CHINESE ARTIST ZHANG DAQIAN REPLACES PICASSO AS TOP AUCTION EARNER

Katya Kazakina of Bloomberg reports that Chinese artist Zhang Daqian has overtaken Picasso as top earner in international auction markets. According to a report by Artprice, which tracks a group of more than 450,000 artists, Zhang’s work fetched a total of $506.7 million in auction revenue in 2011. In comparison, Picasso generated $311.6 million.

Kazakina writes, “The change reflects China’s growing strength in the global art market. Of the approximately $11 billion total world revenue for fine art last year, China’s share was 39 percent, up from 33 percent the year before. The United States ranked second with 25 percent.”

Martin Bremond, head economist at Artprice, noted that while artists like Zhang may not be “well-known on the art scene, they are the leading modern masters in China. They are on top because China is the number one country at auction and the Chinese are buying their own artists.”