72 million yuan work was ours, ex-students say-DOZENS of alumni of China's top art academy claimed a canvas said to have been painted by Xu Beihong, a late Chinese master of both oils and ink, and which fetched an astonishing 72.8 million yuan (US$11.4 million) at a Beijing auction was in fact a piece they created at a lesson.
The alumni class of 1984 at Beijing-based China Central Academy of Fine Arts spotted the familiar oil painting from the news of its enormous auction price. The model wore a hairstyle typical of the 1980s, and the students had spent three weeks creating the piece at a training lesson in May 1983, they said in an open letter on Thursday questioning the authenticity of the canvas, state radio reported yesterday.
The alumni couldn't be sure which of them painted the canvas, as more than 20 of them had done similar works. Beyond the letter, they showed five more paintings similar to the auctioned piece, with the same scene and same model, only from different angles.
"It was impossible for Xu to create a painting in which the model's pose, figure, hairstyle and facial characteristics were identical to the ones we created at the training lesson," they said in the letter. They also denied they copied an art piece of Xu as "we have never seen this piece of Xu before."
The canvas titled "The Nude Portrait of Jiang Biwei" (Xu's former wife) was sold at an auction held by Beijing Jiuge International Auction Co Ltd in June 2010.
The auction house published an endorsement allegedly by Xu Boyang, the older son of Xu Beihong, on the back of the canvas that the painting was authentic and was kept by his mother. It also attached a picture of the junior Xu holding the canvas.
An unnamed overseas collector reportedly put up the painting for auction.
The allegation has triggered a wave of criticism of the current art auction market, said to be fraught with fakes.
"It can't even be called a fake piece, as it is a totally unrelated painting," Chen Danqing, a famous artist and critic, said yesterday on China National Radio. He said at least 24 fake pieces claimed to be his works have been auctioned since 2005.
"This is nothing new," said Ji Chongjian, owner of Chongyuan Auction House. "No auction house in the world can guarantee the authenticity of the artwork that goes under their hammer."
"Today faked pieces are rampant in the auction market," Ji told CNR.
Chinese law absolves auctioneers of responsibility for flaws or fakes if they state before an auction that they can't ensure the authenticity of the pieces they are selling.
The alumni class of 1984 at Beijing-based China Central Academy of Fine Arts spotted the familiar oil painting from the news of its enormous auction price. The model wore a hairstyle typical of the 1980s, and the students had spent three weeks creating the piece at a training lesson in May 1983, they said in an open letter on Thursday questioning the authenticity of the canvas, state radio reported yesterday.
The alumni couldn't be sure which of them painted the canvas, as more than 20 of them had done similar works. Beyond the letter, they showed five more paintings similar to the auctioned piece, with the same scene and same model, only from different angles.
"It was impossible for Xu to create a painting in which the model's pose, figure, hairstyle and facial characteristics were identical to the ones we created at the training lesson," they said in the letter. They also denied they copied an art piece of Xu as "we have never seen this piece of Xu before."
The canvas titled "The Nude Portrait of Jiang Biwei" (Xu's former wife) was sold at an auction held by Beijing Jiuge International Auction Co Ltd in June 2010.
The auction house published an endorsement allegedly by Xu Boyang, the older son of Xu Beihong, on the back of the canvas that the painting was authentic and was kept by his mother. It also attached a picture of the junior Xu holding the canvas.
An unnamed overseas collector reportedly put up the painting for auction.
The allegation has triggered a wave of criticism of the current art auction market, said to be fraught with fakes.
"It can't even be called a fake piece, as it is a totally unrelated painting," Chen Danqing, a famous artist and critic, said yesterday on China National Radio. He said at least 24 fake pieces claimed to be his works have been auctioned since 2005.
"This is nothing new," said Ji Chongjian, owner of Chongyuan Auction House. "No auction house in the world can guarantee the authenticity of the artwork that goes under their hammer."
"Today faked pieces are rampant in the auction market," Ji told CNR.
Chinese law absolves auctioneers of responsibility for flaws or fakes if they state before an auction that they can't ensure the authenticity of the pieces they are selling.
