Zeng Fanzhi's The Last Supper scored an auction record
for Asian contemporary art.
-- An oil painting by Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi
has sold for $23.3 million at an auction in Hong Kong -
a record price for Asian contemporary art.
The 4-meter wide painting was sold to a private
collector, who wanted to remain anonymous, after 15
minutes of tense telephone bidding at an evening
auction held by auction giant Sotheby's on Saturday.
Bidding started at $9 million.
The 2001 work is a recreation of "The Last Supper" by
Italian master Leonardo Da Vinci, which depicts the last
meal between Jesus and the 12 disciples when Jesus
foretold his betrayal by Judas.
In Zeng's work, the religious figures have been replaced
by young communists with red neckties. The figure
replacing Judas wears a western-style yellow tie -
symbolizing China's move toward capitalism, said
Evelyn Lin, Sotheby's head of contemporary Asian art.
"The painting represents a transformative period in
Chinese society," she said.
Lin said the sale showed the market for Chinese art,
which slowed significantly in 2012, was "very healthy."
The previous record for a work by an Asian
contemporary artist was a sculpture by Japanese artist
Takashi Murakami that sold for $15 million in New York
in 2008.
The painting was sold by Swiss collectors Guy and
Myriam Ullens de Schooten. They bought the work
from a Beijing gallery in 2002.
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