Chinese Painting Sets Record at Sothebys Auction
Published October 13th, 2007
A painting inspired by the Tiananmen Square protests has become the most expensive work by a Chinese contemporary artist ever sold at auction, Sotheby’s auction house said.
Yue Minjun’s “Execution” sold to a telephone bidder late Friday for $5.9 million, well over its upper pre-sale estimate of $4.1 million. The price includes a buyer’s premium.
Sotheby’s described Yue’s 1995 painting as “arguably the artist’s most vehement, candid and politically loaded work.”
Recalling Francisco de Goya’s “The Third of May, 1808: The Execution of the Defenders of Madrid,” it depicts figures pointing at others in a mock-execution, in front of a red wall that suggests Beijing’s Forbidden City.
Share This Article by Email or Social Web
Related Articles Swedish Desk Auction Sets RecordParis Auction of Looted Chinese RelicsSothebys Sale of Turner Watercolors – JulyUnknown Lowry painting for Sothebys auctionRaphael portrait sets £18.5m auction record
