With three art auction giants of the world giving pre-auction exhibitions in the very same week in Beijing and Shanghai, Chinese auctioneers have pledged to meet challenges in the coming round of autumn auctions.

"Both sides have their competitive advantages: Foreign auctioneers still have their barriers to break in the Chinese markets, and we are not feeling too much pressure now," said Kou Qin, deputy general manager of the China Guardian Auction Co Ltd, the country's largest art auctioneer.

The company is to give its autumn auction from November 6 to 9 and a three-day public viewing prior to it in the Kunlun Hotel, Beijing. It is to be followed by the four other major art auctioneers in the country -- China Sungari, Hanhai, Huachen and Rongbao, in November and early December.

Meanwhile the New York-based Sotheby's has, for the first time, given a display in Beijing and Shanghai of Chinese art and jewellery to go under its hammer at the weekend.

London-based Christie's will give its fourth pre-auction view in the Chinese mainland, which started in spring. The viewing is to be held at the St Regis Hotel in Beijing on October 23 and 24.

The Stuttgart-based Nagel Auctions is to give its second viewing in Beijing, following the first held this spring, at the St Regis Hotel on October 22.

Three autumn auctions of Asian art and jewellery will happen almost concurrently in Hong Kong, from October 31 to November 2.

Lucrative market

They are lured by art buyers in the Chinese mainland, who have made about 30 per cent of the sales at Sotheby's spring auction of Chinese calligraphy, paintings and ceramics, said Shu Kaixin, spokeswoman of the company's Hong Kong office.

She used the word "lihai" to describe the price of Chinese calligraphy and paintings in the Beijing and Shanghai markets. It means at the same time "great," "incredible" and "frightening."

Such prices are apparently higher than in the Hong Kong art market, said Wang Jie, representative of Sotheby's to Shanghai.

Arrivals of the world's giants are surely bringing some competition to Chinese auctioneers but not as much as expected, said Kou with the China Guardian.

"After all, we know Chinese buyers better. And there's a currency problem," Kou said.

Chinese RMB is not freely convertible. As a result, "Chinese buyers interested in Hong Kong auctions cannot easily change their RMB into as much foreign currency as needed, or take such a large sum of foreign exchange out of the mainland.

"Concerning art auctions, it's a seller's market in China. You can always find good buyers if you have good art at hand -- the fierce competition among Chinese auctioneers is for the suppliers, that is, whether they can get the best works from artists, collectors and agents," he said.

The Guardian is to present more than 6,000 artworks in the coming auction, including Chinese calligraphy and paintings, oil paintings, sculptures, ceramics, furniture, handicrafts, coins, stamps, ancient books and even dozens of bronze mirrors.

"We have a competitive advantage in the country. Many Chinese sellers would try us first before they turn to other auctioneers," said Kou.

Foreign auctioneers can only get most of their lots from overseas collections.

Artworks in collections in the Chinese mainland can rarely be auctioned in Hong Kong or other areas outside the mainland, as Chinese laws forbid ancient art and works by about 600 modern and contemporary artists travelling overseas.

Christie's, Nagel and Sotheby's are to sell about 300 Chinese calligraphic works and paintings each, and about 200 ceramics.

"We only auction the best," said Shu, with Sotheby's.

The Guardian gives a good performance in its choice of ancient Chinese calligraphy and paintings, which probably results from the tradition of Chinese private collectors to value Chinese calligraphy and paintings more than their counterparts in the West, said art collector Ye Hebei.

Among more than 260 ancient works to go under the hammer, three have allegedly been recorded in the royal collection index "(Shiqu Baoji)," which means "rare documented stored in a royal library." The index documents a royal collection of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Chinese art documented in the index has been valued highly in both domestic and foreign markets, and it's getting more and more difficult to find such works.

At the company's spring auction this May, an exquisite 18th-century silk weaving, which was the only one documented in the index among all the lots, was sold for 35.75 million yuan (US$4.31 million), setting a new benchmark for the selling of Chinese artworks locally.

This autumn the company is ambitious of a 12th-century hand scroll called "Lady Taizhen Mounting a Horse" (Taizhen Shangma Tu), allegedly by artist Zhou Wenju (1100-40). It was consigned by the family of a late Beijing-based collector, said sources with the auctioneer.

The painting, with its price estimated on request, depicts the grace of women in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the grandeur of the ancient "golden age."

Precious fish

A painting by Zhu Da (1626-1705), one of the most important artists in Chinese history, was also documented in the royal index. Titled "Fish" (Yu), the small ink painting has an estimated price of between 1 and 1.5 million yuan (US$120,000-180,000).

The three documented works also include a calligraphic piece by Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322), written in cursive script.

Christie's shows a 13th-century hand scroll titled "Painting of Pine, Crane and Scholar" (Songhe Gao-shi Tu), allegedly by artist Ma Lin of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), and Sotheby's displays an 18th-century hand-scroll portraying Emperor Qianlong (who reigned 1736-95) riding in the grasslands in the spring.

The modern and contemporary Chinese art consigned to the China Guardian, Sotheby's and Christie's all involves important artists such as Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), Qi Baishi (1864-1957), Fu Baoshi (1904-65) and Xu Beihong (1895-1953).

To highlight Christie's auction of 20th-century Chinese art are four interesting oil paintings by Paris-based Chinese artist San Yu (1901-66), who had been long forgotten in China until the late 1990s.

One of the four, measuring 100x70 cm and titled "Pink Chrysanthemum in a White Vase," has an estimated price of between 2 and 3 million Hong Kong dollars (US$260,000-350,000), which is apparently higher than works of a similar size by such big names as Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong.

San's still life features bold lines and colors and a simple modeling of form that sets them apart from the more extroverted expression pursued so eagerly by the Fauves. He transformed the Fauvists' elements in order to create a more reserved and inward expression of feeling, and his works often reveal a beauty that grows out of the Chinese Taoist and Chan (or Zen as known in Japan) traditions, said sources with Sotheby's.

The ceramics displayed by Sotheby's in its public viewings at the weekend in Beijing dazzled collectors and art lovers in the city.

"It can be really hard to find such wonderful ceramics in private collections in the country. The Europeans and Americans have been enthusiastic of Chinese ceramics for centuries. But in China, so many of the delicate artefacts have been destroyed in continuous wars and cultural turmoil," said a Beijing-based art collector who declined to give his name.

"The ceramics displayed by Sotheby's must have been the best even of royal collections in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The China Guardian still has a long way to go in this area," he added.

The most precious ceramics consigned to Sotheby's has been a ruby-ground famille-rose vase allegedly made in the Qianlong period, with an estimated price of HK$30 million (US$3.8 million).

The vase, with a sophisticated flower arrangement on the surface, achieved a superb color balance with a multitude of shades fired.

Only one other Qianlong vase of the type is known to exist, and this is housed in the Palace Museum in Beijing. No other piece of such form and design appears to be recorded, said sources with Sotheby's.

As well as Chinese artworks, Sotheby's also displayed in Beijing and Shanghai an 88.88-carat internally flawless diamond, at an estimated price of HK$40 million (US$5.1 million).

"Chinese buyers haven't paid much attention to jewellery but we believe the market is to boom soon as everyone can appreciate the beauty of jewels," said Zhu Yanyi, who finds jewels for Sotheby's.

(China Daily October 22, 2004)