Zhang Daqian helps bring Chinese art to the top of the class

Zhang Daqian's rise to the ranking of world's best-selling artist at auction has focused unprecedented attention on Chinese art and on the people whose work is coming to dominate the international market.

According to the Paris-based art market monitor Artprice, the late Zhang's works accounted for a total haul of US$550 million (420 million euros) in revenue in 2011 -- the most ever recorded in a single year for an artist. That was more than enough to knock Pablo Picasso off a perch he had held for 13 of the past 14 years.

Ironically, it was when Zhang (1899-1983) met with Picasso in Nice, France, in 1956 that the Chinese artist was first really recognized by the international art scene. The meeting was highly publicised as a coming together of the driving forces of art at the time in both the East and the West.

China went one-two in the rankings for the first-ever time last year with Qi Baishi ranking second overall, while the country was home to six of the top-10 ranked artists.

While China's rising ranks of the rich are seen by industry insiders to be the driving force behind the trend, there's also a growing appreciation among international collectors and galleries for the works of these Chinese masters -- and then there's the Chinese government's own push to bring these pieces of art "back home."

China established the "Precious Relics Rescue Fund" in 2002 and the state-backed Poly Group has famously bought back objects such as bronze statues stolen from the Summer Palace in Beijing during the second Opium War in 1860.

Hong Kong-based gallery owner John Batten helped found the city's now-famous annual "art walk" event, which has been credited with helping bring the work of countless Chinese artists to the attention of the international art world.

Batten believes it was always only a matter of time before the world picked up on what those in China had long known.

"Zhang Daqian is both a superb traditional Chinese painter and a major modernist and was recognized as such, like Pablo Picasso, in his own lifetime," Batten explains. "His literati looks -- flowing beard and traditional clothes -- added, and continue to add, to his aura as a master artist. Interest in his work at auction is probably to be expected, as he was both a modernist and a master of traditional technique.

He is another example of the interest the art market has placed on the work of Asian modernist artists working pre- and post-World World II."

And the artist's influence has been felt outside his home country, Batten says.

"Along with the likes of Affandi in Indonesia and M. F. Husain in India, he is seen as being the pre-cursor of modernist art movements in individual Asian countries and as exemplifying the new, modern nation-states of Asia -- free of colonial sovereignty and growing confidence -- that continues today."

And as the world begins to wake up to the what Zhang was all about, here's a look at China's top-five ranked artists, in terms of auction sales, for 2011:

Zhang Daqian (world ranking: 1; total sales US$550 million/420 million euros): Renowned for his meticulous detailing and his method of sometimes splashing ink through his watercolors, Zhang (1899-1983) mastered everything from traditional Chinese painting to impressionist and expressionist styles. He was also a master forger.

Qi Baishi (world ranking: 2; total sales: US$510 million/390 million euros): Self-taught and unique in style, Qi (1904-1965) made his name through whimsical watercolors that often depicted small animals. He was also a master seal maker.

Xu Beihong (world ranking: 5; total sales: US$221 million/169 million euros): Known as the "father of modern Chinese painting, Xu (1895-1953) was famed also for the range of his styles in both oils and traditional Chinese inks.

Wu Guanzhong (world ranking: 6; total sales: US$212 million/162 million euros): Both artist and art educator, Wu (1919-2010) established himself as a painter of landscapes and waterscapes but extended his range to stunning portraits.

Fu Baoshi (world ranking: 7; total sales: US$183 million/140 million euros): Landscapes and waterscapes were the preferences for Fu (1904-1965). He was also noted for introducing Japanese visual styles into Chinese arts after attending Tokyo School of Fine Arts.