Age-old inking worth millions

– A nearly 1 000-yearold ink painting by one of China’s greatest literati masters, Su Shi, is expected to fetch $51 million (R745 million) at auction, Christie’s said yesterday as the work went on view in Hong Kong.

The Song Dynasty artwork created by Su is “one of the world’s rarest Chinese paintings”, said the auction house.

Titled Wood and Rock, the ink-on-paper handscroll depicts a dragon-like old tree with withered branches and a sharp rock resting at its root.

The versatile literati, also known as Su Dongpo, is one of the most important cultural figures in Chinese history and was an esteemed scholar, poet, prose-writer, painter, calligrapher and statesman.

“The the works securely attributed to him are very few, probably only two or three,” said Jonathan Stone, deputy chair for Christie’s Asian art department. –

Hong Kong