Ten years ago, on November 16, 2013, “Tajik Bride” by known Chinese painter Jin Shangyi has been sold at the China Guardian Autumn for 14 million U.S. dollars.
The five-day auction that began at the Beijing International Hotel on November 16 was a massive event featuring more than 5,100 pieces of calligraphy, oil painting, sculpture, furniture, handicrafts, porcelain, antique books, snuff bottles, watches, jadeite, and inscriptions.
"Tajik Bride" is a famous oil painting completed by Chinese maestro Jin Shangyi in 1983. After many twists and turns, this museum-level masterpiece "Tajik Bride", which was collected by Japanese Tibetan parents for a long time and disappeared from people's sight, finally surfaced and appeared in the 2013 Autumn Auction of China Guardian, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2013.
On the first day of the auction, Jin Shangyi’s “Tajik Bride” was the undisputed highlight of the Chinese Oil Painting and Sculpture section. The auctioneer began the bidding at 9 million RMB, and there were many interested bidders in the room and on the phone. After the price passed the 30 million RMB mark, only one buyer in the room and one phone bidder remained. After intense competition, the hammer fell at 85,100,000 RMB (US$14 million) including commission, far exceeding its 16-20 million RMB estimate.
Jin Shangyi is an important figure in Chinese oil painting, and once served as the president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). “Tajik Bride” was one of the first neoclassical paintings to be recognized by China’s academic community. In the early 1980s, he rejected the gloom and coarseness of “native soil” painting, and presented work that had a significant impact on the Chinese painting world. Jin used indirect lighting to capture the rich layers of structure and color. Strong contrasts between light and shadow emphasize the full volume of the figure. The simple red garment slowly merges with the dark background and highlights the pale beauty of the girl’s face.
