Ma Yuan paintings fetch $10.7 million

Listening to the Sound of Spring, by Ma Yuan. Photos provided to China Daily

Renowned Shanghai-based art collector Liu Yiqian dropped a total of 65.55 million yuan ($10.7 million) on two rare paintings by Song Dynasty (960-1279) painter Ma Yuan at an auction in Beijing on Tuesday night.

Listening to the Sound of Spring and A Hermit and a Crane were highlighted in a sale by Poly International Auction. They once belonged to C.C. Wang (Wang Jiqian), the celebrated New York-based Chinese artist and connoisseur.

The works demonstrate Ma's unique painting style in which pines are made to look as if they were made of iron wires, as well as his signature "one-corner" composition in which he pushes the subjects to one side with the remaining space virtually empty, giving a lofty and profound touch.

Ma was born to a family of painters. He followed the steps of his great-grandfather, grandfather and father to serve as a painter at the royal court. He created the two works in his spare time, and they show a relaxed and free style.

Also auctioned was Emperor Qianlong's hand scroll, which includes copies of a Tang Yin painting and Wang Xizhi's calligraphy Lanting Xu (Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion). It fetched 54.63 million yuan.

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) painter Shen Zhou's landscape album of 10 paintings, with postscripts of calligrapher Wu Kuan and Wen Zhengming, sold for 50.60 million yuan.