A crucial chunk of classical Chinese history resurfaced during Christie’s Hong Kong’s recent Beyond Compare: A Thousand Years of the Literati Aesthetic auction, when an ancient Chinese scroll – Wood and Rock by Su Shi, an 11th century Chinese statesman and poet – came up for sale. It eventually went for more than HK$463 million (US$59 million), making it the most expensive object ever sold by Christie’s in Asia.
For those still stunned by the price tag, a little background information may make it a little more digestible. Su Shi – a writer, poet, painter, calligrapher and statesman – was, arguably, the single most important political and literary figure of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), a man who undoubtedly hugely enriched Chinese culture with his paintings, poems, essays and travelogues.
The scroll in question is said to be one of the great artist’s more mature works and depicts withered trees, grotesque rock formations and stormy seas all across an expansive of 27.2cm x 543cm canvas. Crucially testifying to its provenance, there is also an accompanying calligraphy courtesy of Mi Fu, a renowned painter and calligrapher himself, and a contemporary of Su Shi.