Chinese movie mogul Wang Zhongjun has acquired a Picasso painting for $29.9 million on May 5, Tuesday, auctioned off from the Goldwyn family collection at Sotheby’s in New York, the China Daily reported.
The report said that Pablo Picasso created the painting, entitled "Femme au Chignon Dans un Fauteuil" (Woman with a Hairbun on a Sofa) in 1948, which is a portrait of Francoise Gilot, his lover. The late Hollywood film producer Samuel Goldwyn acquired the painting in 1956, the report added.
In a news statement released by the auction house after the sale, Wang was quoted as saying: "I first fell in love with the painting and then I fell in love with its story. The Goldwyn family is legendary in our industry, and in this one work, I can see not only Pablo Picasso's genius, but also Samuel Goldwyn's creative vision."
According to the report, the last painting that Wang bought was a Vincent van Gogh painting for $61.8 million, which he acquired also at Sotheby's.
Born in Beijing, 55-year-old Wang is chairman of the Huayi Brothers Media Group, widely known as the producer of several movie blockbusters.
The report said that prices at auctions have risen worldwide due to the great interest shown by Asian art collectors, especially those who come from the Chinese mainland and Western Asia. The art collection favored by the Asian collectors range from home-grown art to pop art, impressionism, cubism, and contemporary art.
In May last year, popular collector and prominent Chinese businesswoman Zhang Lan paid a hefty sum at a Christie's sale in New York for an Andy Warhol painting worth $10.5 million and $18.6 million for a Martin Kippenberge portrait.
According to the report, Chinese buyers have spent at least $2 billion at Christie's last year, which accounts for about 22 percent of the auctioneer's international sales; while at Sotheby's, the number of Chinese buyers worldwide increased by 19 percent and spent $1 billion in art.