Chinese tycoon snaps up Ming art for HK$108m

Chinese tycoon Liu Yiqian has paid HK$108 million (US$14 million) for a 600-year-old album of Ming Dynasty Buddhist art and calligraphy in New York, the highest price for a Chinese painting sold outside Asia.

The sutras, which had been valued at just US$100,000-US$150,000, were sold after frantic bidding between four would-be buyers in Asia and the United States that lasted 31 minutes, the auction house Sotheby's said.

Liu, a taxi-driver-turned-financier, is one of China's biggest art collectors.

His latest purchase continues a string of major buys that collectively represent an attempt to bring some of China's greatest works of art back to the mainland.

Forbes estimates his net worth at US$1.37 billion. Liu bid on the album over the phone. Sotheby's said US$14 million was the top price for any sale at Asian art auctions in New York this month and the highest price paid for a Chinese painting outside Asia.

The sutras, an album of 39 leaves, came from an important Japanese collection and the only other known works from the series are in Chinese hands.