Paintings focused on religion to be highlight of auction

[Photo provided to China Daily]

China Guardian Auctions will hold its 49th quarterly auction in Beijing from Sept 2 to 4 with 1,829 lots to be sold in five sections — paintings, porcelain, jade, furniture and old books.

The paintings section will focus on Chinese works, specially from Buddhism and Taoism, which flourished in China during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

Liu Jin, who is in charge of the paintings section, says that collectors are now showing more interest in religion-related art, either paintings such as thangka ( traditional Tibetan Buddhist art) or Buddhist sculptures.

More than 40 such paintings will be auctioned at the Beijing International Hotel.

Meanwhile, modern Chinese art from Sichuan province will also feature at the auction.

At this year's spring auction, an oil painting Spring Silkworm by Luo Zhongli from the province fetched 49.45 million yuan ($7.50 million), a record price for Luo's work.