A painting of a mother monkey carrying her baby was sold for 360 million yuan (equivalent to 1,300 billion VND). So what is special about this painting?
The painting ‘Mother and baby monkeys’, one of the most expensive paintings sold in China
A painting of a mother monkey carrying her baby was sold for 360 million yuan (equivalent to 1,300 billion VND). So what is special about this painting?
Since ancient times, connoisseurs have loved to collect old things, or antiques, especially calligraphy and paintings of historical celebrities. There is a proverb that says “In a prosperous time, store antiques, in a chaotic time, buy gold”, since the Jin Dynasty, people have liked to collect antiques during the prosperous time of each dynasty.
The Northern Song Dynasty can be said to have reached its peak, the Song people not only collected calligraphy and paintings of famous historical figures, antiques, but also began to collect gold antiques. What the people of the Song Dynasty did not expect is that today, thousands of years later, their calligraphy and paintings have also become antiques, an ancient cultural relic of extremely high value.
In particular, one of them, is a painting that once entered the top 10 most expensive paintings in China, a painting titled Mother and baby monkeys has made many people confused when they began learning about this painting.
In 2011, in an auction in Beijing, the painting Mother and baby monkeys was sold for a record price of 360 million yuan (about 1,300 billion VND). Contrary to popular belief, this work does not come from a famous artist, even to this day, people still do not know the true identity of the painting. The painting is not signed and the history books do not have reliable documents to identify this unknown artist.
This is a silk painting painted around the Song Dynasty, about 700 years ago, painted with brush and ink, length 92 cm, width 46 cm. As the title suggests, the painting depicts two monkeys in a very vivid way. On closer inspection, one will see the mother monkey sitting on the ground with her serious pensive eyes, as if she were watching the world. And the baby monkey climbed on the back of the mother monkey, playfully turning the head to look around. The surrounding background is only sketches of trees, mountains… Even though only using dry brush with ink to draw, the artist still depicted the face and hairs of the mother and the baby monkey in extremely detailed and sharpness.
However, no matter how vivid the painting, the price of 1,300 billion VND at that time shocked the world for a while, and many people wondered why this unknown painting thousands of years ago can get such a high price. Where is the real value of the painting?
An expert explained this: Look at the seals! It turns out that the real value of this ancient painting is actually the seals on the painting.
So the secret is not in the image of two monkeys. When zooming in on the edges of the silk painting, people can see where the real value of the painting lies. It is around with 11 ancient seals, showing the names and ownership of the owners who have collected Mother and baby monkeys in more than 700 years.
When reading these names for the first time, experts of both the history, archeology and painting world are amazed. The reason is because they all belong to the top collectors in Chinese history.
Specifically, it includes the seal of Jayaatu Khan – the 8th and 10th emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, the seal of Hongwu Emperor palace in the Ming Dynasty, the appraisal mark of painter Lương Thanh Biểu – a master of calligraphy, painting in Qing Dynasty. It means that in history, the work of this unknown artist has been appreciated, owned and collected by the top connoisseurs, with highest position in society.
Seals on the painting
Modern people attach special importance to the authorship of the work, no one knows the real artist’s name, the one who made the painting Mother and baby monkeys, but this painting was highly respected in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Because the painting has been a prized masterpiece through the ages, there’s no reason why modern collectors wouldn’t rush to bring this work back to match the ancients. In addition, these ancient seals themselves have extremely high historical and cultural value because of their rarity.
Wang Wei, a famous painter of the Tang Dynasty, once said: “If you don’t know the origin of the paintings, don’t mind it, check the seals on the paintings.” Indeed, if the experts did not find these precious seals, the painting of mother and baby monkeys, although very artistic, would never be sold for such a high price.
Today, when assessing the true value of an ancient painting, the seals left by the pre-collectors have also become an important factor in determining the authenticity and value of calligraphy and painting.
Source: Xemdoday