As one of the events of the First Shenzhen International Cultural Industry Fair (ICIF), the Chinese Painting and Calligraphic Works Auction will be held in the International Conference Hall of the Shenzhen Economic Daily on Nov. 20.

The auction will feature 400 paintings and calligraphic works by modern Chinese painters such as Zhang Daqian, Huang Binhong and Qi Baishi, and by some promising young and middle-aged Chinese painters.

Among them, eight original works by Xu Beihong, Zhang Daqian, Gao Jianfu and Fu Baoshi were provided by some overseas collectors.

The auction is jointly organized by the Shenzhen Press Group and Guangdong Vastar (Shenzhen) Auction Co. Ltd.

"To collect enough works for the auction, our staff members have traveled throughout the country," said You Yuntian, secretary general of the Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Academy with the Shenzhen Economic Daily.

"In Sichuan Province, we found some letters handwritten by Sun Yat-sen, which were regarded as family treasures by the collector, who finally agreed to send his collection to our auction after we talked with him many times," You said.

Supported by artists and collectors all over the country, organizers collected more than 800 works over the past six months, out of which 400 were selected for the auction after consulting relevant experts.

At present, some of the works due for auction have been shipped to the city. They will be part of an exhibition at the Shenzhen Economic Daily from Nov. 17 to 19 before the auction on Nov. 20.

(Shenzhen Daily November 9, 2004)