The Paper learned that China Guardian's 2025 Autumn Auction, known as a bellwether for the Chinese art market, concluded on the night of November 24th with the "Grand View - Night of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Masterpieces" and "Shiyanzhai Collection of Treasures" auctions. The "Grand View - Night of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Masterpieces" achieved a total of 329 million yuan. A record-breaking 40.25 million yuan sale of Xia Yan's "Running Script Poems of the Elegant Gathering at the Immortal Altar" from the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, known as the "Iron-willed Prime Minister," led the entire auction, demonstrating a strong market demand for high-quality works with a clear provenance and both historical and artistic value.
From the record-breaking sale of Xia Yan's "Running Script Poems for the Elegant Gathering at the Immortal Altar" during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, to the 100% sell-through rate of the Hongyi special collection, and then to the hammering down of works by renowned artists such as Fu Baoshi and Qi Baishi, this well-known auction without any mega-sized items clearly outlines the trajectory of adjustment and innovative breakthroughs in the Chinese art market.
A partial view of Xia Yan's "Running Script Poems for the Elegant Gathering at the Immortal Altar" from the Ming Dynasty.
In the "Grand View of Ancient Times" section, Xia Yan's "Running Script Poems of the Elegant Gathering at the Immortal Altar," written by the "Iron-Willed Prime Minister" of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, sold for 40.25 million yuan. This 11-meter-long masterpiece records the grand gathering of the six ministers of the Jiajing reign, and in terms of its prestigious status, it can be called "the first of all literary gatherings," possessing historical, literary, and artistic value. This scroll was originally in the collection of Rongbaozhai and was published in the first volume of "Catalogue of Ancient Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy." Mr. Yang Renkai noted that "Xia's works are rare, and this scroll is an authentic work."
Xia Yan (1482-1548), courtesy name Gongjin, sobriquet Guizhou, was a native of Guixi, Jiangxi. He was one of the most important statesmen and Grand Secretaries of the early and mid-Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty. His life was marked by dramatic ups and downs, and he was known for his uprightness, outspokenness, and fearlessness in the face of powerful figures. The title "Iron-Boned Prime Minister" best encapsulates his character. His life is a history of the rise and fall of powerful ministers in the Ming Dynasty, and his works are a condensation of his personality, talent, and the historical context. The fact that his works have shone brightly at this Guardian auction is the market's highest recognition of "authentic, exquisite, and new" treasures that combine top-level historical, literary, and artistic value. His tragic life also adds a historical weight and poignancy to his surviving calligraphy and paintings.
Xia Yan's "Running Script Poems for the Elegant Gathering at the Immortal Altar"
The Qing Dynasty imperial collection also performed exceptionally well. Zhang Zongcang's "Cloud Forest and Misty Boat" scroll, a unique piece from the Yangxin Hall collection and recorded in the "Shiqu Baoji Continued Edition," with an inscription by Emperor Qianlong, sold for 17.825 million yuan. Jiang Tingxi's "Album of Colored Paintings in the Style of Song Dynasty Painters," recorded in the "Shiqu Baoji First Edition," changed hands for 16.675 million yuan.
In addition, Zhu Chang's "Landscape of Rivers and Mountains" scroll, which was passed down through the collections of Chen Changji, Wang Jiqian, and Gao Juhan, was sold for 14.03 million yuan; Hua Yan's "Endless Thousand Pines" landscape masterpiece, which was passed down through the collections of Zhang Daqian, Zhang Xueliang, Wang Jiqian, and others, was sold for 10.58 million yuan.
Zhu Chang's "Landscape Painting"
The "Treasures from Shiyanzhai" auction achieved a 95% sell-through rate, with Wang Hui's "Imitation of Dong Beiyuan's Summer Mountain" fetching 6.095 million yuan, leading the entire auction.
China Guardian 2025 Autumn Auction Site
In the "Grand View: Modern and Contemporary Art" auction, masterpieces by renowned artists such as Fu Baoshi, Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, and Xu Beihong were gathered, achieving a high sales rate of 85%. Fu Baoshi's masterpiece "Night Rain in Bashan," created during his time living in Jingangpo, Chongqing, led the auction with a price of 28.75 million yuan. This work, created in 1943, fuses the melancholy of travel and the fate of the nation expressed in Li Shangyin's poem into a unified whole, representing the painter's unique artistic language and the maturity of his "Baoshi Cun" technique.
Bashan Night Rain
The Qi Baishi themed exhibition also performed exceptionally well, with 21 works achieving a total transaction value of 53.3025 million yuan and a transaction rate as high as 95%. Among them, Qi Baishi's masterpiece of sketching from distant places, "To Cao Kun: Deep in the Clouds and Mountains," sold for 25.3 million yuan, leading the exhibition.
A letter to Cao Kun from the deep ravines of Yunshan.
The art market's enthusiastic pursuit of top-tier masterpieces contrasts sharply with its indifference towards ordinary works. Zhou Sicong's important work, "Hiroshima Landscape," sold for 15.525 million yuan, while Zhang Daqian's mature landscape painting, "Imitation of Wang Wei's Snowy Landscape," from Fan Zhuzhai's collection, changed hands for 7.705 million yuan.
Zhou Sicong's important work, "Hiroshima Scenery"
The "Commemorating the 145th Anniversary of Master Hongyi's Birth" special exhibition achieved a 100% sell-through rate, with the five works totaling 9.3725 million yuan. Among them, the horizontal scroll of "Namo Amitabha Buddha" in seal script sold for 3.45 million yuan, 43 times its low estimate; and the "Shurangama Sutra in running script" sold for 2.3 million yuan, 7.6 times its low estimate.
The seal script for "Namo Amitabha Buddha"
This phenomenon highlights the strong market demand for niche collectibles that combine spiritual value and cultural connotation.
Art market analysts believe that the Chinese art market is undergoing a profound structural adjustment, with three major trends evident in this year's China Guardian Autumn Auction: First, collectors are becoming more professional and their aesthetic preferences are diversifying; second, "fresh" works and themed specialties have become market breakthroughs. Several meticulously planned themes performed exceptionally well in this auction, including the "Commemorating the 145th Anniversary of Master Hongyi's Birth" theme, which achieved a 100% sell-through rate, and the "Once Upon a Time in Baqiao: Treasures from Qi Baishi" theme, demonstrating the crucial role of thematic planning in releasing market energy; third, the resilience of the ancient calligraphy and painting sector was highlighted, with Ming Dynasty calligraphy being a major attraction. Rare works by renowned figures such as Xia Yan, Wen Zhengming, Wang Chong, Wen Peng, Zhou Tianqiu, Huang Jishui, Dong Qichang, Chen Jiru, Zhang Ruitu, Huang Daozhou, and Wang Duo were all present, showcasing the market's rediscovery of the value of ancient calligraphy.
Regarding the current art auction market, Hu Yanyan, President of China Guardian, previously stated that China Guardian's strategy is not to passively wait for the market to improve, but rather to proactively guide and activate the market through professional planning. This is mainly reflected in two aspects: firstly, reducing the number of high-priced lots to control risk; and secondly, increasing the variety and provenance of lots to present more diversified collecting options and attract a wider range of collectors. She believes that the market has entered a stage where diverse lots are needed to nurture collectors' interests, and that lots with profound academic value, clear provenance, and cultural and historical significance, even those from lesser-known artists, are increasingly gaining favor among sophisticated collectors.
