There will be an auction of traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy in the city of Datong, Shanxi province, on Dec 20, with more than four dozen items by famous artists from across the country under the hammer.

Host of the affair is the Datong Daily Group, who have pulled in some outstanding works of Li Kuchan, Guo Weiqu, Ye Qianyu, and Cui Mingzhe, with the most renowned work up for sell being "Lotus", by Li Kuchan (1899- 1983), which is 133 centimeters by 68, and has a starting price of 9.2 million yuan ($1.5 million). The artist was born in Shandong province enrolled at Peking University in art, in 1919, and practiced sketching and western painting under Xu Beihong (1895-1953), a founder of the Chinese modern art movement. In 1923, Li turned to traditional Chinese painting, and was the first student of Qi Baishi (1864-1957), a traditional master.

Other crucial works include "Bamboo" by Guo Weiqu (1908--1971), who was good at painting natural landscapes, birds and flowers, and a series of works by Ye Qianyu (1907 -1995), specializing in Chinese cartoon and sketches, who was vice president of China Artists Association, president of China Academy of Chinese Painting, and professor of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts. Ye sometimes did illustrations for famous literary works, for example, Midnight, the novel by Mao Dun, and Teahouse, the play by Lao She.

Some contemporary works can also be found at the auction. For instance, Zhu Tao's works, who did huge decoration paintings for many important architectures in China, including the Great Hall of the People, Tian'anmen Gate Tower, Zhongnanhai, and other government buildings.

Datong government has put great efforts in preparation of the high-end arts event. There will be pre-exhibitions of the auctioned works.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw