Chinese Art Prices Surge

A Beijing auction house sold a landscape by Chang Ta-chien for more than £5m yesterday, the latest sign that China's supercharged economy is inflating worldwide prices for the country's art. The 1968 work, Ten Thousand Mile Landscape, a 34.5 metre-wide image of the Yangtze river, fetched 73m million yuan, one of the highest prices paid for a Chinese painting. The auctioneers, Beijing Zhongbang, declined to reveal the name of the buyer, but he or she is among a growing number willing to splash out millions on works that were worth less than half as much only two years ago. Chang's work was always likely to interest buyers. He died in 1983 at the age of 84, renowned throughout the artworld for his traditional ink landscapes and innovative "splash of colour" technique. For the full story - click the title Irish Art