Rare Chinese 'Da Vinci' scroll likely to set Asian art auction record

Estimated in excess of $51 million, the work is only one of two known scrolls produced by Song dynasty artist Su Shi, and the first to ever appear at auction

An extremely rare, 11th-century Chinese scroll could set an auction price record for an Asian artwork, when it goes on the block at Christie’s November Hong Kong sale.

Estimated in excess of HK$400 million ($51 million), the work is only one of two known scrolls produced by Song dynasty artist Su Shi, and the first to ever appear at auction, Christie’s said. The other resides in the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. 

“This is simply the best Chinese painting you could possibly get,” said Jonathan Stone, co-chairman of Christie’s Asian Art department, who likened the piece’s significance and rarity to that of “Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo Da Vinci. 

“In the purely market sense, there is comparability.” Su Shi, a household name in China, was an 11th-century scholar, statesman, poet, writer, calligrapher and artist, whose painting style has influenced virtually every Chinese painter ever since, according to Kim Yu, Christie’s international senior specialist of Chinese paintings.