotheby's, both of which are British companies that occupy most of the international market.

Nevertheless??the latest 8 pieces of  works were all purchased in auction companies in China, among of which five from Beijing Poly, two from China Guardian and one from China Sungari.

On the one hand, this shows the rapid development of domestic auction market; on the other hand, it reflects that the differences among domestic auction companies are gradually appearing. Compared with the past few years when performance of each auction company was just as same as another one and they developed together, this year, the domestic auction companies are divided into several different echelons by the results of the spring auction, and Beijing Poly has occupied the leading position.

Which kind of artwork is leading the market?

Directed towards frequent new records of transaction values, various comments appeared in the market. For that, Zhao Yu, the former Vice President of China National Academy of Painting, said, "It is very simple. Let's look at two comparisons: firstly, let's compare with the world level. Last month, an oil painting by Picasso was purchased at US$106 million. However, although a painting of Zhang Daqian who was in the same period with Picasso has set a record hammer price of RMB100.8 million yuan last month, comparing the two figures, we can find that the prices of Chinese artworks are far from the international level."

Continuing the hot situation of autumn auction last year, upsurge of China's artwork market reoccurred this spring. While, different from the situation of few years ago, this time, the gradually matured discrimination ability of the market was reflected, especially those auction works with high quality, rare form and extraordinary significance were welcomed by collectors.

If you want buy paintings, buy those from masters. It was particularly obvious in the spring auction market of this year that famous works were leading the market. Meanwhile, even from the same painter, the prices of his/her works can be very different in case of different periods and qualities.

Ms. Guo Tong, General Manager of the Modern and Contemporary Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy Department of China Guardian, introduced, "It can be found from this spring auction that now those rare select works are pursued and admired by collectors. Price of works was closely interrelated to the quality, and top prices were created by top works. For those works that have appeared in the market before, it is possible for them to better reflect their values than ever by experiencing the examination of survival of the fittest. At the same time, with the deep study of art history, some differences in the focus occur to the artwork market; collectors are more professional than before, and the understanding of everyone upon the artwork market is becoming clear."

With the development and increasing mature of market, buyers' requirements for comprehensive quality of auction works are getting higher and higher, but not purchase works only because it is from a master. Just because many auction companies have realized this, their services are more and more considerate while sorting or opening special show.

In the spring auction market of this year, under the guideline of focusing on select works, the market of select works from masters in the filed of Chinese paintings and calligraphy is as stable as a mountain, and the market demand for classic works is strong and great; in the field of oil painting and sculpture, a market system coordinated by the art history has formed in the market; in the field of antique and rare curio, the competition for high-end auction works is more fierce. Buyers have gradually returned their attention to the historical clue and the value level of artworks when they proceed to the collection and investment.

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.