A work by Chinese master Zhang Daqian, dubbed the "Picasso of the East", fetched more than HK$80.51 million at auction yesterday, Christie's Hong Kong said. A set of four large hanging scrolls entitled Lotus sold for that amount at the auction house's fine Chinese modern paintings sale, beating pre-sale estimates by more than HK$65 million.
Each scroll is more than 1.5metres tall and the painting, which was completed in 1947, depicts multiple blooming lotus flowers drawn in ink and colour on paper, according to a Christie's statement.
Twenty-four works by Zhang fetched HK$330 million at a Sotheby's sale on Monday after "intense" bidding, which was almost 90 per cent above the auction house's estimates, Sotheby's said. The top lot, Daoist Goddess Playing Panpipe, fetched HK$74 million while the rest of the works from the sale, titled "A Master's Secrets Unveiled", were sold within an hour and a half.