A sum of 725 works by modern and contemporary Chinese artists achieved a total trading of 22.04 million yuan in the Chinese painting and calligraphy auction at the Hilton Shenzhen Panglin Hotel on Friday.

The auction, the first art auction of the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair (ICIF) 2006 was organized in three sections including painting and calligraphy, Zhang Junqiu's painting and collection, and modern & contemporary painting and calligraphy.

Zhang is a late Beijing opera artist and his paintings and collection had all clinched deals, worth 2.7 million yuan.

The modern and contemporary art auction put a collection of 500 works on sale in the afternoon. Guan Shanyue's "Heavenly Lake and Immense Forest", Lot 500,000 yuan, sold for 820,000 yuan, the highest price of a single work at this auction. Fang Chuxiong's book of animal drawings of 24 pages sold for 990,000 yuan, the highest price for a batch of works.

Works of Fu Baoshi, Ya Ming, Song Wenzhi, Wei Zixi, etc. had enticed great interest of buyers. When Wang Ziwu and Shi Qi's works invited bidding, the buyers competed against each other by shouting the prices, drawing applause from the audience.

Guan Shanyue's Heavenly Lake and Immense Forest